We’ve all owned a reliable car, the old trusty that may not be a classic hot rod or import delight but gets the job done whenever you need.

You drove it until the tires needed to be replaced, right?

Several SEC staffs have taken that same approach during championship seasons, riding their No. 1 tailback to the promised land with little regard for others on the depth chart. There’s five former SEC ballcarriers in particular who had their pedals mashed to the floor during their best seasons, some for the duration of their careers.

Here’s a few of the best examples of SEC running backs from the past who carried their respective team to a division or conference title:

All aboard the Walker Express

A three-time Heisman finalist and the 1982 winner of the prestigious award during his time in Athens, Herschel Walker led the SEC in carries throughout his tenure as a three (sometimes four) down workhorse for coach Vince Dooley and the Bulldogs. Georgia went 18-0 in the SEC while riding the three-time All-American. As an 18-year-old freshman in 1980, Walker’s 1,1616 yards and 15 touchdowns directed the program to a national championship during an unbeaten season. The SEC’s all-time leading rusher with more than 5,000 yards, Walker ranks 12th on the all-time list.

Little engine that could

Tre Mason’s three-game burst to end his junior season at Auburn ranks among the best stretches for a running back in college football history. Not only did he help carry the Tigers to a berth in the SEC Championship Game, he simply never tired inside the Georgia Dome after posting a title game-record 46 carries for 304 yards. After posting three 100-yard games his first two seasons at Auburn, something clicked as a junior for 5-foot-8, 210-pound tank. Mason’s SEC-leading 1,816 yards rushing was seventh-best in all of college football and featured nine 100-yard games including seven during the Tigers’ nine straight wins to earn a berth in the BCS National Championship game. Mason’s 237 total yards and two touchdowns — including a 37-yard burst with 1:19 to play — should’ve been enough to beat top-ranked Florida State, but a missed tackle and a blown coverage late cost Auburn a national title.

Latti’s first-year dominance

A touchdown machine as a five-star true freshman during the 2010 season, Marcus Lattimore was anointed South Carolina’s offensive savior during the Gamecocks’ first and only run to an SEC Eastern Division championship. Lattimore posted four three-touchdown games, exploded for 184 and 182-yard outings during wins over longtime rivals Georgia and Tennessee, helped the Gamecocks upset top-ranked Alabama and best of all, carried Steve Spurrier’s team to its first-ever win in The Swamp in a battle that decided the East title. Lattimore carried the football 40 times for 212 yards and three touchdowns that night. Arguably the most memorable season in Gamecocks history, it marked Lattimore’s only healthy fall in Columbia and will be remembered as one of the SEC’s all-time best for a true freshman.

Facilitator of the Wildhog

This two-time Heisman runner-up and multi-year winner of the Doak Walker Award actually had a supporting cast with the Razorbacks, but Houston Nutt insisted on making No. 5 the focal point of his offense, putting the football in his hands every chance he got as a sophomore and junior. Darren McFadden led the SEC in plays from scrimmage during the 2006 and 2007 seasons, finishing seventh on the all-time list with an incredible 831 snaps over a three-year span. He led the league in rushing as a second-year starter and paced one of the nation’s top offenses to a Western Division crown in 2006. McFadden touched the football 51 more times as a junior before he decided it was time to save some of his talent for the pros.

Mr. Touchdown

It’s hard to believe there was any gas left in Shaun Alexander’s tank after carrying Alabama to an SEC Championship as a senior in 1999. He shook off a mesmerizing 560 carries over his final two seasons in Tuscaloosa to set several franchise and NFL rushing records at the next level with the Seattle Seahawks. Ninth on the SEC’s all-time plays from scrimmage list, Alexander posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons to finish out his career and posted a league-best 32 touchdowns over that span as the program’s all-time leading rusher.