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Steve Spurrier recalls how he found out about the first SEC Championship Game and how it surprised him
By Cody McClure
Published:
It’s safe to say that Steve Spurrier was surprised about actually being able to coach in the first SEC Championship Game.
Spurrier joined ESPNU Radio on SiriusXM Monday to discuss — among other things — his experience with the first conference title game.
“Commissioner (Roy) Kramer told us that summer … ‘We’re dividing up into divisions, we’re adding South Carolina and Arkansas, and the winners of the two divisions are going to play for the SEC Championship,'” Spurrier said. “And I said, ‘Is that legal? Nobody’s ever done that.’ He said, ‘Yeah, it’s legal.’
“I never thought it was even possible,” Spurrier noted. “He (Kramer) said, ‘You’ve got to have 14 teams, or something like that, and be able to show it’s a championship game.’
“So I said, ‘Man, that’s super.'”
Here are Spurrier’s full comments, courtesy of a video posted on Twitter by @ESPNUonSiriusXM:
How the @SEC Championship Game went from a dream to reality!
“The Game That Changed The Game” all week on @ESPNUonSiriusXM! pic.twitter.com/yE89z4pRni
— ESPNU Radio on SiriusXM (@ESPNUonSiriusXM) December 5, 2017
Spurrier’s Florida Gators lost to Gene Stallings’ Alabama Crimson Tide 28-21 in the first SEC Championship Game in 1992.
Spurrier went on to win four straight conference title games immediately after that.
Cody McClure is an SEC Football Writer for Saturday Down South. He lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he also co-hosts a midday sports radio show for FOX Sports. Cody previously worked for Athlon Sports.
