Ranking the top 5 SEC championship teams since 1992
What began in 1992 as the brainchild of then-SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer has changed the game of college football.
Conference championships have become the literally icing on the cake in a sport that draws heartfelt passion from all over the nation, but especially in the Southeast where college football is often more than just a game.
The SEC Championship has seen its share of great teams over the years, the most recent being this year’s Alabama team that handled Florida 29-15 at the Georgia Dome last weekend to claim its second consecutive league crown and reach the College Football Playoff for the second consecutive year.
Alabama’s defense was spectacular, and Derrick Henry put the finishing touches on his Heisman Trophy resume.
The Tide dominated in 2015, but did it do enough to rank among the top 5 SEC champions since 1992? We take a look back at five of the best.
RANKING THE TOP SEC CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS SINCE 1992
5. 1998 Tennessee (13-0): Tasked to fill the shoes of the great Peyton Manning, quarterback Tee Martin responded by leading the Vols to an unbeaten season and their first national championship since 1951 with a thrilling 23-16 decision over Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl in the inaugural season of the BCS. In addition to boasting one of the best names ever, star receiver Peerless Price earned SEC Championship Game MVP honors against Mississippi State before registering a four-catch, 199-yard performance against the Seminoles.
4. 1996 Florida (12-1): The Gators atoned for a horrific national championship game loss to Nebraska the previous season with Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Danny Wuerrfel and most of the playmakers on the original Fun-N-Gun squad turning the tables on rival Florida State with a 52-20 thumping in the Sugar Bowl.
The ‘Noles had narrowly beaten the Gators 24-21 a little more than a month earlier to seemingly kill any chances coach Steve Spurrier’s team had of contending for the national title.
Fate, however, had other ideas as everything fell into place to set up a rematch between the two rivals after Florida beat Alabama in the SEC Championship Game and Texas upset Nebraska in the Big XII final.
The national title was the first in Florida history.
3. 2010 Auburn (14-0): Junior college transfer (and one-time Florida Gator) Cam Newton was the key to one of the most prolific offenses in college football history, leading the Tigers to their first consensus national championship since 1957.
Newton, who had been surrounded by controversy all season, set several SEC records and was the runaway choice to become the school’s third Heisman Trophy winner, joining quarterback Pat Sullivan (1971) and running back Bo Jackson (1985).
Auburn blitzed South Carolina 56-17 in the SEC Championship Game before outlasting Oregon for the national title. The Tigers, however, had notched their most memorable game a few weeks earlier when they stormed back from a 24-point deficit on the road to stun rival and reigning national champion Alabama in the 75th Iron Bowl. Newton became the No. 1 overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft.
2. 2008 Florida (13-1): Urban Meyer’s second national title team in his three seasons might have been the best in Gators history, led by Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, a slew of NFL Draft picks and a prolific defense.
Florida outlasted unbeaten and top-ranked Alabama 31-20 in the SEC Championship Game to reach the national title game against Oklahoma, a Big XII champion that set several league records for total offense with Heisman passer Sam Bradford.
The Gators won to become the first team during the BCS era to win two titles with the same coach. The championship followed on the heels of Tebow’s now-immortalized declaration following a regular-season loss to Ole Miss that no team would match Florida’s physicality the rest of the way.
1. 2009 Alabama (14-0): The Crimson Tide avenged the previous year’s loss to top-ranked Tebow and the Florida Gators in the SEC title game before heading to the Rose Bowl and beating Texas for the first of three national championships under coach Nick Saban.
It was a season of highs for Alabama, which saw running back Mark Ingram become the school’s first Heisman Trophy winner. Other big-time talents on that special team included wide receiver Julio Jones, nose tackle Terrence Cody and linebackers Rolando McClain and Dont’a Hightower.
The Crimson Tide made history that season by becoming the first FBS team to defeat six ranked teams in a single season and set the all-time program record for total wins in a season.