LSU Tigers

In what was easily the toughest individual award to give out this year, Florida's Will Muschamp and Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin were voted by their peers as SEC co-Coaches of the Year.

During Muschamp's second season at Florida, he helped lead the Gators to an 11-1 record and a 7-1 record in SEC play. Florida ended the season No. 3 in the BCS standings and will play Louisville in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. The Gators also defeated four teams that finished the season ranked in the top 12 of the BCS standings.

As for Sumlin, in his first year at Texas A&M, the Aggies went 10-2 (6-2 SEC) and upset No. 1 Alabama in Tuscaloosa. A&M also owned the SEC's No. 1 offense and quarterback Johnny Manziel broke the SEC record for total offense in single season and is a Heisman Trophy finalist. The Aggies are headed to the AT&T Cotton Bowl to take on Oklahoma.

The coaches also named Manziel, who threw for 3,419 yards and 24 touchdowns to eight interceptions and rushed for an SEC-high 1,181 yards and 19 touchdowns, the SEC's Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.

Here are the individual awards voted on by the SEC's coaches:

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina

CO-SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
*Caleb Sturgis, Florida
*Ace Sanders, South Carolina

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Manziel

SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Barrett Jones, Alabama

JACOBS BLOCKING TROPHY
Luke Joeckel, Texas A&M

CO-COACHES OF THE YEAR
*Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
*Will Muschamp, Florida

* ties

We've come to the end of the regular season for the SEC, so here is our final batch of power rankings until the new year:

1. Alabama (12-1; last week: 1): No, Alabama wasn't perfect in its 32-28 victory against Georgia in the SEC title game, but talk about resolve. This team trailed by 11 in the second half, but fought back with a punishing running game and just wore down one of the most talented defenses around to throw itself into the Discover BCS National Championship against Notre Dame. The Crimson Tide will now play for their second national championship in a row, and third in four years.

2. Florida (11-1; LW: 3): The Gators didn't win their division and weren't in Atlanta, but it's hard to find a team with a better résumé. Florida finished the season with four wins against teams currently ranked in the top 12 of the BCS standings. Three of them are in the top 10. Florida is headed to a BCS bowl for the first time since 2009. The Gators will face Louisville in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

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Here we are again talking about another potential national championship for the SEC.

Weren’t we having this same conversation last year, the year before that and the year before that?

In fact, does anybody really remember the last time we weren’t having this conversation?

The BCS Championship Game festivities will again include an SEC team this season, and once again, it’s Alabama carrying the banner for the league.

If you think everybody else in college football is tired of seeing the SEC win all the time, try taking the temperature of fans in Baton Rouge, La., or Athens, Ga., or Auburn, Ala., over how tired they are of seeing Alabama win all the time.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- Leading up to the Chick-fil-A Bowl, we'll take a daily look at a key LSU player. We'll examine how he has done and what his challenges are for the Clemson game.

P.J. Lonergan, C, Senior

Accomplishments: A three-year starter at center, Lonergan is the heart of an offensive line that overachieved after being down three starters for the second half of the season. He learned the position after arriving at LSU (he was a high school tackle at Archbishop Rummel High in suburban New Orleans) and he has turned himself into a technician who calls the blocking assignments and helps get the young line pointed in the right directions.

Shortcomings: Lonergan has had a solid, if unspectacular career. If there is any one factor that has held him back, it's been a sometimes troublesome back. He missed one start this season, giving way to his heir apparent, Elliott Porter, for a game while he rested his back (he did play some that game). He's not quite Barrett Jones, the celebrated Outland Trophy winner at Alabama, but there's little for LSU to complain about from its steady senior.

Against Clemson: Playing against an ACC opponent, LSU will undoubtedly try to impose its "SEC dominance" in terms of physical play. Look for the Bayou Bengals to test the middle of the Clemson defensive front with its physical, SEC running game against a Clemson defense that allows 4.2 yards per carry. Lonergan will be right in the middle of that scrum, getting his hands dirty in what will be his last college game.

On Monday, Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones was named The Associated Press SEC Defensive Player of the Year.

A worthy candidate indeed when you look at his flashy resume. He finished the regular season third on Georgia's team with 77 tackles, first nationally in tackles for loss (22.5) and second in the SEC (fourth nationally) in sacks (12.5).

He also led he country with seven forced fumbles.

Not too bad for a player who battled injuries all year and played in just 11 of Georgia's 13 games.

But this had to be a very, very tough vote. While Jones was fantastic in his second year in the SEC, he had some very stiff competition from the likes of South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, LSU linebacker Kevin Minter, Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley and Texas A&M defensive end Damontre Moore.

All of them proved to be game-changers and all were worthy competition for Jones.

Let's take a look at their resumes:

Jarvis Jones, LB, Georgia (winner)

Tackles: 77 (40)
Tackles for loss: 22.5 (first nationally)
Sacks: 12.5 (fourth nationally)

Making the case for Jones: Every offense that faced Jones had to specifically game plan for him. He just has a knack for finding the ball and making plays. He completely changed the Missouri game with his interception and his sack/fumble force on consecutive drives in the fourth quarter. He essentially won the game for the Dawgs against Florida when he poked the ball out of tight end Jordan Reed's hand just before he crossed the goal line for a potential game-tying touchdown. If there's a play to be made, Jones will find it.

Jadeveon Clowney, DE, South Carolina

Tackles: 50 (37 solo)
Tackles for loss: 21.5 (second nationally)
Sacks: 13 (tied for first nationally)

Making the case for Clowney: When you talk to players and coaches around the league about Clowney, just about everyone tends to consider him the league's top player, regardless of position. He might be the most physically gifted defender in the SEC, if not the nation. After taking some criticism for his in-game endurance, Clowney turned his play up in the season's second half. He basically ended Tennessee's comeback hopes with his sack/fumble with the Vols down three and inside South Carolina's 20 late in the fourth quarter. Then he abused Clemson's backfield with 4.5 sacks in the season finale. The sack total was also a Clemson Memorial Stadium record.

Kevin Minter, LB, LSU

Tackles: 111 (48 solo)
Tackles for loss: 13.5
Sacks: 3

Making the case for Minter: He was one of the SEC's most active defenders. He averaged 9.25 tackles per game and even collected 20 tackles, 17 of them solo, against Florida. He finished the season with seven games in which he registered nine tackles or more. Like Jones, Minter is someone who just knows how to find the ball. He has tremendous speed and packs quite the punch when he goes in for a tackle. He also broke up six passes, grabbed an interception and forced a fumble.

Damontre Moore, DE, Texas A&M

Tackles: 80 (54 solo)
Tackles for loss: 20 (tied for third nationally)
Sacks: 12.5 (tied for fourth nationally)

Making the case for Moore: So, he moved from outside linebacker, had to get into better shape and had to learn a new defensive scheme. Yet, he was even better? For most of the 2012 season, Moore was the most productive defensive player in the SEC. He only failed to record at least one tackle for loss twice and didn't record at least one sack in just three games. He finished the regular season leading the Aggies in tackles and will likely become the first defensive end to lead the Aggies in tackles since Sam Adams had 78 in 1993.

C.J. Mosley, LB, Alabama

Tackles: 99 (61 solo)
Tackles for loss: 7
Sacks: 4

Making the case for Mosley: He's one of the most gifted linebackers in the SEC and just figures out ways to find the ball an makes plays. He led the Crimson Tide in tackles by 43 and averaged 7.6 tackles a game. He recorded double-digit-tackle numbers three times this year and he was the one who tipped Aaron Murray's final pass in the SEC championship game that secured the Tide's victory. He has one of the highest motors in the league and has tremendous field IQ as well.