Playing in the SEC title game is a routine for the Gators

Florida is supposed to be where it is today, which is playing for the Southeastern Conference title.

That’s what the Gators do. They have played in seven of the previous 14 SEC championship games.

But that makes Florida a minority among teams playing for conference titles today, because the remaining five are not used to being there.

The Gators (11-1) play Arkansas (10-2), the surprise of the SEC. After losing their opener to USC, 50-14, the Razorbacks stormed through the conference and finished ahead of Auburn and Louisiana State, teams ranked Nos. 4 and 8 in the Associated Press preseason poll, in the SEC West.

The eyes of Texas will not be upon the Big 12 title game, because the Longhorns, last season’s national champions, lost their last two games and did not make it. Instead, Oklahoma (10-2) will play Nebraska (9-3) in a game between teams that lost to Texas this season.

In the Atlantic Coast Conference, Georgia Tech (9-3) will play Wake Forest (10-2) for the title in a conference that boasts perennial powers Miami and Florida State, not to mention Virginia Tech, Clemson and Boston College.

“I guess people just expected it to be Miami and Virginia Tech in the championship game,” Georgia Tech receiver Calvin Johnson said. “But eventually everyone else’s level of play is going to catch up with theirs. That’s what you’re seeing this year.”

It’s difficult to say which conference-title game participant is the biggest surprise.

Wake Forest was picked to finish last in the ACC Atlantic Division and then lost its starting quarterback and a starting running back because of early-season injuries. The Demon Deacons won their only ACC title in 1970 and hadn’t won more than seven games in a season since 1993.

“We had a pretty remarkable season,” Coach Jim Grobe said.

Oklahoma was supposed to be finished after a two-week span in which the Sooners lost to Texas, falling a game behind in the Big 12 South, then lost Heisman Trophy candidate Adrian Peterson because of a broken collarbone.

But Oklahoma persevered, won its last seven games, and got help in the form of Texas losses to make it in.

“You always feel that the door is open; you don’t ever shut it,” Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops said. “We always felt there was a chance, and fortunately it worked out for us.”

Oklahoma and Nebraska are familiar rivals from the old Big Eight Conference, but this is the first time they are playing for a Big 12 title. The winner will go to the Fiesta Bowl, and, for Nebraska, it would mark a return to national prominence for a team that last played in a conference title game in 1999.

“We’re close. I don’t think we’re there yet,” Nebraska Coach Bill Callahan said.

“This is a key game -- no question about that -- to measure ourselves, to see where we’re at in terms of our progress and our improvement and consistency.”

Arkansas was a national afterthought after the USC game, but the Razorbacks then won 10 consecutive games, including victories over then-No. 2 Auburn and then-No. 13 Tennessee.

The Razorbacks cracked the top 10 polls and running back Darren McFadden started getting Heisman Trophy mentions. Now the Razorbacks, who haven’t been to a bowl since 2003, could be BCS bound -- the SEC champion would go to the Sugar Bowl.

“It would really take our program to another level to be in a BCS bowl,” Coach Houston Nutt said.

Florida is already at that level. Perhaps that is why Gators Coach Urban Meyer has spent the last few weeks lobbying for a spot in the BCS championship game.

The Gators, No. 4 in the BCS standings, would have to win impressively against Arkansas and hope for a USC loss to UCLA if they are to leapfrog USC and third-place Michigan and get into the title game against Ohio State.

The odds are slim that all of that will happen, so Florida, which hasn’t won an SEC title since 2000, has shifted focus.

“None of us have rings. None of us ever won any BCS bowl or anything like that around here,” Florida receiver Dallas Baker said.

“For us to play for the SEC championship and have a chance to win, it’s something very special and something we don’t want to let slip away.”

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

peter.yoon@latimes.com