UF coach Jim McElwain stood on the cusp of a burgeoning dynasty in 2008 at Alabama.
McElwain nor anyone else fully realized what coach Nick Saban was building, but something special was in the air.
Nine years later, Saban's empire towers over the SEC — and the landscape of college football. McElwain's SEC East champion Gators (8-3) are the latest team to be stuck playing for second place.
Saturday's SEC title game is a textbook David versus Goliath matchup and presumably the next step in Saban's quest to tie Bear Bryant's record of six national titles.