The Southeastern Conference may not produce this year’s national champion, but it still lies at the heart of a sport driven by passion. That fact was never more evident than on Saturday, when the conference put on a remarkable three-game slate that not only shaped the divisional races for the league championship game, but showcased the unique hold college football has on the region.

Though Alabama’s loss to LSU ruined the last unbeaten season in the conference, at least this year’s SEC champ won’t suffer the same indignity as last year, when Auburn and its perfect 12-0 record was denied a spot in the Bowl Championship Series title game in favor of USC and Oklahoma.

Those Alabama fans who were already bemoaning a similar fate after the Tide began the season 9-0 were clearly getting ahead of themselves. Despite Alabama’s wonderful – and surprising – start, as of Saturday morning the three toughest games of the season still stood between it and an undefeated campaign, beginning with LSU.

The Tigers emerged from the din at Bryant-Denny Stadium with a 16-13 overtime victory that all but ended Alabama’s conference-title hopes and its larger aspirations of playing for the national title – or at least being a thorn in the side of the BCS, whose officials should remember to include LSU coach Les Miles on the Christmas-card list this year.

That’s because LSU’s win not only cleared up the Rose Bowl picture by leaving just two undefeated teams – no 1. USC and no. 2Texas – but also prevented a possible mutiny against the BCS from one of its marquee conferences.

The SEC enjoys such a strong reputation among college football observers that when Auburn was denied last year, the most common complaint was along the lines of “how can a team go undefeated in the SEC and not play for the national title?” Such a defense would not have been made of the Big East or the Pac-10.

Had Alabama suffered the same fate this season, the BCS would have been beset by complaints from outraged SEC officials and fans, demanding changes to the formula and decrying the anti-southern bias in the media polls and national TV networks.

With several very good teams but no great ones, the SEC is perhaps suffering a down year this season. What’s undeniable, however, is SEC teams are backed by the loudest, most loyal fans in the sport. When you’re watching a game on TV and the picture begins to shake from the crowd noise during a big play, it’s invariably a contest in the SEC, the league where LSU fans once registered on the Richter scale.

That passion was on display all over the south Saturday, as three intertwined games played out over a period of about 12 hours. The day began in Columbia, S.C., where former Florida legend Steve Spurrier took on the Gators as the enemy leader of South Carolina. Seemingly rejuvenated after a frustrating two-year stint in the NFL, “Darth Visor” has not only led South Carolina to a 7-3 record and a spot in the AP Top 25 after knocking off the Gators, 30-22, but has instilled the Gamecocks with the confidence to win big games.

Spurrier is having fun with the underdog role at South Carolina, and that’s bad news for the rest of the SEC. The other USC has long been a sleeping giant of a program, with a fan base as loyal as any in the conference. The Gamecocks routinely play before sellout home crowds of better than 80,000, and the school sits in the heart of fertile recruiting territory. It doesn’t hurt that he has delivered two of the biggest wins in school history in the last three Saturdays: the Gamecocks’ first-ever win at Tennessee two weeks ago and their first win over Florida since 1939 on Saturday.

Next up was the LSU-Alabama contest. The knock against Alabama in the Rose Bowl argument has been its anemic offense. But for a while Saturday, Alabama’s dominant defense was good enough to make you wish they’d have a shot at smothering the offensive juggernauts of USC or Texas, much as Alabama’s 1992 national-championship team snuffed out explosive Miami in the Sugar Bowl. Time and again Saturday, with the scored tied in the fourth quarter, the Crimson defense stiffened when LSU gained possession at or beyond midfield. But the college overtime format proved too big an obstacle to overcome, as LSU won with a JaMarcus Russell touchdown pass on its first possession.

LSU is a mercurial team, loaded with NFL-caliber talent on both sides of the ball and just two seasons removed from a BCS championship. But the Tigers somehow surrendered a three-touchdown lead at home to the worst Tennessee team in more than a decade for their only loss on September 26. If not for that second-half collapse, LSU would be undefeated and in the thick of the BCS argument.

The day’s final marquee SEC matchup pitted Auburn against Georgia in a new chapter of one of the game’s oldest rivalries. Alabama’s loss earlier in the day meant Auburn will need help to reach the SEC title game, and Florida’s loss meant Georgia won the SEC East before taking the field, but those earlier results sapped none of the intensity from this game. Auburn rallied to win, thanks to a late, fourth-down completion that was followed by a wild scramble for the ball in the end zone.

Unless something crazy happens during the season’s final few weeks, the SEC won’t have a say in the national championship picture, rare for the only league to produce more than one champion in the BCS era (Tennessee in 1998 and LSU in 2003). But football is alive and well in the conference, which may be deeper than ever, even if it’s not top-heavy. And with rivalry week, featuring the likes of Alabama-Auburn, on tap next Saturday, more TV picture-shaking moments are surely in store.

Mr. Levine is a writer for Football-Outsiders.com.