Best SEC teams of the last decade: No. 7 (’09 Florida)

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).

7.) 2009 FLORIDA (13-1)

After winning the 2008 national championship, the Gators retained two of the three with huge NFL decisions as QB Tim Tebow and LB Brandon Spikes came back and WR Percy Harvin turned pro.

Florida returned the entire two-deep from a defense that allowed just 12.9 points per game, a Heisman-winning quarterback and skill players like Riley Cooper, Aaron Hernandez and Jeff Demps. As a result, the Gators earned the highest percentage of preseason No. 1 votes in the history of the Associated Press poll.

The Gators cruised through the first five games, allowing a combined 32 points. Tebow led a game-winning field goal drive against Arkansas on homecoming as Florida lost four fumbles and escaped a monumental upset. That was the only one-possession game the team played in the regular season.

The 2009 SEC championship represented the height of the Nick Saban-Urban Meyer rivalry in the SEC, as both teams were at the peak of their historical runs. Trailing 19-13 at halftime, Tebow and the offense fell flat against the Crimson Tide, failing to score another point. The Gators rushed for just 88 yards, leaving Tebow in tears.

Meyer quietly checked into a hospital with chest pains after the loss, eventually taking a leave of absence, getting talked into returning in 2010 and eventually taking a break from coaching.

Unlike Alabama the year before, though, Florida rallied to win the Sugar Bowl.

Florida’s defense allowed just 12.4 points on the year, featuring players like Carlos Dunlap, Brandon Spikes, Joe Haden, Janoris Jenkins, Jermaine Cunningham, Major Wright and Ahmad Black.

In the 2010 NFL draft, this Florida team produced three first-round picks, three second-round picks and one player each in the third, fourth and fifth rounds.

Best offensive player: Tim Tebow
Best defensive player: Joe Haden
Best win: at No. 4 LSU, as Florida’s loaded defense shut down QB Jordan Jefferson, WR Brandon LaFell and RB Charles Scott.
Defining moments: The SEC title game was the first time any conference championship in college football featured two unbeatens, and it was perhaps the most disappointing big game of Tebow’s career. One week after knocking off the Tigers on the road, Florida narrowly escaped Arkansas, 23-20, in part due to a controversial personal foul call against the Razorbacks.

FLORIDA’S 2009 SCHEDULE