The 2011 Southeastern Conference football season began on Thursday, September 1, 2011 with Kentucky taking on Western Kentucky on ESPNU. The season concluded on January 9, 2012 as the Alabama Crimson Tide shut out LSU Tigers, 21–0 in the Allstate BCS National Championship Game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans to claim their 14th national championship in school history. It was also the final season for the SEC before Texas A&M and Missouri joined the conference from the Big 12 the following season.

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2011 Southeastern Conference football season
League	NCAA Division I FBS
Sport	football
Duration	September 1, 2011 through January 9, 2012
Number of teams	12
TV partner(s)	CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, FSN, CSS
2012 NFL Draft
Top draft pick	Trent Richardson (Alabama)
Picked by	Cleveland Browns, 3rd overall
Regular season
Season champions	LSU
East champions	Georgia
East runners-up	South Carolina
West champions	LSU
West runners-up	Alabama
SEC Championship Game
Champions	LSU
Football seasons
← 2010 2012 →

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Florida head coach Urban Meyer retired in early December citing his health concerns and wanting to be around his family more.^[1] Meyer then joined ESPN as an analyst for its college football coverage during the 2011 season.^[2] In his place Florida hired Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp as the new head coach.^[3] Muschamp elected to bring in former Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis as his offensive coordinator.^[3]

Vanderbilt interim head coach Robbie Caldwell had a tough year in 2010 with injuries and tough schedule, going 2–10.^[4] The school decided to search for a new coach to replace former head coach Bobby Johnson, who retired unexpectedly in July 2010.^[4] Vanderbilt hired Maryland offensive coordinator James Franklin, and this is Franklin's first head coaching job.^[4]

LSU decided to part ways with offensive coordinator Gary Crowton because of a lack of offensive production the previous seasons.^[5] In his place LSU hired former Louisville head coach Steve Kragthorpe.^[6]

Kentucky added new schemes to its defense by adding former Cincinnati head coach Rick Minter as its co-defensive coordinator alongside Steve Brown.^[7]

2011 Pre-season Coaches All-SEC^[8]

All times Eastern time.

Rankings reflect that of the AP poll for that week until week eight when the BCS rankings will be used.

NOTE:. Games with a * next to the home team represent a neutral site game

^A Games played at Arkansas' secondary home stadium War Memorial Stadium, capacity: 54,120.

Attendance was 84,524 for the Georgia vs. Florida game in Jacksonville

Per BCS selection rules, no more than two teams from a conference may be selected, regardless of whether they are automatic qualifiers or at-large selections, unless two non-champions from the same conference are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the final BCS Standings. As the SEC champion Louisiana State was the top-ranked team in the BCS poll, the Sugar Bowl was prohibited from selecting an SEC representative for the 2011–12 season.