2008 Southeastern Conference football season

The 2008 Southeastern Conference football season was the 76th season of Southeastern Conference (SEC) football, taking place during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season began on September 13, 2008 and ended with the 2008 SEC Championship Game on December 6, 2008.

2008 Southeastern Conference football season
League	NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
Sport	Football
Duration	September 4, 2008 through January 2009
Number of teams	12
TV partner(s)	CBS, CBSSN, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU, ABC, Raycom
2009 NFL Draft
Top draft pick	Matthew Stafford (Georgia)
Picked by	Detroit Lions, 1st overall
Regular season
East Division champions	Florida
East Division runners-up	Georgia
West Division champions	Alabama
West Division runners-up	Ole Miss
Championship Game
Champions	Florida
Runners-up	Alabama

2008 Southeastern Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Eastern Division
No. 1 Florida x$#		7	–	1					13	–	1
No. 13 Georgia		6	–	2					10	–	3
Vanderbilt		4	–	4					7	–	6
South Carolina		4	–	4					7	–	6
Tennessee		3	–	5					5	–	7
Kentucky		2	–	6					7	–	6
Western Division
No. 6 Alabama x%		8	–	0					12	–	2
No. 14 Ole Miss		5	–	3					9	–	4
LSU		3	–	5					8	–	5
Arkansas		2	–	6					5	–	7
Auburn		2	–	6					5	–	7
Mississippi State		2	–	6					4	–	8
Championship: Florida 31, Alabama 20
# – BCS National Champion $ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Rankings

Main article: 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

		(Pre)	Sept. 3	Sept. 10	Sept. 17	Sept. 24	Oct. 1	Oct. 8	Oct. 15	Oct. 22	Oct. 29	Nov. 5	Nov. 12	Nov. 19	Nov. 26	Dec. 3	Final
Alabama	AP	24
	C
	BCS	Not released
Arkansas	AP
	C
	BCS	Not released
Auburn	AP	10
	C	11
	BCS	Not released
Florida	AP	5
	C	5
	BCS	Not released
Georgia	AP	1
	C	1
	BCS	Not released
Kentucky	AP
	C
	BCS	Not released
LSU	AP	7
	C	6
	BCS	Not released
Mississippi State	AP
	C
	BCS	Not released
Ole Miss	AP
	C
	BCS	Not released
South Carolina	AP
	C
	BCS	Not released
Tennessee	AP	18
	C	18
	BCS	Not released
Vanderbilt	AP
	C
	BCS	Not released

Head coaches

School	Coach	Year
Alabama	Nick Saban	2nd
Arkansas	Bobby Petrino	1st
Auburn	Tommy Tuberville	10th
Florida	Urban Meyer	4th
Georgia	Mark Richt	8th
Kentucky	Rich Brooks	6th
LSU	Les Miles	4th
Mississippi State	Sylvester Croom	5th
Ole Miss	Houston Nutt	1st
South Carolina	Steve Spurrier	4th
Tennessee	Phillip Fulmer	16th
Vanderbilt	Bobby Johnson	7th

Championship Game

Main article: 2008 SEC Championship Game

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
December 6	4:00 p.m.	No. 1 Alabama	No. 2 Florida	Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA	CBS	FLA 31-20	75,892
#Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Central Time.

Bowl games

SEC Bowl Games
Game	Date	Location/Time*	Television	Winner+	Score	Loser+	Score	Attendance	Payout
Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl	December 31, 2008	LP Field Nashville, Tennessee 2:30 p.m.	ESPN	Vanderbilt	16	Boston College	14	54,250	$1,700,000
Chick-fil-A Bowl	December 31, 2008	Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia 6:30 p.m.	ESPN	LSU	38	Georgia Tech (#14)	3	71,423	$3,000,000
Outback Bowl	January 1, 2009	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida 10:00 a.m.	ESPN	Iowa	31	South Carolina	10	55,117	$3,200,000
Capital One Bowl	January 1, 2009	Citrus Bowl Orlando, Florida 12:00 p.m.	ABC	Georgia (#16)	24	Michigan State (#19)	12	59,681	$4,250,000
AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic	January 2, 2009	Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas 1:00 p.m.	FOX	Ole Miss (#20)	47	Texas Tech (#8)	34	88,175	$3,000,000
Autozone Liberty Bowl	January 2, 2009	Liberty Bowl Memphis, Tennessee 4:00 p.m.	ESPN	Kentucky	25	East Carolina	19	56,125	$1,800,000
Allstate Sugar Bowl	January 2, 2009	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana 7:00 p.m.	FOX	Utah (#7)	31	Alabama (#4)	17	71,872	$17,500,000
FedEx BCS National Championship Game	January 8, 2009	Dolphin Stadium Miami, Florida 7:00 p.m.	FOX	Florida (#1)	24	Oklahoma (#2)	14	78,468	$17,500,000

Rankings are from AP Poll. All times Central Time Zone.