SEC Championship Game: 5 best games of all-time
By John Buhler
The 2016 SEC Championship between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Florida Gators will be on Saturday. Here are the five best SEC Championships of all time.
Saturday will mark the 25th anniversary of the SEC Championship Game. The SEC was ahead of the curve back in 1992 when it expanded from 10 to 12 member institutions to include the Arkansas Razorbacks and the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Adding these two major programs allowed the SEC to split its then 12-team conference into two divisions of six teams (East and West). A 12-team conference justified the creation of a conference championship at the end of the season in the eyes of the NCAA.
In the 25 years since it is especially crucial to have a conference championship in the College Football Playoff era. Getting an at-large bid is still possible, but winning a conference championship remains a paramount goal for either Division I football team.
While Saturday’s game between No. 1 Alabama and No. 15 Florida projects to be largely one-sided in Alabama’s favor, here are the five greatest games in the history of the SEC Championship Game.
5. 2007: No. 5 LSU Tigers 21, No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers 14
Nine years later, this is still one of the most discussed SEC Championship Games of all time. The 2007 SEC Championship Game between the No. 5 LSU Tigers and the No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers saw the Tigers top the Volunteers 21-14 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
2007 was a distraction-filled season for LSU. Head coach Les Miles would be tied to the vacancy at his alma mater Michigan. News broke that defensive coordinator Bo Pelini would leave Baton Rouge for the Nebraska job. Starting quarterback Matt Flynn was hurt and the inconsistent Ryan Perrilloux had to start.
LSU was 10-2 on the year, winning the West outright over the 9-4 (5-3) Auburn Tigers. Tennessee had the head-to-head tiebreaker over the 10-2 (6-2) Georgia Bulldogs to win the SEC East. LSU would fight through all distractions to pick off Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge twice in the fourth quarter to win the 2007 SEC Championship.
The Tigers would go on to win the 2007 BCS National Championship over the Big Ten’s Ohio State Buckeyes, 38-24 in the Louisiana Superdome. LSU would be a rare two-loss team that would win a National Championship. It would be the only national title LSU would win under Miles. The Tigers would lose the 2011 BCS National Championship to division rival Alabama, despite beating Georgia in the 2011 SEC Championship.
This 2007 SEC Championship Game a close, one-score game, but it’s had staying power in the SEC for the last decade. LSU hasn’t won a championship since that season. Tennessee hasn’t been back to the Georgia Dome in nine seasons.
The Volunteers fired head coach Philip Fulmer after a sub-.500 2008 NCAA campaign. Tennessee has had three head coaches since and will never play another game in the Georgia Dome.
This game would also feature two reasons that the BCS eventually gave way to the College Football Playoff. Georgia would finish No. 2 in the country but didn’t play in the SEC Championship. LSU would win a national title at 12-2. The 2007 NCAA season was really the beginning of the end of the BCS era. This SEC Championship Game had its play in the downfall of the BCS.