ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit has seen just about every big game venue in the country, so he has an interesting perspective when it comes to Championship Week.

“I call the Rose Bowl. National Championship. There’s nothing like this game. It’s just different. The SEC Championship I think means more to the players and coaches than the national championship,” Herbstreit said on “SEC Nation,” via Brandon Zimmerman.

Last year’s game drew a huge TV rating, and this year appears to be going along the same lines, because it has such national interest. Alabama’s comeback win over Georgia last year ranks as the highest rated and most-watched college football game, excluding bowls, since LSU-Alabama on CBS in 2011 (11.5, 20.0M), the Sports Media Watch reported. That was a matchup of the nation’s top two teams.

The Associated Press reported that CBS said last year’s game drew a 10.52 rating, an increase of 25 percent over last year’s SEC title game between Auburn and Georgia and the best rating for any non-bowl game since LSU and Alabama played a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in November 2011. That Game of the Century got an 11.9 rating on CBS.

The network said Alabama’s 35-28 victory in 2018 was the second-best rating for an SEC championship since the event started in 1992, trailing only Florida-Alabama in 2009 at 11.8.