SEC title game arrives for Auburn, South Carolina

By Ken Sugiura

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

This December, it's a different kind of drama.

The past two SEC championship games were 3 1/2-hour commercials for the league's dominance. Powerhouses Florida and Alabama squared off in de facto national championship semifinals. Both games starred past or eventual Heisman Trophy winners, neither with a whiff of controversy, and two coaches with reputations of success exceeded only by their capacity for grimness.

The 2010 version tastes a little different. South Carolina is coached by one of the conference's most despised (and successful) coaches. Auburn brings a perfect record, a shot at a national championship and a Heisman candidate, runaway favorite Cam Newton. Of course, there's this one little detail about Newton and alleged recruiting issues that you may have heard about.

"Each year seems to have a new level of excitement," former SEC commissioner Roy Kramer said. "Certainly this year is another one."

Interest has scarcely waned. On Thursday, tickets on the re-sale website stubhub.com were going for an average of $460. It's a drop from last year, but on par with 2008 prices. This season, CBS has drawn higher ratings in its coverage of the SEC than it did last year with its season-long homage to Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.

The culmination, held in the Georgia Dome for the 17th year, figures to provide a suitable conclusion to a regular season rife with strange turns. Which is to say that even if Auburn loses to drop to 12-1, it could still make the BCS championship game.

According to blogger Sam Chi, also known as the BCS Guru, the Tigers can lose to South Carolina and still play for the championship if Oregon also loses to Oregon State. By Chi's math, even if Oregon wins, Auburn can lose and get in the championship game if 15 percent or more of the voters in the Harris and coaches polls keep Auburn third or higher. With the Tigers maintaining their No. 1 standing in at least three computer rankings, it would be enough to stave off undefeated TCU.

It is of little matter to the Gamecocks, playing in their first SEC title game in defiance of a rich history of mediocrity.

Said South Carolina radio analyst and former football star Tommy Suggs, "There's a nice feeling about being a Gamecock right now."

The BCS clutter is in part why Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier loves the SEC title game so much. (Apart from the fact that he has won five of them, of course.)

"You don't have to worry about how the sports writers or coaches vote; you just go play for it," he said.

Undoubtedly, the game's marquee star, Newton, of Westlake High, is entirely ready to do so.

On Saturday, in a stadium less than 15 miles from his family's southwest Atlanta home, he'll attempt to lead Auburn to its first SEC title since 2004 and do so under compelling circumstances. He will also have a nationwide stage for closing arguments before Heisman Trophy ballots are due Monday.

Since early November, he has been hounded by allegations of recruiting impropriety, for which he was briefly ruled ineligible this week and then quickly re-instated by the NCAA, a quizzical affair deserving of its own episode. Ultimately, the NCAA determined that Newton's father, Cecil, had solicited money for his son's commitment without his son's knowledge.

"Can you imagine the tug of war for a son of a father who's a preacher to try to go through that and handle that?" CBS analyst Gary Danielson asked. "I wouldn't want to put anybody in that situation."

Along with millions of others, however, he will have no qualms watching it.