Alabama Crimson Tide

5 Things You Should Know: SEC Championship Game

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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5 Things You Didn’t Know is here again, as No. 1 Alabama football hits I-20/59 East to Atlanta’s Georgia Dome for the SEC Championship Game.

Welcome back to a new weekly feature here at BamaHammer.com, called 5 Things You Didn’t Know (or 5TYDK) about Alabama football!

Of course, maybe someone somewhere knows all five of these preview tidbits in advance of every Alabama football game. But we believe in one-stop shopping — which is why we offer them to you.

ICYMI: Last Week’s 5TYDK For Alabama-Auburn in Iron Bowl

And because we also like sharing the wealth, there are links at the end to both the Alabama and Florida weekly pregame media notes (and, as a bonus, the SEC’s pregame notes!). So you can further impress your friends and family with more things they didn’t know!

Welcome to 5TYDK …

5 Things No. 1: Series History/What’s Next

Alabama and Florida will meet for the 40th time this Saturday. The Crimson Tide owns the all-time advantage, 25-14 (actual 26-14), and are tied 4-4 in SEC Championship games. In the most recent matchup at the 2015 SEC Championship game, Alabama defeated Florida at the Georgia Dome, 29-15, with Derrick Henry rushing for 189 yards and a touchdown on his way to MVP honors and quarterback Jake Coker throwing for 204 yards and two scores.

The first meeting came in 1904 with the Crimson Tide claiming a 29-0 win at home in Tuscaloosa. The two teams have squared off in some epic battles in the 2000s, with Alabama claiming a victory in 2005 before falling to the Gators in 2006 in Gainesville and 2008 in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.

The Crimson Tide has since rallied back, earning victories in the last four matchups that includes winning the 2009 SEC title and then dominating the Gators in the three regularseason contests between the two by a margin of 111-37.

Alabama and Florida will meet for the ninth time in SEC Championship Game history and the fourth time in the past 11 years. The Crimson Tide (11) and Gators (12) lead the league for most conference championship game appearances and have squared off the most of any opponent with the next closest matchup being LSU and Georgia, who have met three times in the history of the SEC title game.

Nov 26, 2016; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers defensive lineman Maurice Swain Jr. (90) hugs Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Reuben Foster (10) following the Tides 30-12 victory against the Auburn Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

5 Things No. 2: Streaking & Such

Alabama owns the longest winning streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision, having won 24 consecutive games dating back to last season (a loss on Sept. 19, 2015, vs. Ole Miss). The 24-game streak is the third-longest in Alabama and SEC history (28 games twice: 1991-93 & 1978-80) and is the longest under the direction of head coach Nick Saban (previous long: 19 games in 2009-10). During this stretch, the Crimson Tide have won 12 games at Bryant-Denny Stadium, eight straight road matchups and four consecutive neutral-site contests while going 16-0 against teams from the Southeastern Conference. Alabama has outscored its opponents by 596 points (890-294; 37.1-12.3), an average of 24.8 points per game, during the streak.

Alabama’s 51-3 win over Mississippi State coupled with Auburn’s 13-7 loss at Georgia on Nov. 12, clinched Alabama’s 12th SEC Western Division title. The Crimson Tide will represent the Western Division against SEC Eastern Division champion Florida in the SEC Championship Game to be played Saturday, Dec. 3, at The Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Alabama will be making its 11th appearance in the SEC Championship game with the Crimson Tide holding a record of 6-4 in 10 previous appearances.

With the win over Auburn, Alabama football has reached the 12-win mark for the 10th time in school history (1979, 1992, 1994, 2008-09, 2011-12, 2014-16) and the seventh time under Nick Saban. Alabama is in search of the fifth 13-win season in program history and the fourth in the Nick Saban era (1992, 2009, 2012, 2015) this weekend.

Alabama football has played 71 games as the nation’s top-ranked team since the inception of the Associated Press poll in 1936. In those games, the Crimson Tide boasts a 61-10 (.859) record. Those numbers get even more impressive when you look at the 10 seasons under the direction of head coach Nick Saban (2007-present). Since the ninth game of the 2008 season (113 games), Alabama has played 47 games while being ranked No. 1, posting a 42-5 (.894) record during that span.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban has won his last eight “championship” games with wins over Florida (2009), Georgia (2012), Missouri (2014) and Florida (2015) in the SEC Championship and victories over Texas (2009), LSU (2011), Notre Dame (2012) and Clemson (2015) in national championship contests. Overall, Saban is 11-1 in those games at Alabama and LSU with six SEC titles and five national titles.

Nov 26, 2016; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban walks off the field following the Tides 30-12 victory against the Auburn Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

5 Things No. 3: No. 1 stronger than ever

Saturday’s game against Florida will be Nick Saban’s 48th career game coaching Alabama as the Associated Press No. 1 team, the most games coached as No 1 at one school. At 42-5 (.894), Saban has won more games coaching a No. 1 team at one school than any other coach in college football history. Woody Hayes (Ohio State) and Bobby Bowden (Florida State) are tied for second with 40 wins each. Bowden was 40-5 as No. 1 and Hayes went 40-4-1. Saban accomplished the feat in his 10th season at Alabama while Bowden spent 34 seasons at FSU and Hayes was at OSU for 28. The Crimson Tide have been ranked No. 1 in 34.8 percent of their 135 games under Saban. Florida State was No. 1 in 10.8 percent of Bowden’s 417 games and Ohio State was No. 1 in 16.7 percent of the 276 games coached by Hayes.

Alabama football became just the third top-ranked team in the poll era to win four straight games against ranked opponents when they knocked off No. 15 LSU on Nov. 5. The Tide knocked off No. 16 Arkansas (49-30), No. 9 Tennessee (49-10), No. 6 Texas A&M (33-14) and the Tigers (10-0). In 1943, No. 1 Notre Dame played ranked opponents in four straight games and beat them all. In 2001, No. 1 Miami had a four-game winning streak against ranked opponents over a five-week span that included an open date.

The Crimson Tide has the fourth-toughest schedule in college football this season per ESPN.com’s preseason College Football Power Index, trailing only Southern California, Ole Miss and Florida State. Alabama will, by season’s end, face off with nine teams who participated in a bowl game a season ago and will have met four teams ranked in the preseason Associated Press Top 25.

Since the 2008 season, Alabama has played in only three regular season games that did not have national championship implications. Following the Crimson Tide’s 24-21 loss to LSU in 2010, Alabama was essentially eliminated from a chance to remain in the national championship discussion. The final three games of that season mark the only three regular season contests without national championship implications during this span.

Nov 26, 2016; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton (20) after the game with Auburn Tigers running back Damian Lewis (30)at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Tide defeats the Tigers 30-12. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

5 Things No. 4: Stellar against ranked teams

The Crimson Tide is 46-12 (.793) against the Associated Press top 25, including a 24-6 (.800) mark against AP top-10 teams since the start of 2008. This season, the Tide has faced seven teams ranked in the AP poll, defeating then-No. 20 USC, 52-6, then-No. 19 Ole Miss, 48-43, then-No. 16 Arkansas, 49- 30, then-No. 9 Tennessee, 49-10, then-No. 6 Texas A&M, 33-14, then-No. 15 LSU, 10-0 and, most-recently, then-No. 16 Auburn, 30-12, by an average score of 38.7- 16.4. Alabama is scheduled for one more matchup against a team currently in the top 25 (No. 15 Florida in the SEC Championship Game). Alabama fi nished 8-1 in 2015 against the AP Top 25 after going 5-2 in 2014, 3-2 in 2013 and 5-1 in 2012. The Tide held a 4-1 mark vs. top-25 teams in 2011 and went 5-3 in 2010.

With the win over 13th-ranked Auburn on Nov. 26, Alabama football has won 14 straight games vs. ranked opponents, the longest streak since Southern California won 16 straight from 2002-05 under Pete Carroll and the third-longest run of all-time. The current streak began at Georgia (Oct. 3) last season with a 38-10 win over the No. 8 Bulldogs in Athens. In those 14 games, the Tide is 7-0 against top-10 teams and 3-0 vs. the top five (LSU, Michigan State and Clemson). The Tide’s last loss to a top-25 team was Sept. 19, 2015, against Ole Miss (37-43).

Nov 26, 2016; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain reacts after the loss to the Florida State Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

5 Things No. 5: A first for McElwain

Jim McElwain is the first coach in league history to reach the SEC Championship in his first two seasons as a head coach. Only former LSU coach Les Miles (2005) and Auburn’s Gus Malzhan (2013) reached the title game in their first season. McElwain, no stranger to SEC Championship Games, will be coaching in his fourth one, as he was Alabama’s offensive coordinator for its 2008 squad that reached the league title contest, and its 2009 staff that won it.

Alabama football pregame notes: Florida in SEC title game

Florida football pregame notes: Alabama in SEC title game

SEC football pregame notes: Alabama vs. Florida

Not only has UF won six football SEC Championships in the Georgia Dome, including 2008’s 31-20 win over Alabama, but the Florida men’s basketball team won the SEC Basketball Tournament there in 2005, 2007 and 2014.

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