Thirty-six hours before their beloved teams go head-to-head in Saturday’s SEC football championship, hardcore Georgia Bulldog and Alabama Crimson Tide fans early Friday were already filling the recreational vehicle lot a couple of blocks from the Georgia Dome.

But for many of those already in town in their motorhomes, the game is almost secondary.

Dean Tate, who has been following the Crimson Tide in his 40-foot Fleetwood RV for over 10 years, told the AJC that while he made the trip up from Dothan, Ala., to watch Alabama win another SEC Championship, “more than that is coming up and tailgating with friends and family.”

“There are no friends in RVing,” Tate said. “It’s family. Anybody out here in this lot, complete stranger, you can go up to anybody and say, ‘so and so’s not working on my motorhome,’ and, ‘well, I know how to …”

Tate’s pal and fellow Crimson Tide follower Jackie McNutt agreed that the big draw is “the camaraderie and the friendship.”

“No one would do this by themselves,” said McNutt, who is from Gadsden, Ala.

“Hell, I’d stay home and watch it on TV, but friends and family are here,” he said.

With the big game still a day away, McNutt said he planned to spend Friday “hanging out with my buds. I’m going to drink me a margarita, and there’s homemade chili, there’s homemade stew, homemade cakes, homemade pies.”