The SEC Forum at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Your 2026 3-peat SECSECSEC champs!

I was musing about 1980-1982 when it seemed (to me at the time) that UGA "had arrived" and would dominate CFB for a long time.  They had a pretty good team the next year and then fell back into relative mediocrity for two decades.  Ray Goff wasn't the answer, and Jim Donnan had OK teams that could beat the rivals, and then Mark Richt showed up and after a promising first year got them ALMOST there a few times.  Fans weren't happy with almost it turns out, and they of course went with some DC from Alabama, one of a couple thousand assistants to some HC there.  The first year was a bit rough, but the second was pretty lit, but still an almost year, but very almost.

If/when Texas is able to advance to the SEC championship game, it'll almost certainly be when they're also in line to advance to the CFP. 
At that point, the SEC championship game is nothing more than a scary obstacle to be managed. It's an extra game against a tough opponent that will determine seeding or (currently) by opportunities. 

They'll hand the winning team the trophy at the end of that game, but that won't be where my mind is.

As each year goes by, and with them ranked pretty highly usually, I get a kick out of Texas and OU not being in the "in" group of SEC champion schools since the 1992 expansion.

Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee.
That's it.  No one else, in 33 years.  
Missouri thought, "this is easy," but nope.  Not in Atlanta.
Fun fact:  Ole Miss has never played in the SECCG, but Miss State has
A&M, with Johnny Football and #1 recruiting classes?  Nope.

I know Texas/OU will, they're all-time great programs.  But the 'when' is the fun part.  It might take longer than you think.