Roy Kramer, who served as SEC Commissioner from 1990 to 2002, knew he was taking a major risk when he decided to capitalize on an NCAA rule that allowed any conference with 12 or more members, and split into two divisions, to set up their own conference championship, exempt from the regular season.
What Kramer ended up doing is creating one of the premier spectacles in college football.
The inaugural Southeastern Conference Championship game occurred at Legion Field in Birmingham on Dec. 5, 1992. The game featured No. 2 Alabama defeating No. 12 Florida, 28-21, en route to Alabama football’s twelfth national championship.
With 3:25 remaining in the fourth quarter and the score tied at 21, Alabama cornerback Antonio Langham picked off a pass from Shane Matthews and ran it back 27 yards to give Alabama the lead and eventually the win. This was the first of many memorable moments to take place in the SEC Championship.
However, with the recent decision to expand the College Football Playoff to 24 teams becoming official on Monday, the SEC Championship will be coming to an end after the conclusion of the 2026 season.
Expanding the playoffs to 24 teams has undoubtedly sparked outrage from college football fans and analysts alike, as many point to the regular season beginning to feel less meaningful.
“The sport has really been built over the years on the interest that comes from the magnitude of stakes in the regular season game,” Rece Davis, the host of College GameDay, said. “Pointing everything to a larger playoff, I think will come at a higher cost than we want.”
Despite this backlash, the undeniable truth is that the sport is changing, and fans will have to watch some of the values and traditions of the sport, including conference championships, go away for good.
With that being said, the final SEC Championship game will be played on Dec. 5 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, exactly 34 years to the day of the first-ever conference championship between Alabama and Florida. Five teams currently have the best chances to reach the championship game, and here is a look at each team’s remaining schedule.
The top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs sit atop the SEC standings with a 6-1 conference record and an 8-1 record overall. The Bulldogs’ only loss came on Oct. 17, when the Auburn Tigers walked into Sanford Stadium as a 19.5-point underdog and walked out with a 27-24 upset victory.
The Bulldogs will host No. 22 Missouri in Athens this Saturday, and then will travel to Columbia to end conference play at No. 17 South Carolina. The Bulldogs will be favored in both matchups, and if Georgia just wins one of these two games, they most likely will have a spot in Atlanta.
The third-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide currently sits behind Georgia with a 5-2 conference record and 7-2 overall record, with its two losses coming to Georgia on Oct. 10 and Tennessee on Oct. 17. Alabama is coming off a 31-13 victory against then-ranked No. 14 LSU in Baton Rouge, and the Crimson Tide is currently listed as a 15.5-point favorite over Vanderbilt and should also be heavy favorites when hosting the Auburn Tigers on Nov. 28.
The No. 11 Kentucky Wildcats are currently tied for second with Alabama in the SEC standings, also sitting with a 5-2 record in conference and a 7-2 overall record. The Wildcats lost to the Crimson Tide 45-17 back on Sept. 12, and just lost this past Saturday to the Tennessee Volunteers, 34-6, in Knoxville.
Kentucky will host the Florida Gators before ending its conference slate with a tough road game against No. 22 Missouri in Columbia.
The No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers also have two conference losses, with those being to Texas on Sept. 26 and South Carolina on Oct. 24. But, the Volunteers only have four conference wins, as they still have to play at Texas A&M, vs. LSU, and at Vanderbilt to close out their season.
The last SEC team with two conference losses is the No. 6 Texas Longhorns, with those being a 27-24 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners on Oct. 10 and the Florida Gators on Oct. 17. Similar to the Volunteers, the Longhorns still have to play three more conference games to get to seven overall, as they will travel to Baton Rouge to take on LSU on Saturday, before ending the regular season hosting Arkansas and traveling to Texas A&M.
If all teams win their remaining games, the second team to play Georgia would be uncertain. According to Mike Rodak of 247sports, the tiebreaker between Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas “would come down to conference opponents’ winning percentage”, which Alabama currently holds an edge in.
https://x.com/mikerodak/status/2119275718442180872
Alabama would also make it to Atlanta if at least Tennessee and Texas dropped another conference game. Alabama has the head-to-head win over Kentucky, which would send the Crimson Tide to Atlanta if the two finish the season with the same conference record.
If Tennessee drops one or more of its remaining games, Texas, Kentucky, and Alabama would be competing for the second spot in Atlanta. In this scenario, Texas would have the edge because the Longhorns defeated Tennessee, whom Alabama and Kentucky lost to.
Texas dropping another game and just leaving Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky would give the Volunteers the second spot because Alabama and Kentucky both lost to the Volunteers. The same would be true if Kentucky and Texas both drop a game, as well as Alabama and Texas, because Tennessee would have the head-to-head tiebreaker over both Kentucky and Alabama.
Kentucky would make it to Atlanta if Texas, Tennessee, and Alabama all drop another conference game, but Kentucky wins out in the SEC. Besides that, losing to Tennessee and Alabama and not playing Texas at all really hurts the Wildcats’ chances.
Whatever team makes it to Atlanta on Dec. 5 is still determinant on how Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas finish their conference slates. While it is very uncertain and confusing on who would get the second spot now, whoever is a real contender for the second spot will make itself clearer within the next two weeks.
The final SEC Championship Game in Atlanta will kick off at 4 p.m. EST, 3 p.m. CST on ABC.