Another loss. Mizzou lost 59-29 to Texas A&M to finish the 2012 season 5-7. With a loss, the Tigers would not qualify for a bowl game for the first time in 7 years. There were even requests for Gary Pinkel, Missouri’s head coach, to be fired. Questions lingered into the offseason.

Another loss. Auburn lost 49-0 to Alabama to finish the 2012 season 3-9. The Tigers also finished 0-8 in SEC play, which cost Gene Chizik, Auburn’s head coach at the time, his job. Chizik went from winning the National Championship to being fired in two years later. Welcome to the SEC.

The Auburn head coaching search ended with of Gus Malzahn. The new boss came in with one year of head coaching experience, in fact, he had more experience coaching high school football than college football. It was a questionable hire to say the least.

Both Tigers came into the offseason with many questions and very few answers, a theme of the offseason for both teams

Missouri had just finished their first season in the SEC after moving from the Big 12 and were facing scrutiny from other SEC fan bases. The nagging question all off-season was, “ Does Mizzou belong in the SEC?” They knew they did and wanted to prove it.

Auburn had a different offseason. They were coming off their worst season in 13 years. With a new head coach and a new quarterback, junior college transfer Nick Marshall, the question Auburn faced during the off-season was, “ Could Auburn be worse this year then they were last year?” However, Gus Malzahn was set to prove the critics wrong.

One year after disaster, both teams advanced into the 2013 SEC Championship game coming off seasons both coaches would have ever dreamed of.

Mizzou finished the regular season going 11-1, their only loss coming to South Carolina in double overtime on a missed field goal.. Some of the critics said the great season was because of their opponent’s injury issues. Others say Mizzou is not as talented as their record indicated. One thing is certain, though, this group of Tigers came into the SEC Championship game believing that they were the best team in college football.

The other Tigers also finished 11-1. Malzahn’s squad came off of a season built on dreams and miracles. The only blemish on their record was an early season loss to LSU on the road. Besides that, Auburn had a case to be one of the best teams in the country. They beat Georgia on a game winning, tipped 75-yard pass. They beat the unbeaten Alabama on a last-second 100-yard, miraculous field goal return. It was a season to remember.

The SEC Championship definitely lived up to the enormous amount of hype it received. Throughout the first half, both teams traded touchdowns and field goals. Auburn’s Tre Mason notched a 3-yard touchdown run to give Auburn a 28-20 lead with a little over 6 minutes left in the 2^nd quarter. As time expired Auburn they could go into halftime with a comfortable 28-20 lead. Dorial Green-Beckham, Mizzou’s star wide reciever, thought otherwise. He caught a 55-yard touchdown pass to cut Mizzou’s deficit to 1 point at half.

The third quarter was the same story. Mizzou and Auburn continued to trade scores. Auburn’s Tre Mason was brilliant all day with an SEC Championship record 304 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns.

As the 4^th quarter came it was only a 3point game, but the score did not indicate the flow of the game. Auburn had the momentum, and Mizzou still could not figure out how to stop Tre Mason. Auburn shut out Missouri in the 4^th quarter 14-0 after two more Mason touchdowns. Auburn went on to win the game 59-42.

You can look at this loss and call Mizzou’s season a failure, but it wasn’t. Gary Pinkel took a team that was loaded with questions and answered them.

Aubrun, on the other hand, won and will be going to the National Championship. Gus Malzahn did what Pinkel did and answered the critics’ questions. That is what the SEC is about: turnarounds and miracles. One season you are 3-9, the next you are 12-1 and going to the National Championship game. You never know what is going to happen.

Welcome to the SEC.