Alabama Football Wins 26th SEC Football Championship
By David Wasson
The Alabama football program has more SEC Championships than any other school and won its third conference title in as many seasons.
Alabama football won its SEC-leading 26th conference football championship Saturday when the top-ranked Crimson Tide downed the Florida Gators 54-16 in the SEC Championship Game at the Georgia Dome.
The Crimson Tide has more SEC Championships than any other school and won its third conference title in as many seasons. Alabama’s 33 first-half points set an SEC Championship Game record. The Crimson Tide won its 25th straight game.
Alabama forced three Florida turnovers, including a 44-yard interception return for a touchdown by Minkah Fitzpatrick, and blocked a Gators punt that Joshua Jacobs returned 27 yards for a score.
Alabama’s defense allowed 0 rushing yards on 30 carries to Florida, and pressured Gators quarterback Austin Appleby all night long. Florida’s longest run of the day was for 7 yards.
After a slow start, Alabama’s rushing game piled up 234 yards on the ground (91 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns from leading rusher Bo Scarborough), and quarterback Jalen Hurts combined for 139 total yards and a touchdown.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama will be the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoffs, and will draw the No. 4 seed when the final pairings are announced Sunday. The CFP semifinals are at the Peach Bowl and Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31, with the CFP National Championship Game set for Jan. 9, 2017 in Tampa, Fla.
Alabama won the first SEC championship during the 1933 season as head coach Frank Thomas led the Crimson Tide to 5-0-1 conference record. Thomas led Alabama to four SEC championships. Paul “Bear” Bryant directed the Crimson Tide to six national championships and 13 SEC titles during his 25-year run in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama won five straight SEC championships from 1971-75 and captured eight of the 10 SEC championships from 1970-79. In addition to Thomas and Bryant, Alabama has had five other coaches win SEC championships, including Harold “Red” Drew (1953), Bill Curry (1989), Gene Stallings (1992), Mike DuBose (1999) and Nick Saban (2009, 2012, 2014 and 2015).
In addition to its 26 SEC championships, Alabama football also won four Southern Conference titles (1924, 1925, 1926 and 1930), giving the school 29 conference football championships.
Alabama football made its 11th SEC Championship Game as the 2016 SEC Western Division champion Saturday. The Crimson Tide won the SEC Western Division title with an 8-0 league record. Alabama also won the 2008 and 2009 SEC Western Division championships with a perfect 8-0 records, before claiming the 2014 and 2015 titles with 7-1 regular season marks in both seasons. Alabama won SEC Western Division Championships in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
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In 1992, Alabama defeated Florida, 28-21, in the inaugural SEC Championship game at Birmingham’s Legion Field. In 1999, 2009 and 2015, Alabama earned victories over the Gators in Atlanta. Alabama lost to Florida in 1993, 1994, 1996 and 2008 with the last three games played in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.