Best SEC teams of the last decade: No. 2 ('09 Alabama)

Editor’s note: SDS is ranking the 10 best SEC teams of the last decade (since 2005). Previously revealed: No. 10 LSU (2007), No. 9 Alabama (2008), No. 8 LSU (2011), No. 7 Florida (2009), No. 6 Alabama (2012), No. 5 Florida (2006), No. 4 Alabama (2011) and No. 3 Auburn (2010).

2.) 2009 Alabama (14-0, BCS National Champions)

Entering the ’09 season, Florida, not Alabama, was the heavy SEC and national favorite. Tim Tebow entered the year as a senior trying to earn his second Heisman Trophy and still surrounded by a plethora of NFL talent on both sides of the ball.

Coach Urban Meyer and the Gators had ruined Alabama’s perfect season in ’08 on the way to a national championship.

The Tide offense returned four “starters” (receiver Mike McCoy was a backup on the ’09 team) and had to replace left tackle Andre Smith, quarterback John Parker Wilson and running back Glen Coffee.

But a defense that allowed just 11.7 points per game helped overcome occasional offensive stalls, as the ’09 Tide won games in which it scored 22, 20, 12, 24 and 26 points, most of them handily. But Julio Jones, Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson and Marquis Maze provided plenty of explosive plays as well.

The one real scare came against Lane Kiffin’s Tennessee team on Oct. 24, as the Vols corralled Greg McElroy and the offense. But Terrence “Mount” Cody blocked two very makable field goal attempts in the fourth quarter, including a game-winning try with four seconds left, and Alabama held on for a 12-10 victory.

The Tide flogged Tebow and company in the SEC championship game, as the defense shut out Florida in the second half, marking the beginning of the end of the Meyer era in Gainesville.

Alabama then claimed its first unbeaten season and national championship since the 1992 team coached by Gene Stallings upset Miami.

Nick Saban has gone on to bring two more national titles to Tuscaloosa and a bevy of Top 5 finishes, but he’ll always be remembered for the ’09 season and for turning Alabama back into the best program in college football in three short years.

Ingram became the first Alabama player ever to win a Heisman Trophy with 1,992 yards from scrimmage and 20 touchdowns. Linebacker Rolando McClain won the Butkus and Jack Lambert Awards and defensive coordinator Kirby Smart won the Frank Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in the country.

Ingram, McClain, Cody, Mike Johnson and Javier Arenas were unanimous or consensus All-Americans.

Best offensive player: RB Mark Ingram
Best defensive player: LB Rolando McClain
Best win: Wins against Top 10 teams Virginia Tech, LSU and Texas were nice. But crushing Tim Tebow and No. 1 Florida in the SEC Championship trumps those victories.
Defining moment: Marcell Dareus sacked Colt McCoy on the second series of the national championship game, pinching a nerve in the Texas quarterback’s shoulder. The Tide then picked off backup Garrett Gilbert four times, including one right before halftime that Dareus returned 28 yards for a touchdown.

ALABAMA’S 2009 SCHEDULE