We have finally arrived. After going 9-4 on the year in our SEC Picks of the Weeks the regular season is finally over.

For the most part.

There are a few remaining games – hello Army and Navy (on that: in two weeks, go Navy) and couple Big 12 games.

Continuing with that sentiment, how is the Big 12 possibly allowed to put a team or teams into the College Football Playoffs without hosting a conference championship game? And they wonder why nobody outside of the state of Texas respects the conference as a whole.

Wait, Oklahoma is trying to say hello? What? Really? Yeah, I’m sorry. When Nebraska leaves you, that’s bad. Nobody cares.

For now though, the rest of this space will be dedicated to the best football conference for a decade running. We’re talking SEC Championship Game football. Where, you know, national champions come from.

This year it’s the No. 2-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide against the No. -ranked Florida Gators. Which seems about right because this is by far the most common match up since the SEC expanded in 1992 and became the first conference to host a championship game. So if you’re keeping track, this will be the eighth time these two teams have met in Atlanta.

This year marks the Gators’ 11th appearance in Atlanta since 1992 and the Crimson Tide’s 10th. The next closest teams in terms of total appearances, which is five, are Auburn, Georgia, LSU and Tennessee.

In lieu of a pick against the spread, we’re just going to make a prediction.

Case for Alabama:

What isn’t there to say? The Crimson Tide are in my opinion the most complete team in all of college football.

The Tide boast Heisman trophy favorite running back Derrick Henry and an offense that can hurt you in the air as well. Jacob Coker is an above average quarterback (read: game manager) and is somewhat underrated when it relates to throwing the deep ball.

The Crimson Tide defense has gotten better as the year progressed and is now playing like one of the top units in football. They are prone to mistakes, big plays, etc., but those haven’t really been much of an issue for the past couple of weeks.

In this match up, the Tide clearly have the edge in all aspects except defense and maybe the punting game. Scratch that, I’ll give the Tide the advantage in every aspect except for defense and punting.

Case for Florida:

It’s all about that defense. The only chance the Gators have to pull off the upset is through their defense.

Think Ole Miss earlier in the year. The Gators won that game 38-10 and it was almost entirely due to their defense. The Gators will have to win the turnover battle and play near-perfect defense if they’re to think upset.

Because we all know the Gators aren’t winning anything based on quarterback play. I’m certain that my 92-year old grandmother could have quarterback the Gators to two points against Florida Gators.

We also know that if it comes down to the kicking game, the Gators are in serious trouble.

Prediction:

I’ll just get straight to it… Alabama 45 – Florida 10.