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- The 2015 Southeastern Conference football season represented the 83rd season of SEC football taking place during the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season began on September 3 with South Carolina defeating North Carolina on ESPN. This was the fourth season for the SEC under realignment that took place in 2012 adding Texas A&M and Missouri from the Big 12 Conference. The SEC is a Power Five conference under the College Football Playoff format along with the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big 12 Conference, the Big Ten Conference, and the Pac-12 Conference. The SEC consists of 14 members: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt; and is split up into the East and West divisions, with the champion of each division meeting in Atlanta to compete for the SEC Championship on December 5. Alabama began the season as defending SEC champions as they defeated Missouri in the previous year's championship game. Alabama would then go on to participate in the first ever College Football Playoff as the number one overall seed, and would lose their semi-final match to eventual National Champion Ohio State by a score of 42–35. The SEC entered the 2015 season with high expectations, including a record 10 teams ranked in the preseason AP Poll. Great finishes and bowl wins for teams like Tennessee and Arkansas at the conclusion of 2014, in addition to traditional favorites Alabama, Georgia, LSU, and Florida, led many to predict a huge year for the SEC. However, the regular season featured early non-conference upsets including Toledo over Arkansas and Memphis over Ole Miss, and down years from Auburn, Missouri, and South Carolina. Alabama was crowned SEC champions after defeating Florida in the SEC Championship Game, and earned their second consecutive appearance in the College Football Playoff. As the number two overall seed, the Tide defeated Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl 38–0, and capped off the season with a 45–40 victory in the National Championship Game over Clemson. The victory secured Alabama's fourth national championship in seven years, and the eighth national championship for the SEC in ten seasons. (en)
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