ATLANTA — Alabama is right where it always seems to be — playing for a title.
For Missouri, this also is becoming the norm.
The top-ranked Crimson Tide (11-1) will be trying to lock up a berth in college football’s inaugural playoff when it takes on the No. 14 Tigers (10-2) in the Southeastern Conference championship game Saturday at the Georgia Dome.
In what passed for a rebuilding year in Tuscaloosa, Alabama survived the brutal SEC West to make it to Atlanta for the fourth time in the past seven years under coach Nick Saban.
If the Crimson Tide knocks off Missouri — Alabama is a two-touchdown favorite over the Tigers — the next game probably will be on New Year’s Day at the Sugar Bowl in a national semifinal.
Rest assured, Saban will make sure his players aren’t looking ahead.
“What’s special about this one is you get a chance to run for a ring, an SEC championship ring, and be named conference champion,” said Alabama safety Landon Collins. “It’s going to be one of the best games you play in.”
Missouri is back at the Georgia Dome for the second year in a row as the SEC East champion.
Not bad for a school that’s been in the powerhouse league for only three years. Missouri played in the Big 12 title game in 2007 and 2008, before shifting to the SEC.
But, while the Tigers keep getting close to the prize, they haven’t been able to win an outright conference title since 1960. They were blown out by Oklahoma in their two Big 12 appearances, and couldn’t keep up with Auburn in last year’s SEC championship game, losing 59-42.
After going 5-7 in its first year in the SEC, Missouri has beaten out more traditional football powers such as Georgia and Florida the last two seasons to make an immediate mark in its new home.
“I’m one of those guys that goes in thinking I’m going to win every game every year as a coach,” Gary Pinkel said.
