The SEC is not done yet.

Joe Burrow still has 1 game to go, 1 more chance to become the 1st FBS QB in history to throw 60 TD passes in a single season. (He has 55, already the 2nd-most in FBS history.)

The mere thought of anybody throwing 60 TD passes is preposterous, but it’s even more unbelievable when you consider LSU threw 59 TD passes in the 4 previous seasons combined.

Obviously we could each recount our favorite Burrow moment of the season, and some of us did, but we tried to show some restraint and league-wide love.

Here, then, is our favorite moment of the 2019 SEC season.

Connor O’Gara, senior national columnist

Joe Burrow getting a hero’s welcome for his final game at LSU was the stuff that makes sports great. The video that LSU tweeted out of him entering the Death Valley tunnel rocking the custom “Burreaux” jersey gives me chills just thinking about it. Let’s be honest. The year belonged to Burrow and the Tigers. That much we know.

And full disclosure, the fact that I kept banging the Burrow drum last year when he was considered by many to be a mediocre quarterback made it a little more gratifying to watch his rise. Did I think he’d be this good? No chance. But as a fellow Midwesterner who migrated to the South, I found myself getting more enjoyment out of how much Baton Rouge embraced Burrow. Seeing him on that stage get that kind of a sendoff was the stuff of movies.
Burrow’s 2019 season was made for Hollywood. It was perfectly fitting to get that kind of a moment in his last game in Death Valley.

Neil Blackmon, Florida columnist

For Florida, it was the return of the fearsome Swamp rising up against Auburn in early October. If there’s one game embodied what Dan Mullen is building in Gainesville, it was that Saturday.

Auburn came into Gainesville expected to dominate, with freshman Bo Nix the next big thing in college football. Instead, Florida’s roving band of reptilians on defense made him look like a frightened freshman, with a roaring cauldron of sound from The Swamp behind them. That combination: a swell of sound and fury from the stands and a swarming and relentless Gators defense led by the likes of the unblockable Jon Greenard and lockdown corner CJ Henderson, reminded anyone in the building of why Florida football can be so fun when the culture is right.

The best part though? Like so many Saturdays this season, the answer is Kyle Trask, who overcame a 1st-half knee injury to play on a brace and lead his team to a win over a Top 10 team. Nix had more career starts entering the game than Trask. But the better quarterback won, and on most Saturdays this fall, as it turned out, Kyle Trask was the better quarterback.

Michael Bratton, news editor

(I couldn’t limit it to just 1.)

No. 1: Ending of the Egg Bowl: Mississippi State dominated much of the Egg Bowl by doing what most teams couldn’t: limit John Rhys Plumlee. Once Ole Miss inserted Matt Corral into the game, things got more competitive and more chippy. Once both sides started to ratchet up the intensity, you just knew a wild finish was coming, but no one could have been the Shakespearean ending we were treated to when Elijah Moore lifted his leg, in one of the most foolish penalties in recent SEC history, only to see the Rebels miss the ensuing extra point to lose 21-20.

No. 2: LSU’s win in Austin: It’s hard to pick just one moment from LSU’s magical run to the National Championship Game, but I’m going with the first time we all saw what was in store this season for Joe Burrow and the Tigers’ new-look offense in a big-time setting. The Longhorns talked a ton of trash leading up to this game, but Burrow shut them up with the game on the line, which was the exact opposite of what LSU’s offense had been for nearly a decade, and the soon-to-be Heisman winner waiving goodbye to the Texas fans during the game!

No. 3 Tennessee closing out Mississippi State: This likely isn’t on many people’s radar, but Tennessee’s win over Mississippi State was a turning point this season — and for Jeremy Pruitt’s program. Putting aside the terrible start to the season, overall toughness and poor play on the offensive line have been issues dating to the 2015 season. This is the game where Tennessee finally showed it once again was capable of lining up against an SEC defense that knew what was coming yet simply could not stop the Vols from imposing their will. The coaching staff basically did not trust Jarrett Guarantano to throw the ball down the field in this game, but it didn’t matter because the running game sealed the win for Tennessee, which finished the season on a 6-1 streak at beating Mississippi State in Neyland Stadium.

David Wasson, Alabama columnist

Alabama did plenty of great things this season, but fans always enjoy watching a rival struggle a bit, too. That’s why my selection is a bit different.

Programs like Tennessee schedule lightweights like Georgia State for just one reason: schedule padding. It takes a paycheck to lure the Panthers to take a certain beating, and Georgia State deposited the $950,000 neatly into its bank account before taking the Neyland Stadium field on Aug. 31.

Good thing the money was in hand, too, as 24.5-point underdog Georgia State embarrassed Tennessee 38-30 — celebrating in a half-empty Neyland.

The Panthers never had beaten a Power 5 team since launching their program in 2010. The Sun Belt program was coming off a 2-10 season in which it lost its last 7 games, and 1 of its 2 wins came against FCS opponent Kennesaw State.

Don’t tell the Vols any of that, though.

“I’ve got one word — flabbergasted,” Tennessee safety Nigel Warrior said after the game.

Georgia State QB Dan Ellington threw for 2 touchdowns and rushed for a 3rd that was the eventual game-winner.

“We wanted to come out and prove everybody wrong,” Ellington said.

Joe Cox, Kentucky, SEC columnist

Joe Burrow’s emotional speech at the Heisman ceremony was my favorite moment.

The 2019 season certainly did not lack for electric on-field moments. The rise of LSU, the struggles of Bama, and an Iron Bowl to remember were just a few of the major stories that captured our attention. But none of those moments obscure the fact that college football is ultimately about people.

The story of 2019 was constructed when LSU cast its lot with a retread coach who I used to joke about sounding like Cookie Monster. Then they provided a home for a talented quarterback who had been recruited over at Ohio State. Who believed in Orgeron? Who believed in Burrow? Ultimately, they believed in each other.

The season has been amazing. The Heisman award is a phenomenal accomplishment. But what I’ll always remember was when Burrow broke into sobs trying to talk about his gratitude toward the school and the coach who took a big risk and handed him the keys to the car. Win or lose on Jan. 13, the final ride almost feels like an anticlimax.

Chris Wright, executive editor

I led this piece with a Burrow tribute and easily could continue. (Seriously, the fact that he has a chance to throw more TD passes this season than the Tigers did in the previous 4 seasons is mind-boggling.)

I’ll stay with LSU, but switch to the man who made every single bit of this possible: Ed Orgeron, the greatest bargain in college football.

He finally slayed the beast, in Tuscaloosa, no less. He didn’t just take on every challenge, he welcomed it with the bravado of a heavyweight champion entering the ring. His team followed his lead.

Some have questioned why he kept Burrow in some of these blowouts. I pointed out early in the season that, unlike the manner in which Nick Saban throttled down last year with Tua Tagovailoa, Orgeron allowed Burrow to chase and break records and ultimately win the Heisman.

Why? It’s good for business. What QB wouldn’t want to play for a coach who wants to win every game 70-0 instead of 42-3?

Even in the Playoff semifinal, Orgeron gave Burrow 2 possessions in the 2nd half to try to break the SEC record for TD passes in a game. Saban would have shut it down much earlier, either with a personnel move or game-plan adjustment.

There’s no let-up in Orgeron’s personality. As he so eloquently said. “We’re coming, and we ain’t backin’ down.”

The man who friends said could motivate a statue has ignited a state.