<
>

Alabama-LSU picked as top game for 2012

We asked the same question we did a year ago at this time ... and got the same response.

If you could only watch one SEC game next season, the game that was absolutely the must-see game in the league, which one would it be?

You the fans picked Alabama-LSU last year, and that's the game you picked again this year -- Alabama vs. LSU on Nov. 3 in Tiger Stadium.

With more than 10,000 votes cast in our SportsNation poll, the Alabama-LSU game drew 42 percent of the vote. The Georgia-South Carolina game on Oct. 6 in Columbia, S.C., was second with 27 percent of the vote.

Alabama's visit to Arkansas on Sept. 15 was third with 15 percent of the vote, meaning the Crimson Tide were involved in two of the top three must-see games.

Given the recent history between Alabama and LSU, it's hard to pick a game that would rise above their Nov. 3 meeting this coming season. LSU won 9-6 in overtime last season in Tuscaloosa, and Alabama came back in the BCS National Championship Game to spank LSU 21-0. Each of the last five regular-season meetings between Alabama and LSU has either gone into overtime or been decided in the final few possessions.

The reality is that we've all come to expect great games when these two teams clash, and it's a lot like watching an NFL Futures contest. Nine players who played in the game last season were taken in the top three rounds of the NFL draft this past April.