2002 SEC Championship Game

For the SEC men's basketball championship, see 2002 SEC men's basketball tournament.

The 2002 SEC Championship Game was won by the Georgia Bulldogs 30–3 over the Arkansas Razorbacks. The game was played in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia on December 7, 2002 and was televised to a national audience on CBS.

2002 SEC Championship Game
Conference Championship
2002 SEC Championship logo.
Arkansas Razorbacks Georgia Bulldogs (9–3) (11–1) 3 30 Head coach:  Houston Nutt Head coach:  Mark Richt AP Coaches BCS 22 22 NR AP Coaches BCS 4 4 3
1 2 3 4 Total Arkansas 0 0 3 0 3 Georgia 17 0 6 7 30
Date	December 7, 2002
Season	2002
Stadium	Georgia Dome
Location	Atlanta, Georgia
MVP	RB Musa Smith, Georgia
Favorite	Georgia by 8[1]
Referee	Penn Wagers
Attendance	74,913
United States TV coverage
Network	CBS
Announcers	Verne Lundquist play-by-play Todd Blackledge color Jill Arrington sideline
SEC Championship Game  < 2001  2003 >

2002 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Eastern Division
No. 3 Georgia x$		7	–	1					13	–	1
Florida		6	–	2					8	–	5
Tennessee		5	–	3					8	–	5
Kentucky		3	–	5					7	–	5
South Carolina		3	–	5					5	–	7
Vanderbilt		0	–	8					2	–	10
Western Division
Arkansas xy		5	–	3					9	–	5
No. 14 Auburn x		5	–	3					9	–	4
LSU x		5	–	3					8	–	5
Ole Miss		3	–	5					7	–	6
Mississippi State		0	–	8					3	–	9
No. 11 ^Alabama		6	–	2					10	–	3
Championship: Georgia 30, Arkansas 3
$ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant ^ – Alabama had the best division record, but did not participate in postseason play due to NCAA probation. Rankings from AP Poll

The 2002 championship game was unusual in the fact that team in first place in the Western Division did not play in the game. The Alabama Crimson Tide finished with the best SEC record in the Western Division, but could not participate in the conference championship game due to an NCAA probation stipulation which banned the team from any post season play. Instead, the Arkansas Razorbacks who finished in a three way tie for second represented the Western Division after winning the tie breaker over Auburn and LSU. This was not the first time the SEC West leader was excluded from the game. Auburn also finished atop the West in 1993, but was banned from post season play as well by NCAA probation.

References

1. "SEC Championship History". Retrieved November 27, 2012.