Best SEC Team of the Past 25 Years — Semifinals Voting Underway

Up to this point, our quest to find the best SEC team of the past 25 years had gone relatively close to what we expected. That has all changed. The quarterfinals flipped the lower half of the bracket on its head, eliminating two of the undefeated BCS national champions.

Now the semifinals are open to voting with the two remaining national champions squaring off against each other. The top half of this bracket presents a dream matchup of Steve Spurrier's high-powered offensive attack vs Nick Saban's lockdown defense.

This round of voting will run until Monday night so let your voice be heard as often as you'd like.

(1) 2009 Alabama vs (4) 1996 Florida

2009 Alabama - Some will argue that this Alabama team wasn't even its best under Nick Saban, but the Crimson Tide went undefeated for the first time in 17 years with what Sagarin rated as the toughest schedule in football that season. The biggest wins came against #1 Florida in the SEC Championship, a 37-21 over #2 Texas in the BCS Championship and a season-opening win over #7 Virginia Tech.

That team produced the school’s first Heisman Trophy winner in Mark Ingram, a Butkus and Jack Lambert Award winner in Rolando McClain, and six players on All-American teams. The Alabama defense led the nation in ppg allowed (11.0) and rushing yards per game (28.2) and was 2nd in total yards allowed (241.7).

1996 Florida - Considered one of the early offensive guru’s the 1996 Florida Gators are the pride and joy of Steve Spurrier’s resume. Danny Wuerffel-one of the most decorated quarterbacks in college football history (Heisman, Maxwell, Camp, O’Brien, and Unitas) spearheaded the attack along with future first round receivers Ike Hillard and Reidel Anthony as the Gators scored over 40 points in 10 of 13 games in 1996.

Undefeated within the conference, the Gators only slipup came in the final regular season game of the season against instate rival Florida State. After falling behind 17-0 in the 1st quarter, the Gators responded to close the game 21-7, but still fell short in the end by a final of 24-21. Regardless of the defeat, the Gators would still proceed to the Southeastern Conference championship game where they defeated Alabama, before finally beating the top ranked Seminoles of Florida State 52-50 in the Sugar Bowl to earn the national championship.

(7) 2011 Arkansas vs (11) 2003 Ole Miss

2011 Arkansas - If not for historically unlucky timing, this Razorbacks team might have been a national champion. Arkansas finished 11-2 in 2011 with its only two losses coming on the road to the two teams that played in the BCS NCG. They just so happened to also be in the same division.

Despite the unfortunate timing, Arkansas still beat four opponents ranked in the top 15, including a 29-16 win over Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl. The eleven-win season was only the program’s third in 119 seasons of football, and final ranking of #5 was the highest since 1977.

2003 Ole Miss - This might have been the best Rebel squad since the John Vaught era in Oxford. Behind senior quarterback Eli Manning, the Rebels rolled to a 10-3 season that included wins over three ranked opponents – #24 Florida, #20 Arkansas, and #21 Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl. Ole Miss shutout in-state rival Mississippi State 31-0 in the Egg Bowl and ended the year ranked #13 in the AP Poll and #14 in the Coaches Poll.

Manning’s final year at Ole Miss ended 3,600 yards passing with 29 TD and 10 INT. The SEC named him the offensive player of the year, while he also won the Maxwell Award for national player of the year.