2009 Southeastern Conference football season

2009 Southeastern Conference football season
League NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision)
Sport football
Duration September 3, 2009
through January 7, 2010
Number of teams 12
TV partner(s) CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, FSN, CSS
Regular Season
East champions Florida Gators
West champions Alabama Crimson Tide
SEC Championship Game
Champions Alabama Crimson Tide
SEC Championship Game MVP Mark Ingram, Alabama
2009 SEC football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Eastern Division
#3 Florida x‡   8 – 0         13 – 1  
Georgia   4 – 4         8 – 5  
Tennessee   4 – 4         7 – 6  
Kentucky   3 – 5         7 – 6  
South Carolina   3 – 5         7 – 6  
Vanderbilt   0 – 8         2 – 10  
Western Division
#1 Alabama x†#   8 – 0         14 – 0  
#17 LSU   5 – 3         9 – 4  
#20 Ole Miss   4 – 4         9 – 4  
Arkansas   3 – 5         8 – 5  
Auburn   3 – 5         8 – 5  
Mississippi State   3 – 5         5 – 7  
Championship: Alabama 32, Florida 13
# – BCS National Champion
† – BCS representative as conference champion
‡ – BCS at-large representative
x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2009 Southeastern Conference football season started on Thursday, September 3 as conference member South Carolina visited North Carolina State. The conference’s other 11 teams began their respective 2009 season of NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) competition on Saturday, September 5.[1] All teams started their season at home except Kentucky, who started their season on neutral turf at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio against Miami (OH), Georgia, who traveled to Oklahoma State, and Alabama, who traveled to the Georgia Dome to face Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff for the second straight year.

Bowl games

The SEC was the second conference to send 10 teams to bowl games in a given year. The ACC was the first to do so in 2008.

Bowl Game Date Stadium Location TV Matchup
winner bolded		 Payout (US$)
Independence Bowl December 28, 2009 Independence Bowl Shreveport, LA ESPN Georgia vs. Texas A&M $1,100,000
PapaJohns.com Bowl January 2, 2010 Legion Field Birmingham, AL ESPN South Carolina vs. Connecticut $300,000
Liberty Bowl January 2, 2010 Liberty Bowl Memphis, TN ESPN Arkansas vs. East Carolina $1,700,000
Music City Bowl December 27, 2009 LP Field Nashville, TN ESPN Kentucky vs. Clemson $1,600,000
Chick-fil-A Bowl December 31, 2009 Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA ESPN Tennessee vs. Virginia Tech $3,005,000
Cotton Bowl Classic January 2, 2010 Cowboys Stadium Arlington, TX FOX Ole Miss vs. Oklahoma State $3,000,000
Outback Bowl January 1, 2010 Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL ESPN Auburn vs. Northwestern $3,300,000
Capital One January 1, 2010 Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL ABC LSU vs. Penn State* $4,250,000
Sugar Bowl January 1, 2010 Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA FOX Florida vs. Cincinnati $18,000,000
BCS Championship Game January 7, 2010 Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA ABC Alabama vs. Texas $18,000,000


* Penn State's win was vacated due to the Penn State child sex abuse scandal

Awards and All-SEC Teams

2009 AP All-SEC First Team
[2]

Offense
Position Name Height Weight (lbs.) Class Hometown Team
QB Tim Tebow 6'4" 240 Sr. Jacksonville, FL, U.S. Florida
RB Mark Ingram 5'10" 215 So. Flint, MI, U.S. Alabama
RB Anthony Dixon 6'1" 235 Sr. Jackson, MS, U.S. Mississippi State
WR A.J. Green 6'4" 205 So. Summerville, SC, U.S. Georgia
WR Shay Hodge 6'2" 205 Sr. Morton, MS, U.S. Ole Miss
TE Aaron Hernandez 6'2" 250 Sr. Bristol, CT, U.S. Florida
LT Ciron Black 6'5" 322 Sr. Tyler, TX, U.S. LSU
LG Mike Pouncey 6'5" 320 Jr. Lakeland, FL, U.S. Florida
C Maurkice Pouncey 6'5" 320 Jr. Lakeland, FL, U.S. Florida
RG Mike Johnson 6'6" 305 Sr. Pensacola, FL, U.S. Alabama
RT John Jerry 6'6" 335 Sr. Batesville, MS, U.S. Ole Miss
All-Purpose Randall Cobb 5'11" 190 So. Alcoa, TN, U.S. Kentucky
All-Purpose Dexter McCluster 5'9" 170 Sr. Largo, FL, U.S. Ole Miss
Defense
Position Name Height Weight (lbs.) Class Hometown Team
DE Antonio Coleman 6'3" 257 Sr. Mobile, AL, U.S. Auburn
DT Terrence Cody 6'5" 350 Sr. Fort Myers, FL, U.S. Alabama
DT Dan Williams 6'3" 325 Sr. Memphis, TN, U.S. Tennessee
DE Carlos Dunlap 6'6" 290 Jr. North Charleston, SC, U.S. Florida
LB Rolando McClain 6'4" 255 Jr. Decatur, AL, U.S. Alabama
LB Eric Norwood 6'1" 250 Sr. Acworth, GA, U.S. South Carolina
LB Rennie Curran 5'11" 220 Jr. Atlanta, GA, U.S. Georgia
DB Javier Arenas 5'11" 200 Sr. Tampa, FL, U.S. Alabama
DB Joe Haden 5'11" 185 Jr. Fort Washington, MD, U.S. Florida
S Eric Berry 5'11" 200 Jr. Fairburn, GA, U.S. Tennessee
S Mark Barron 6'2" 215 So. Mobile, AL, U.S. Alabama

Rankings

Legend
    Improvement in ranking
  Drop in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
  Pre Wk
1 		Wk
2 		Wk
3 		Wk
4 		Wk
5 		Wk
6 		Wk
7 		Wk
8 		Wk
9 		Wk
10 		Wk
11 		Wk
12 		Wk
13 		Wk
14 		Final
Alabama AP 5 4 4 3 3 3 2 1 2 3 3 2 2 2 1 1
C 5 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 1 1
BCS Not released 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2
Arkansas AP RV RV RV RV RV RV
C RV RV RV RV RV RV RV
BCS Not released
Auburn AP RV RV RV RV RV 17 RV RV
C RV RV RV RV RV 19 RV RV RV
BCS Not released
Florida AP 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1
C 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
BCS Not released 1 1 1 1 1 1
Georgia AP 13 21 23 21 18 RV
C 13 21 20 17 14 RV RV RV
BCS Not released
Kentucky AP
C RV RV RV RV
BCS Not released
LSU AP 11 11 9 7 4 4 10 9 9
C 9 9 7 7 4 4 10 10 9
BCS Not released 9 9
Mississippi State AP
C
BCS Not released
Ole Miss AP 8 6 5 4 21 20 RV RV 24
C 10 8 6 5 18 16 RV 25 22
BCS Not released 25
South Carolina AP RV RV RV RV RV 25 22 23 21
C RV RV RV RV RV RV 22 23 21
BCS Not released 24 22
Tennessee AP RV RV
C RV RV
BCS Not released
Vanderbilt AP
C
BCS Not released

SEC vs. BCS matchups

Date Visitor Home Winner
September 3 South Carolina NC State South Carolina
September 5 Georgia Oklahoma State Oklahoma State
September 5 Alabama Virginia Tech Alabama
September 5 LSU Washington LSU
September 12 UCLA Tennessee UCLA
September 19 Louisville Kentucky Kentucky
September 19 West Virginia Auburn Auburn
September 26 Arizona State Georgia Georgia
October 3 Arkansas Texas A&M Arkansas
October 3 Georgia Tech Mississippi State Georgia Tech
October 31 Georgia Tech Vanderbilt Georgia Tech
November 28 Florida State Florida Florida
November 28 Clemson South Carolina South Carolina
November 28 Georgia Georgia Tech Georgia

Previous season

During the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Florida and Alabama won their respective divisions and met in the 2008 SEC Championship Game which Florida won 31–20. Florida went on to win the 2009 BCS National Championship while SEC Runner-Up Alabama lost in the Sugar Bowl. Georgia was the heavy favorite to win the SEC in the pre-season, but did not live up to the hype. The Bulldogs, however, did finish strong winning the Capital One Bowl. Other bowl winners include Chick-fil-A Bowl champion LSU, Cotton Bowl Classic champion Ole Miss, Liberty Bowl champion Kentucky, Music City Bowl champion Vanderbilt

Preseason

Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin begins his first season in Knoxville. Kiffin is a former head coach of the Oakland Raiders and assistant coach at USC. Gene Chizik also begins his first season as head coach at Auburn.

In a given year, each SEC team will play its five other division foes plus three opposing division opponents. Each team has a set opposing division opponent. The other teams from the division are on a rotation, playing a home/away series every five seasons.

Western Division Eastern Division Series Record
Auburn Georgia 53-51-8[3]
Alabama Tennessee 46-38-7[4]
Ole Miss Vanderbilt 46-35-2[5]
LSU Florida 23-30-3[6]
Mississippi State Kentucky 16-20[7]
Arkansas South Carolina 10-7[8]

The Southeastern Conference announced on July 22 that the SEC media had elected Florida and Alabama as the preseason favorites for their divisions for the 2009 football season. It chose Florida quarterback Tim Tebow as the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and Tennessee cornerback Eric Berry as the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

In the preseason Coaches' Poll released on August 7, the SEC was one of only three conferences with multiple teams ranked in the top ten. Florida was elected pre-season #1 while Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, and Georgia also were in the top 25.

References