2008 SEC Championship Game The 2008 Dr Pepper SEC Championship Game was played on December 6 , 2008 in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta , Georgia to determine the 2008 football champion of the Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) . The game featured the Florida Gators and the Alabama Crimson Tide . The Gators were classified as the home team . Before this game was played , the designated " home team " , chosen on an alternating basis , was 9 – 7 ( 10 - 7 after Florida ' s win in this game ) in SEC Championship Games . The SEC East is 10 – 6 in SEC Championship games ( 11 - 6 after Florida ' s win ) , with the Florida Gators accounting for six of the 10 victories . ( seven after this game ) Before this game , Alabama had represented the SEC West five times in the conference championship game with a 2 – 3 record . The game was televised by CBS Sports and kicked off at 4 : 00 pm EST . Selection process . The SEC Championship Game matches up the winner of the " Eastern " and " Western " divisions of the Southeastern Conference . The game was first played in 1992 , when the conference expanded from 10 to 12 teams with the addition of Arkansas and South Carolina . The SEC was the first conference in college football to have a conference championship game . Four other conferences currently have conference championship games ( Big 12 , ACC , CUSA , and MAC ) . Regular season . Alabama entered Nick Saban ' s second year as head coach with an AP preseason ranking of 24 . After finishing the 2007 season 7 – 6 , including a win in the Independence Bowl , the Crimson Tide brought in one of the nation ' s top recruiting classes and was expected to improve in 2008 . The team started off strong in the Chick - fil - A College Kickoff with a convincing 34 - 10 win over # 9 Clemson . Four weeks later they shocked the nation by defeating # 3 Georgia 41 – 30 in Athens after building a 31 – 0 halftime lead . The rest of the season included a 27 – 21 overtime victory over # 16 LSU in Nick Saban ' s first game in Baton Rouge against his old team , as well as a 36 – 0 shutout of Auburn to end Alabama ' s 6 - game losing streak to their in - state rival . The Crimson Tide finished the regular season with a 12 – 0 record and a # 1 ranking in the BCS , AP , and Coaches ' Polls . Only two years removed from a national championship , Florida entered the season with high hopes and an AP preseason ranking of 5 . The Gators went 9 – 4 in 2007 , and they had many key players returning , including Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow . After a 3 - 0 start , the team suffered a devastating home loss to Ole Miss . However , this loss was later seen as a turning point for Florida . In their last 8 games , the Gators scored no less than 38 points and had an average margin of victory of 39 . 6 . Key victories included # 4 LSU ( 51 – 21 ) , # 6 Georgia ( 49 – 10 ) , # 25 South Carolina ( 56 – 6 ) , and # 20 Florida State ( 45 – 15 ) . Florida finished the regular season with an 11 – 1 record and a # 2 ranking in the AP Poll . Game hype and difference in style . After the match - up between Alabama and Florida was set on November 8 , when Alabama defeated LSU and Florida defeated Vanderbilt , the game began to receive a lot of hype in sports media . Many college football analysts called the game a " play - in game " for the BCS National Championship , easily making it one of the most anticipated games of the year . Analyst cited the differences in the teams ' styles as a major point of interest . Florida ' s style of football came directly from Urban Meyer ' s offensive - minded philosophy of a fast - paced offense and defense , generally using smaller , quicker players . They run a form of the spread offense , using speed to spread the field , which results in quick drives and higher scoring games . The Gators use a basic 4 - 3 defense and again use speedy players to try to gain an advantage on their opponent . Alabama on the other hand run an almost complete opposite style of football , led by Nick Saban ' s defensive - minded philosophy of physical domination on both sides of the ball , generally using bigger , more physical players . The Tide run a smash mouth offensive scheme utilizing a physical offensive line and power running backs to control the line of scrimmage , which results in slower drives , an advantage in time of possession and lower scoring games . On defense the team runs out of a base 3 - 4 defense , utilizing quick and physical linebackers to allow more flexibility in stopping multiple offensive formations and schemes .