Top 10 national championship teams from SEC over past 26 years
Sometimes I think about Greg Sankey in his office in Birmingham and all I can think of is Scrooge McDuck.
Not that Sankey is cheap or narcissistic. But I still imagine him sitting inside a safe on piles and piles of cash, throwing bills in the air with the enthusiasm of a lottery winner.
No matter what they want to do to the SEC, it’s bulletproof. Non-SEC fans were having a field day on Twitter when the league started bowl season 0-4 – not bothering to notice that 13 teams had qualified – and then were humbled at the end when two SEC teams played it off again.
As a result, the SEC won its 15th national championship in the last 26 seasons. During that same stretch, the next best conference has four.
And there is no reason to think that this dynasty is going to change. Populations continue to move to the South and the additions of Texas and Oklahoma are going to make it feel like the SEC has all the resources necessary to keep it going.
Oh, there are schools that can compete enough to win one occasionally. But it’s an SEC football world and when you hear that CBS college football intro you know something epic is about to happen.
There have been some great teams during this run. We give you the 10 best championship teams from the SEC over the last 26 years.
Florida 2006
Jon Way-USA TODAY Sports
The Gators had two quarterbacks – one who would become the school’s all-time leading passer and the other its all-time leader in rushing touchdowns. Plus, a freshman wide receiver who might have been the best athlete to ever play at Florida.
Oh, and the defense made Ohio State miserable in the title game.
Alabama 2009
Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
The Tide caught a break when Colt McCoy of Texas was injured on the first series of the title game. But to get there, Alabama had to beat No. 1 Florida in a game they had been looking forward to for a full year.
They were good enough in that game to help Mark Ingram become the school’s first (of many) Heisman winner.
Alabama 2015
Mickey Welsh-Montgomery
Even though the Tide lost an early game to Ole Miss, they shifted into high gear against a brutal schedule.
In winning the national title, Alabama beat eight ranked teams. That included Florida in the SEC title game, a shutout win over Michigan State in the semifinals and a 45-40 win over Clemson in one of the greatest games ever played.
LSU 2003
Brian Bahr/Getty Images
OK, this team lost to Ron Zook and Florida. At home.
And Nick Saban’s first national title was shared because the AP had USC No. 1.
So what? This LSU team was rugged on defense and handed Oklahoma a 21-14 loss in the title game after manhandling Georgia to win the SEC championship.
Florida 2008
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
This team was loaded with future NFL players and a one-point loss against Ole Miss was the inspiration it needed (Tim Tebow offered the verbal boost with “The Promise“).
The Gators beat Alabama in the SEC title game (a No. 1 vs. No. 2 match-up) and Oklahoma in the national championship game (another No. 1 vs. No. 2 match-up).
While Tebow received a lot of the praise, it was a loaded defense that played at a different level the bigger the game.
Georgia 2021
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Built on a ridiculously stingy defense, the Bulldogs won their first national championship in 41 years.
The dominant season was marred by a blowout loss against Alabama in the SEC title game, but the Bulldogs breezed past Michigan in the playoffs and then handled the Tide in a rematch.
Alabama 2011
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
This might have been the best Alabama defense during their run. They did lose 9-6 to LSU during the regular season but got revenge with a 21-0 win in the most boring national championship game ever.
Alabama made things boring because of that defense.
Florida 1996
Andy Lyons/Getty Images
The fact that this was the first Florida team to win a national championship is a factor here, but so was the manner in which they did it.
Sure, the Gators needed some help after a three-point loss in Tallahassee, but they got it and took advantage of it.
Heisman winner Danny Wuerffel lit up Alabama in the SEC title game and then put 52 on FSU in the rematch. Don’t forget, these Gators also made it 4-0 against Peyton Manning with a win over the No. 2 Vols in Knoxville.
Florida was loaded on offense with three effective tailbacks and three ridiculous wide receivers. But the defense was salty as well.
LSU 2019
Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
With Joe Burrow leading the way, the offense was unstoppable. Even if you scored, they’d score twice.
In their last five regular-season games, the SEC title game and the first round of the playoffs, they won by an average of 26 points before taking care of Clemson in the final, 42-25.
The offense set records that may not be broken for a while and the defense had a pair of All-Americans in Grant Delpit and Derek Stingley Jr.
LSU beat five teams ranked in the top 10 in the final AP poll.
Alabama 2020
Butch Dill-USA TODAY Sports
The biggest reason to put this team at the top was that it went undefeated playing an All-SEC schedule because of COVID. Then, it had to beat a dynamic Florida team in the SEC title game.
By the time it got to the playoffs, it was a breeze including a 52-24 rout of Ohio State in the confetti game.
DeVonta Smith was good enough to win the Heisman as a wide receiver and it didn’t hurt that Alabama had so many quality wideouts there was no answer for the offense. The Tide also had the nation’s best offensive line.
This wasn’t a vintage Alabama defense, but nobody played defense during the 2020 season.
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