In year one of the Brian Kelly era, the LSU Tigers clinch the SEC West. After losing the season opener against Florida State and losing to Tennessee at home by 27 points, hopes of contending for a SEC championship and being a top ten team were slim, but the Tigers went on a run in the toughest stretch of the season defeating Florida, Ole Miss, and Alabama in a four week stretch. With top ten wins at home against Ole Miss and Alabama, the Tigers put themselves in position to win the SEC West.
All the Tigers needed this week was a win over Arkansas plus a win by Alabama over Ole Miss. The likely scenario happened as LSU gets a tough 13-10 win over Arkansas thanks to a dominant four sack performance by freshman sensation Harold Perkins, and then, Alabama sends LSU to Atlanta by defeating Ole Miss 30-24.
With an 8-2 overall record, LSU holds a one game lead and the tie-breaker thanks to those wins against Alabama (32-31 in OT) and Ole Miss (45-20).
This will be the seventh time that LSU will represent the West Division and play in the SEC Championship game. Brian Kelly becomes the fourth different head coach to make the SEC Championship game in their first season joining another LSU head coach in Les Miles (2005) as well as former Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn (2013) and former Florida head coach Jim McElwain (2015).
As far as who LSU will play in Atlanta, it looks like it will be the defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are coming off a huge win last week as well defeating number three Tennessee to gain control of the SEC East. All Georgia needs to do in order to clinch the East is get a win over Mississippi State tonight.
Out of the previous six times LSU has played in the SEC Championship game, all but two of those contests came against Georgia. Also, the last two times the Tigers have played in the National Championship came after beating Georgia in the SEC Championship Game in 2011 and 2019.
LSU has a 3-1 advantage in the big game against Georgia all-time.
| YEAR | SCORE | ATTENDANCE | MVP |
|---|
| 2019 | LSU 37, Georgia 10 | 74,150 | Joe Burrow, LSU |
| 2011 | LSU 42, Georgia 10 | 75,515 | Tyrann Mathieu, LSU |
| 2005 | Georgia 34, LSU 14 | 73,717 | D.J. Shockley, Georgia |
| 2003 | LSU 34, Georgia 13 | 74,913 | Justin Vincent, LSU |
The SEC Championship Game will be played on December 3rd, 2022.
