Greg McElroy had one of the most special performances of his Alabama career in the 2009 SEC Championship Game.
The former Crimson Tide signal-caller led Alabama to a 32-13 rout of defending national champion and bitter rival Florida, which paved the way for another win in the national championship game against Texas. In that SEC title game, McElroy threw for 239 yards with a touchdown and was named the game’s MVP.
And now, a decade and a half later, McElroy the ESPN college football analyst believes Alabama will be heading back to yet another SEC Championship Game in December.
On Thursday morning, during his Always College Football podcast, McElroy the analyst told his viewers who he believes will play his alma mater in Atlanta this time around. Not many should be surprised that McElroy thinks Arch Manning and preseason No. 1 Texas, the same program McElroy took down in that 2009 national title game, will oppose Alabama for the 2025 SEC title.
So, McElroy has the Horns and the Tide hooking up in a colossal showdown of college football bluebloods. And who will prevail and raise that coveted SEC trophy?
“In the championship, I’m taking the Texas Longhorns over the Alabama Crimson Tide to win the SEC. I just think with some of the youth with Texas has, particularly at quarterback, particularly at wide receiver, and some of the guys that will be rolling in on defense, they’re a little deeper and they have a slightly higher ceiling than Alabama at this point,” explained McElroy on his podcast.
The season begins in a few days, and the SEC schedule will get rolling in about a month. And in early December, we’ll ultimately find out how close McElroy was to nailing his SEC title game picks.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
