SEC gets what was expected
ATLANTA (AP) – Back in those dog days of August, when players were just reporting for two-a-days and no school is beyond dreaming of a title, this was the game everyone had circled on the schedule.
Before anyone had taken a snap, Florida and Alabama already were penciled in for a rematch in the Southeastern Conference championship game.
Well, here they are, having survived the gauntlet of 12 grueling games and three months of expectations, scrutiny and pressure with not one slip-up between them.
The Gators vs. the Crimson Tide. No. 1 vs. No. 2.
“It’s always in the back of your mind,” Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain said. “We want that rematch. They put us out of our run for the national championship last year, and we haven’t forgotten.”
This is the second year in a row the teams have been 1-2 when they clashed for the SEC championship, though the roles were reversed in 2008. Alabama was undefeated and sitting on top, while Florida had clawed its way back to the second spot after an upset loss to Ole Miss.
Both teams made it through unscathed this time, marking one of those rare times in sports when not one, but two teams do everything that was projected of them.
Win big. Win close. Win them all.
“We had a plan to go to the SEC championship. That’s the whole goal. That’s the mindset for the whole team,” Florida defensive back Joe Haden said. “Now we’re all sitting here undefeated, (playing for the) SEC championship. We win this, we go on to the national championship.”
Basically, it’s a national semifinal game, a most enticing crumb thrown to all those proponents of a playoff system. The winner heads to Pasadena for the BCS championship. The loser likely to the Sugar Bowl.
There’s plenty of motivation on both sides. Florida is going for its second straight national title and third in four years, the perfect capper for Tim Tebow’s brilliant career.
Alabama is eager to make up for a 31-20 loss to the Gators last year, its perfect season snatched away in the final 15 minutes.
Florida has been the SEC’s dominant team since Steve Spurrier guided the school to its first conference title in 1991. The Gators now have nine trophies in their case.