Fansided

30 most shocking moments in college football history

By Nathaniel Reeves

Boise State's Ian Johnson scoring the winning 2-point conversion during the Fiesta Bowl between Boise State and Oklahoma at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on January 1, 2007. (Photo by Steve Grayson/WireImage)
Boise State's Ian Johnson scoring the winning 2-point conversion during the Fiesta Bowl between Boise State and Oklahoma at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on January 1, 2007. (Photo by Steve Grayson/WireImage) /
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15 OCT 1994: ALABAMA HEAD COACH GENE STALLINGS STANDS ON THE FIELD WITH HIS TEAM BEFORE THE CRIMSON TIDE’S 17-13 VICTORY OVER THE TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS AT NEYLAND STADIUM IN KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE Mandatory Credit: Rick Stewart/ALLSPORT
15 OCT 1994: ALABAMA HEAD COACH GENE STALLINGS STANDS ON THE FIELD WITH HIS TEAM BEFORE THE CRIMSON TIDE’S 17-13 VICTORY OVER THE TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS AT NEYLAND STADIUM IN KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE Mandatory Credit: Rick Stewart/ALLSPORT /

25. The SEC creates the first conference championship game

In a long-debated decision that many fans felt would never happen, the SEC changed college football forever with the creation of the first-ever conference championship game in 1992.

A former head coach at Central Michigan and athletic director at Vanderbilt, Roy Kramer was appointed SEC commissioner ahead of the 1990 season. Kramer immediately went to work making long-lasting changes in the conference, including adding Arkansas and South Carolina via expansion.

One year later, Kramer evoked a little-known bylaw and split the SEC into two divisions, with the winners of each meeting in a conference championship game. The move was not well received by many who worried playing an extra game could knock an SEC team out of the national championship, but most accepted it after learning of the lucrative paycheck each program would receive from the game.

No. 2 Alabama outlasted No. 12 Florida 28-21 on a late Antonio Langham pick six to win the first conference championship game in history, and would go on to capture the national title with a Sugar Bowl win over Miami. Had the outcomes been reversed with three-loss Florida knocking Alabama out of the national title picture, college football could look very different today.

Over 20 years later, just about every FBS conference has a championship game, and some of the same arguments are still being made, particularly in the Big 12. Love or hate the conference championship games, Kramer’s creation took everyone in the sport by surprise in 1992.

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