Alabama-Georgia officiating debate lingers as Tide head to Tennessee

Georgia left Bryant-Denny Stadium with a three-point win and the No. 1 ranking. The talk since then has been about the officials as much as the result. A pass interference call that never came late in the game, plus an overturned Alabama interception, have become the main argument after what was otherwise a matchup between two of the country's best teams.

On the latest episode of the "College Football Unfiltered" podcast, USA TODAY Sports columnist Blake Toppmeyer and colleagues John Brice and Matt Hayes took up whether the officiating cost Alabama the game. None of the three would say the Crimson Tide would have won. All three agreed the pass interference no-call was wrong.

Brice said he was standing near the play, which happened at the corner of the end zone, and couldn't believe no flag was thrown. By his account, the penalty would have given Alabama first-and-10 inside the red zone on a drive that had been moving well. The possession came apart after the no-call. Earlier in the game, officials had overturned an Alabama interception of Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton, a reversal Toppmeyer called debatable. He had no such doubt about the missed interference, calling it "a total whiff."

Hayes went further. He argued that the SEC needs better officials, or that pass interference should be reviewable on replay, given how much is at stake in games like this one. Brice made a wider point: weekends this season have too often ended with officiating as the main topic, even though the sport now runs as a professional operation.

The panel also raised a question about the polls. Alabama sits at No. 7 in the US LBM Coaches Poll after the loss. Toppmeyer said he would rank the Tide ahead of Texas and inside the top five. Brice called Georgia and Alabama the two best teams he has seen this season. He said both could end up as top-four College Football Playoff seeds, which come with a bye into the quarterfinals. A rematch in the SEC Championship Game or the playoff is possible.

Neither team gets much of a break this week. Alabama (5-1) travels to No. 14 Tennessee (5-1) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EDT on ABC, with a chance to put the officiating debate behind it (odds page). The Tide are favored by 8.5 points with a total of 51.5. On Novig, one of the venues pricing the game, Alabama is at -317. The best sportsbook price on the Tide is -325 at DraftKings.

At the same hour, Georgia (6-0) hosts Auburn (3-2) on ESPN in its first game as the No. 1 team (odds page). The Bulldogs are favored by 20.5 points with a total of 49.5. Georgia is -1076 on Novig, and the best sportsbook price is Pinnacle's -1316.

Alabama's loss counts no matter what the replay showed. Whether the Tide can win in Knoxville a week later will say more about how this team handles the setback.