2011 Southeastern Conference football season The 2011 Southeastern Conference football season began on Thursday , September 1 , 2011 with Kentucky taking on Western Kentucky on ESPNU . The season concluded on January 9 , 2012 as the Alabama Crimson Tide shut out LSU Tigers , 21 – 0 in the Allstate BCS National Championship Game at the Mercedes - Benz Superdome in New Orleans to claim their 14th national championship in school history . Preseason . Florida head coach Urban Meyer retired in early December citing his health concerns and wanting to be around his family more . Meyer then joined ESPN as an analyst for its college football coverage during the 2011 season . In his place Florida hired Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp as the new head coach . Muschamp elected to bring in former Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis as his offensive coordinator . Vanderbilt interim head coach Robbie Caldwell had a tough year in 2010 with injuries and tough schedule , going 2 – 10 . The school decided to search for a new coach to replace former head coach Bobby Johnson , who retired unexpectedly in July 2010 . Vanderbilt hired Maryland offensive coordinator James Franklin , and this is Franklin ' s first head coaching job . LSU decided to part ways with offensive coordinator Gary Crowton because of a lack of offensive production the previous seasons . In his place LSU hired former Louisville head coach Steve Kragthorpe . Kentucky added new schemes to its defense by adding former Cincinnati head coach Rick Minter as its co - defensive coordinator along side Steve Brown . 2011 Pre - season Coaches All - SEC Regular season . All times Eastern time . Rankings reflect that of the AP poll for that week until week eight when the BCS rankings will be used . Week One . Players of the Week Week Two . Players of the Week Week Three . Players of the Week Week Four . Players of the Week Week Five . Players of the Week Week Six . Players of the Week Week Seven . Players of the Week Week Eight . Players of the Week Week Nine . Players of the Week Week Ten . Players of the Week Week Eleven . Players of the Week Week Twelve . Players of the Week Week Thirteen . Players of the Week SEC vs . AQ conference and BCS - buster opponents . " NOTE : . Games with a * next to the home team represent a neutral site game " Home Attendance . Games played at Arkansas ' secondary home stadium War Memorial Stadium , capacity : 54 , 120 . Bowl games . Per BCS selection rules , no more than two teams from a conference may be selected , regardless of whether they are automatic qualifiers or at - large selections , unless two non - champions from the same conference are ranked No . 1 and No . 2 in the final BCS Standings . As the SEC champion Louisiana State was the top - ranked team in the BCS poll , the Sugar Bowl was prohibited from selecting an SEC representative for the 2011 - 12 season . Post - season awards and honors . All - SEC . The following players were named by the AP All - SEC team : All - Americans . Running Back Defensive End Tight End Linebacker Offensive Guard Secondary National award winners . The following SEC players listed below have been named to the national award semifinalist and finalist lists .