2012 SEC Championship Game
Conference Championship
2012 SEC Championship Logo
Alabama Crimson Tide Georgia Bulldogs (11–1) (11–1) 32 28 Head coach:  Nick Saban Head coach:  Mark Richt AP Coaches BCS 2 2 2 AP Coaches BCS 3 3 3
1 2 3 4 Total Alabama 0 10 8 14 32 Georgia 0 7 14 7 28
Date	December 1, 2012
Season	2012
Stadium	Georgia Dome
Location	Atlanta, Georgia
MVP	RBEddie Lacy, Alabama
Favorite	Alabama by 7½
Referee	Tom Ritter
Halftime show	Dr Pepper $100,000 Tuition Throw
Attendance	75,624
United States TV coverage
Network	CBS
Announcers	Verne Lundquist (play-by-play) Gary Danielson (color) Tracy Wolfson (sideline)
Nielsen ratings	16.2 million viewers[1]
SEC Championship Game  ← 2011  2013 →

The2012SEC Championship Game was played on December 1, 2012, in theGeorgia Dome inAtlanta, and determined both the2012football champion of theSoutheastern Conference (SEC). The game featured theGeorgia Bulldogs, winners of the SEC East Division versus theAlabama Crimson Tide, the winner of the SEC West Division.

Because Alabama and Georgia were respectively ranked 2 and 3, the game was considered a de facto semifinal game, as the winner would automatically face the undefeatedNotre Dame Fighting Irish in theNational Championship with no vote necessary. Georgia was the designated "home" team. The game was televised byCBS Sports for the twelfth straight season. Kickoff was scheduled at 4:00 (EST).^[2] Alabama won the game 32–28 improving their record to 4–4 in the title game. Alabama'sEddie Lacy was named MVP after rushing for 181 yards and two touchdowns. The game at the time was the most watched college football game of the 2012 season (it would be surpassed by the 2013 BCS National Championship Game on January 7, 2013) with the game receiving a 10.1 share or 21.0 million viewers tuned in.^[3]

Alabama had won the2012 BCS National Championship Game after defeatingLSU 21-0^[4] in a rematch of its "Game of the Century" matchup earlier in the season, and came into the 2012 season ranked second in theAP preseason poll behindUSC.

Georgia appeared in the2011 SEC Championship Game, but was soundly defeated by LSU 42-10^[5]. After losing itsOutback Bowl game againstMichigan State, Georgia was ranked 19th in the final AP poll of 2011, but rose to sixth in the 2012 preseason rankings.

At the start of week 12 of the 2012 season, both Alabama (with a loss toTexas A&M) and Georgia (having lost toSouth Carolina) were 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the SEC, with Alabama being ranked fourth in the AP poll and Georgia ranked fifth. Above them wereOregon,Kansas State, andNotre Dame, all undefeated. The only other undefeated FBS team wasOhio State, right behind Georgia at sixth, but they wereineligible to participate in postseason games that year due to NCAA sanctions. November 17, 2012 saw both Oregon^[6] and Kansas State^[7] suffer their first losses of the season, while Notre Dame remained unbeaten and both Alabama and Georgia won their non-conference matchups. This led to Notre Dame taking over first place, with Alabama jumping to second place and Georgia to third.^[8] At this point it was clear that if all three teams won the remainder of their games, Notre Dame would secure a spot in the BCS National Championship game, and Alabama and Georgia would win their respective SEC divisions and face each other in the conference championship to determine Notre Dame's opponent.

The following week, Notre Dame, Alabama, and Georgia all won their rivalry games and were ranked first, second, and third respectively in the AP poll andBCS rankings. This rare scenario in which the path to the national championship was straightforward contrasted with thecontroversy of many other years of the BCS, including the previous year, when the Alabama-LSU rematch was widely panned as uncompetitive and uninteresting compared to potential alternative matchups.^[9]

After the first-ever scoreless first quarter in this game's history,^[10] the teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter. Alabama kicked a field goal as time expired in the first half to take a 10–7 lead.

Georgia took the game's largest lead in the third quarter with two touchdowns, the second of which was anAlec Ogletree 55-yard return of a blocked field goal. Alabama answered with a rushing touchdown and two-point conversion byT. J. Yeldon.Eddie Lacy's second touchdown of the game put the Tide ahead as the fourth quarter began. These two Alabama running backs each finished the game with over 150 yards; they are the first duo of running backs in SEC championship history to each have even 100 yards.^[10]

The Bulldogs once again went in front by three on their very next drive, when they took only two minutes to answer with aTodd Gurley touchdown run. Georgia's defense continued to allow Alabama yardage on the ground, but they forced an Alabama punt with 7:14 remaining, still up by three. Georgia could only keep the ball for four plays and two minutes, though, as they punted back to the Tide with 5:24 left in the game.

Georgia's defense was "stacking the line," using an extra defender to prevent gains on the ground.^[3] Alabama took advantage: on first down with three minutes left, quarterbackA. J. McCarron used play action to free upAmari Cooper for a 45-yard touchdown pass.

The Alabama defense forced Georgia to punt with two minutes left. But, Georgia used all of their timeouts while their defense also held firm. A punt gave Georgia one last drive, starting from their own 15-yard line. It seemed as if the game was over whenDee Milliner appeared to have intercepted a pass on the fourth play of the drive. However, replay overturned the interception ruling, and Georgia again had an opportunity.

Three more long passes brought the Bulldogs all the way to the 8-yard line with the clock winding down. With 9 seconds to play, anAaron Murray pass toward the end zone was deflected byCJ Mosley towardChris Conley in the field of play. Surprised to see the ball—he was not the intended receiver on the play—Conley caught the pass as he fell down in-bounds at the 5-yard line.^[3] The clock ran out before Georgia could run another play.

This was Alabama's 8th appearance in the title game. The previous seven appearances were all against theFlorida Gators. This was Georgia's 5th appearance and second consecutive SEC Championship game. This was the first meeting between the schools since 2008. From 2006 to 2012, the winner of this game played in theBCS National Championship Game seven straight times with a record of 6–1 (LSU was defeated by fellow SEC member Alabama following winning the2011 SEC Championship Game).

Their victory in this game, along with their ranking based on their season-long performance, earned Alabama a spot in theBCS National Championship Game, where they defeated Notre Dame, 42–14.

• 2012 Southeastern Conference football season
• SEC Championship Game
• Alabama Crimson Tide football games
• Georgia Bulldogs football games
• December 2012 sports events in the United States
• 2012 in sports in Georgia (U.S. state)
• 2012 in Atlanta

• Use mdy dates from August 2023
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata