SEC Sports Blog

It began with Nick Saban calling a fake punt deep in his own territory that backfired and ended with Saban’s white Alabama shirt turned pink by the red Gatorade that was dumped on him as his Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Texas Longhorns 37-21. After jumping out to a 24-6 halftime lead on the Longhorns who were without star QB Colt McCoy, Alabama went conservative as Texas cut the Tide’s lead to 24-21 in the 4th quarter. But the Alabama defense stepped it up when they needed to and Heisman Trophy winner had two rushing TDs to lead Alabama to the National Championship.

The SEC opens up with Kentucky facing Clemson in the Music City Bowl on December 27th.  The Georgia Bulldogs next face Texas A&M on December 28th in the Independence Bowl.  The Tennessee Volunteers face a difficult test when they battle Virginia Tech on December 31st.  The Auburn Tigers will battle the Northwestern Wildcats on January 1st in the Outback Bowl while  LSU will battle Penn State in an evenly-matched game later that day in the Capital One Bowl.  On January 2nd Ole Miss will battle Oklahoma State and South Carolina will test UCONN before Arkansas faces East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl.  Then in the finale, Alabama takes on Texas for the BCS Title.  The Crimson Tide will have their hands full with Colt McCoy and the Longhorns as they face off in the BCS Championship bowl game.

The Florida Gators lost a chance at immortality as their quest for a repeat championship was thwarted by a determined Alabama team.  The Tide rolled over the Gators by being more physical and dominating the line of scrimmage.  Heisman hopeful Mark Ingram ran for 113 yards yards and three scores leading ‘Bama to an impressive 32-13 victory.  The win sends Alabama to the BCS National Championship where they will battle the Texas Longhorns.  The Gators will face upstart Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl on January 1st.  The game will be the last for one of the greatest players in NCAA history as Tim Tebow will attempt to go out on a high note. For the entire bowl schedule to see where all of the SEC bowl teams will play, look to our friends at Football-Bowl.com.

In Tim Tebow’s final home game the Gators rolled rival Florida State 37-10. Tim Tebow is not only one of the greatest college football players of all time possibly one of the best character people to ever step on the field.  He will go for his 3rd SEC title on December 5th when Florida faces #2 Alabama.  The Crimson Tide struggled in the Iron Bowl but managed to get the victory 26-21.  The SEC title should be a good one in what will be a rematch of last year’s SEC Championship game.  The #13 LSU Tigers defeated Arkansas 33-30 in overtime to end the season at 9-3 and Mississippi fell out of the Top 25 with their loss to rival Mississippi State. SEC fans can now celebrate the holidays in warmth with college Snuggies.

The Florida Gators defeated Florida International 62-3.  The #1 Gators host in state rival Florida State on the 21st.  Meanwhile, the #2 Alabama Crimson Tide defeated Chattanooga 45-0.  Alabama will travel to Auburn for the Iron Bowl on November 27th in what is one of the most bitter rivalries in all of college football.  In a game that was actually worth watching, the LSU Tigers dropped from #8 to #15 following a very tough loss at Ole Miss.  The Tigers were put in field goal position via a long pass which stopped the clock with one second remaining and no timeouts left.  Instead of rushing the field goal team on the field, the Tigers attempted to spike the ball to stop the clock.  The end result was the clock ran out and Ole Miss got the victory.  The thrilling win put Ole Miss back in the Top 25 rankings at #25.

Florida remained #1 with their 24-14 victory at South Carolina.  The Gators step out of conference to gain a cupcake victory when they face Florida International.  Alabama looked very impressive in their 31-3 win at Mississippi State.  The #2 Crimson Tide also step out of conference to gain an easy victory as they host Chattanooga.  The LSU Tigers didn’t play well but still defeated Louisiana Tech 24-16.  The Tigers travel to Ole Miss this week in what should be a very tough contest and have major impact on the SEC in the college football bowl projections.

The Florida Gators remained #1 in the Top 25 rankings after dominating Vanderbilt 27-3.  The Gators will have a tougher test when they face old nemesis Steve Spurrier at South Carolina.  The Crimson Tide jumped Texas to #2 after a 24-15 victory over LSU.  Alabama travels to Mississippi State this week which could be a tough test.  Despite the loss, the Tigers moved up one slot to #8 as LSU steps out of conference to face Louisiana Tech on the 14th. LSU, now not likely to play in a BSC Bowl game, seems slated for the Capital One Bowl against Iowa or Penn State in the 2009-2010 bowl projections.

In the SEC it is expected that the conference sends 7-9 teams each year to bowl games while the conference is looked upon as the best in the country. While the SEC Champion Florida Gators will have a chance to prove conference supremacy against the Champions of the upstart Big 12 Conference, 8 teams from the Southeastern Conference are indeed bowling this season. For more on all of these bowl games check out the 2008 college bowl previews provided by College Sports Fans.

Florida Gators - Florida is the headliner of the group having a 12-1 record and #2 ranking in the BCS. The Gators will face the #1 Oklahoma Sooners in the BCS Championship Game on January 8th as Florida looks for a 2nd National Championship in 4 years under Urban Meyer. 2008-2009 BCS Championship preview

Alabama Crimson Tide - The Crimson Tide also finished 12-1 with their lone loss to Florida in the SEC Championship. The loss dropped Alabama to #4 in the nation and set them up for a Sugar Bowl showdown with the #6 Utah Utes who are 12-0 on the year. 2008-2009 Sugar Bowl preview

Georgia Bulldogs - At 9-3 you would think it has been a successful season for the Bulldogs. But Georgia had their eyes on a National Championship and 3 losses look like a losing season to many Georgia fans. The Bulldogs can strengthen the SEC’s dominance over the Big Ten with a win over Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl on New Year’s Day. 2008-2009 Capital One Bowl preview

Mississippi Rebels - Ole Miss came back from a terrible 2007 campaign as Houston Nutt turned the Rebels around and into a 8-4 team in 2008. This season Ole Miss will play on January 2nd against Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl as they look for their 9th win of the season. 2008-2009 Cotton Bowl preview

South Carolina - After a 1-2 start Steve Spurrier’s team bounced back for 4 straight wins, but a 2-3 close to the regular season kept the Gamecocks out of a bigger bowl game. The Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day is quite a nice prize, but South Carolina (7-5) will have their hands full with #20 Iowa. 2008-2009 Outback Bowl preview

LSU Tigers - After a BCS Championship a season ago, Les Miles’ team fell all the way to 7-5, including 3-5 in the SEC in 2008. LSU comes in with a 2-game losing streak after winning 7 of their first 10 games. Their New Year’s Eve match-up with the stellar running attack of #13 Georgia Tech in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl could prove the salvation of their 2008 season. 2008 Chick-Fil-A Bowl preview

Vanderbilt Commodores - The media-darling early in the season after their 5-0 start, Vanderbilt finished the season with 6 losses in 7 games yet they are bowl eligible at 6-6. Vandy matches up with the Music City Bowl which will be an easy travel for their fans. The Commodores will face 9-4 Boston College, the ACC runner-up, a program looking for their 3rd straight 10-win season. 2008 Music City Bowl preview

Kentucky Wildcats - Kentucky was able to be bowl eligible in 2008 thanks to a very weak non-conference schedule where they faced four teams who ended 2008 with losing records. At 2-6 in the SEC it is hard to justify their bowl game, but they should prove a tough match-up for Conference USA Champion East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl. 2008-2009 Liberty Bowl preview