Why SEC Needs Florida to Make Conference Championship Game

If the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 5 at the Georgia Dome is going to be more of a competition than a coronation, we all better hop back on board the Florida Gators bandwagon.

The Gators are the key to making the SEC Championship Game a de facto national quarterfinal in 2015.

Despite losing their last game 35-28 against the LSU Tigers two weeks ago, the Gators have to feel good about where they sit after all they've gone through this year.

Will Grier ascended to the starting quarterback position and threw 10 touchdowns and only three picks through six games, but he was suspended for a year for violating the NCAA's policy on performance-enhancing drugs. 

For most teams, that would be a season-killer.

Not for the "quarterback whisperer," first-year head coach Jim McElwain.

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All backup dual-threat quarterback Treon Harris did in a pinch was pass for 271 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions and rush for 20 yards in the loss in Death Valley two weeks ago.

"He was able to see some really good things from the video that I'm sure he wants back," McElwain said. "But at the same time, I was happy with how he handled the environment. He made some plays that were big for us, and I look forward to having him get a little bit better (during the bye week). There were some things that we could get better at from that ball game, and we're not going to hang our heads."

Couple Harris' ability to not only play within the pro-style offense that McElwain was able to establish with Grier prior to his suspension with his own ability to kick-start the running game, and you have a recipe for success for the Florida Gators.

The running game has been stagnant for the majority of the season. McElwain's crew ranks 13th in the SEC in rushing offense (126.71 yards per game), averages only 99.4 rushing yards per game versus conference foes and picks up a minuscule 3.51 yards per carry.

"It's huge," McElwain said. "All great teams are built on being able to run the football and being able to stop the run defensively. We need to continue to get better at that. We had some opportunities in the last ball game, but they've got really good players."

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The bye week comes at the perfect time for the Gators, as they head into the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party with the Georgia Bulldogs knowing Harris can thrive in the offense as a passer and with time to add some spice to it with more of a role for their new starter as a runner.

If they can dispatch their border rival to the north this weekend, it's smooth sailing all the way to rivalry weekend.

Vanderbilt got a conference win last week versus Missouri, but that offense is impossible to trust. South Carolina is tricky on the road, but it's not like the Gamecocks offense is a juggernaut either. Florida Atlantic should be a breeze. 

Florida State could present a problem, but it just lost to a Georgia Tech team that was reeling, quarterback Everett Golson looked shaky for the first time all year and the offensive line—while better than expected—is still average at best for the boys in Tallahassee.

Team	Conf. Champ. %
1. Florida	28.7
2. LSU	22.4
3. Alabama	18.3
4. Ole Miss	18.0
5. Georgia	10.1
6. Tennessee	1.2
7. Mississippi State	0.7
8. Texas A&M	0.5
9. Arkansas	0.1

Could Florida head to Atlanta 11-1 with not only a chance to win the SEC, but also a chance to earn its way into the College Football Playoff? At this point, it's not just a possibility, it's a probability.

The Gators have the best chances in the SEC to win the conference, according to ESPN's Football Power Index, at 28.7 percent.

On top of that, they have the 27th-best shot in the country to win out at 10.4 percent, according to the same metric, which is based on 10,000 simulations that factor in results and future schedule. That figure might not seem all that high, but it factors in the potential SEC Championship Game matchup with an SEC West team, and is the fourth-highest "win-out percentage" in the SEC behind Tennessee (50.9 percent), Alabama (18.4 percent) and Texas A&M (13.6 percent). 

For the SEC, imagine how big that would be.

Florida with legit playoff hopes in a magical year for first-year head coach McElwain squaring off against LSU or Alabama with the same hopes, or against a two-loss Ole Miss that needs to make a major statement to make up for that road loss to Memphis.

Can you say "ratings bonanza"?

That wouldn't be a departure from the norm for the SEC Championship Game, but to be at its best on a day that also includes the other conference title games, serving as a play-in to to the playoff is paramount.

Don't sleep on Florida. 

It's not even close to being out of the race for the Playoff and is the key to making the SEC Championship Game the college football game of the season prior to the playoff.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.