Such a game was made possible by two separate developments. The SEC was the first NCAA conference in any division to hold a football championship game that was exempt from NCAA limits on regular-season contests. Each of these teams has won the championship multiple times. While ten SEC members have played in the game, only six have won: Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee of the East Division, and Alabama, Auburn, and LSU of the West Division. The overall series is led by the Western Division, 18–13. Kentucky and Vanderbilt have yet to reach the game from the East, while Ole Miss and Texas A&M have yet to reach the game from the West. Ten of the fourteen current SEC members have played in the SEC Championship Game.
Since 2007, the game has typically been played on the first Saturday of December, and the game has been held in Atlanta since 1994, first at the Georgia Dome, and at Mercedes-Benz Stadium since 2017. The championship game pits the SEC East Division regular season champion against the West Division regular season champion. The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992.
