Everyone knows about the dominance that the SEC has had over college football over the last decade. The conference’s influence on the college football world is felt every year when the topic of College Football Playoffs comes up, there always needs to be an SEC school playing in the playoffs.
It seems like every year an SEC school is in the national championship whether it is Alabama, Georgia, or LSU. This season, Alabama was the only hope for the SEC to have a team from the conference in the national championship game. The Crimson Tide lost in overtime to the Michigan Wolverines. The maize and blue will play the Washington Huskies for the national title on Monday.
When was the last time an SEC school did not appear in the national championship game?
SEC Dominance in National Championship
Let’s put it all into perspective: the SEC almost always seems to have one team in the national championship. They even have had two teams in there at times.
Twice since the College Football Playoffs began in the 2014-2015 season, two SEC teams have played each other: Alabama and the Georgia Bulldogs. The two teams split the series with the Crimson Tide winning the first game and Georgia winning the second.
For eight years in a row, one or two SEC schools made the national championship game. Six of those eight years have been won by the SEC.
Alabama leads with three national titles with Georgia right behind, boasting two national titles. The LSU Tigers are the other SEC school with one national championship under their résumé — winning in 2020.
The Last Time an SEC School Did Not Make the National Title
The answer just so happens to be the first college football season to feature the current four-team playoff format back in the 2014-2015 season.
Alabama came in as the first-ranked team in the country going 12-1 during the season including an SEC Title win over the Missouri Tigers, doing so in dominant fashion 42-13. The Crimson Tide took on the fourth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in the Sugar Bowl.
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Ohio State went into the game as heavy underdogs due to their top two quarterbacks Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett being knocked out with season-ending injuries. Third-string quarterback Cardale Jones led the Buckeyes to an impressive 59-0 win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Title game.
It was a back-and-forth affair between the two teams that would eventually end in an Ohio State upset over Alabama, 42-35, thanks to an Ezekiel Elliot 85-yard touchdown run to seal the win for the Buckeyes.
The Oregon Ducks would be the other team in the national championship game with Ohio State. The Buckeyes defied the odds to win it all, 42-20.
With the prospect of another national championship game being played without an SEC school, fans will hope for a close game between arguably the two best teams in college football in Michigan and Washington. The two undefeated teams battle it out on Monday at 7:30 pm EST on ESPN.
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