Fire up the Jiffy Pop. As SEC reality series go, this Kirby Smart-Nick Saban coaching family feud promises to keep us entertained for years.

It was only a matter of time before the protege and his mentor began to clash, and while it no doubt has happened already on the recruiting trail, Smart fired a public shot across Saban's bow Saturday.

When the Georgia coach said he will "absolutely" let graduate transfers leave Georgia to attend any school they like, even an SEC school, left unsaid was this clear message: Unlike Nick Saban.

As everyone knows by now, Saban and Alabama are blocking defensive back Maurice Smith from transferring to Georgia to play for the Bulldogs this season as a grad transfer.

As we also know, Smart somehow neglected to mention his beneficent belief in an exception for grad transfers back in March when he outlined his own restrictive Saban-like policy that "we will not release kids to SEC schools unless it's a special situation."

What's a rivalry without a little hypocrisy?

Smart also voiced his support then for doing exactly what Saban's doing here, preventing a player from following a former coach. Smart was Smith's coordinator at Alabama, and new UGa defensive coordinator Mel Tucker was Smith's position coach.

Nice to see how much privilege Smart believes that undergrad degree should buy you.

Saturday's question about Smith's desire to move from Alabama to Georgia gave Smart the opening to show current and potential future Bulldogs how much he's willing to put their interests first. As opposed to, say, a certain dictatorial SEC West coach with five national titles.

The shot at Saban was unspoken but unmistakable.

This is great news for current and future Bulldogs because Smart's now on the record supporting the common-sense belief that a young man who earns his undergraduate degree also has earned the right to play his final season of college football elsewhere if he so desires.

Can't wait to see Smart stick to that stance when someone like Jacob Eason wants to exercise that option down the road.

If Smart really wanted to draw a distinction between himself and Saban, he would rethink his support for anywhere-but-the-SEC handcuffs on undergrads, too. More likely, it'll take an NCAA rule to take away the dictatorial power of all coaches to play God with their players' futures.

On another front, Smart's shot across Saban's bow is good news for anyone concerned that Alabama's rivalries with Auburn and LSU have lost some of their steam with the Tide winning six of the last eight against Auburn and five straight over LSU.

Alabama-Georgia could pump some clean, old-fashioned hate back into SEC football. Can Greg Sankey make an executive decision forcing them to meet every year?

They've played so infrequently through the years, it's been easy to forget they actually belong to the same conference. Alabama was fortunate it didn't play the Bulldogs during the Herschel Walker years. Georgia is fortunate it hasn't faced the Tide annually during the Saban era.

The Blackout and the Washout definitely left a mark.

They won't play every year unless Georgia comes to dominate the SEC East the way Alabama has the West, but they will compete 24/7 for hot-shot recruits. There alone, Saban vs. Smart has the potential to grow into a father-son conflict in the tradition of Bear Bryant vs. Pat Dye, only nastier and more enduring.

The sun was starting to set on Bryant when Dye took over at Auburn. They faced off only twice. Dye evened the head-to-head score forever in their second and final meeting when Bo went over the top.

Saban's still at the height of his considerable powers, and Smart has no intention of kissing his rings. It should surprise no one that Smart knows how to play hardball in public and behind the scenes. He learned from a master.

If the legend is true, the words Dye spoke to Bryant on the field before their first Iron Bowl as opponents might capture Smart's attitude toward Saban perfectly.

"Before you start hugging me," Dye famously said, "you ought to know that my boys are fixin' to get after y'all's ass."

Smart's already chasing Saban with that same kind of bark and bite.