ATLANTA -- Alabama is back! Maybe not back to the glory days of Bear Bryant and all those national championships, but certainly as a respected member in its own neighborhood.

	Alabama coach Mike DuBose has brought the Tide to the brink of an Orange Bowl title.

Yes, the Tide is rolling again, and you can almost hear the ghost of the Bear growling in the background. This time 'Bama rolled right over those former Southeastern Conference bullies, the Florida Gators, who were favored by seven points to win their sixth league title of the decade. It was the most lopsided win since the playoff game started back in 1992.

Alabama won its 21st SEC championship and second of the 1990s Saturday night in a complete rout of the Gators, 34-7, at the Georgia Dome in one of the most lopsided losses of a Steve Spurrier-coached team ever.

It was complete domination by 'Bama following an opening drive by Florida for a 7-0 lead. The boys in Crimson scored 34 unanswered points, outgained their opposition 462 yards to 114 and made 22 first downs to Florida's 6. They also maintained a 2-1 advantage in time of possession with over 40 minutes of ball-hogging.

"Alabama kicked our butts," said a confounded Spurrier. "I apologize for our offense. It's about as bad an offense as we've had at our place."

He was right. And credit the Tide's tough defense, led by two interceptions from Milo Lewis, for keeping a lid on the Gators' once high-powered arsenal.

Part of the reason for 'Bama's offensive mastery was the outstanding night by game MVP and wide receiver Freddie Milons, who lined up at quarterback sometimes and wound up rushing for 115 yards, including an SEC Championship Game record run of 77 yards.

Milons said his strategy was simple. "I just tried to run where the defense wasn't," he said of his 77-yarder. "With the speed they have on defense sometimes they tend to overpursue."

It was somewhat of a different role for the 5-10 sophomore receiver from Starkville, Miss.

"I don't think Freddie even caught a pass tonight," said winning coach Mike DuBose (he was right). "But he was a difference-maker. And any offense where Freddie Milons can line up with a chance to pitch it to Shaun Alexander is a pretty one."

Alexander, though often swarmed by Florida's defense, rushed for 97 yards as Alabama's defense shut down both Florida quarterbacks. Jesse Palmer and Doug Johnson were scheduled to alternate, but Spurrier said Johnson came down with a sore shoulder on Friday and after one series it was evident "he couldn't get any zip on the ball." Palmer, with just seven completions and three interceptions, didn't fare much better.

Alabama appears headed for the Fed Ex Orange Bowl to play Michigan, barring any last-minute jockeying by the South Floridians to switch to Tennessee. And Florida will go to the Citrus Bowl to face Michigan State.

For DuBose, the SEC title was sweet redemption and represented a Lazarus-like comeback. Alabama was a team that earlier in the year lost to Louisiana Tech and nearly lost its coach in the process.

Going into the season with an 11-12 record and having fired most of his staff after the 1997 season, DuBose appeared to be barely hanging on to his job just eight weeks ago. A sexual harassment suit that was eventually settled out of court appeared to doom the 46-year-old former player and graduate assistant for the legendary Bryant.

The week of Oct. 2 when Florida and Alabama met there were strong rumors that he would be replaced after the Gator game, and one of the alleged candidates was ex-Tide coach Gene Stallings. But when DuBose's team pulled off the 40-39 upset in Gainesville, his job was spared.

"After the loss to Louisiana Tech, all the things that were written and said about our football team ..." DuBose said, with the pause emphasizing his frustration and anxiety of that moment.

Alexander saw the season as a blessing.

"God has blessed us in so many ways," said the powerful senior running back, who elected to spurn the NFL after last season for a chance to win an SEC title. "We continued to have tough times and trials and God continued to show us ways out of it."

This time it was a far cry from the 40-39 overtime game during the regular season, in which Alabama broke Florida's 30-game home winning streak at The Swamp and the two teams amassed 896 yards in total offense. There were eight lead changes in that Oct. 2 meeting and the Tide hogged the ball for a whopping 43 minutes. But it was a missed extra point in the overtime that cost the Gators.

Alabama, once again, played keep-away and, with the help of an interception by cornerback Lewis, was able to score the Tide's first touchdown just before the half on an Andrew Zow pass to Jason McAddley and take a 12-7 lead.

What was particularly unusual about the interception is that Lewis almost picked off Palmer on the previous play and Spurrier came back with the same route by Darrell Jackson, this time with a more disastrous result.

"That interception just before the half," said Spurrier, "was costly."

And it was just the beginning of some serious woes for the Florida coach, who had won four straight league titles from 1992 to 1996. The disappointment left him groping for answers.

"We've got a different group and somewhere along the middle of the season we started going downhill," said Spurrier. "We're not a real fiery bunch and we've got to find some players."

DuBose saw it from a different perspective.

"This is a great Florida program," said DuBose. "I have said many times they have set standards in this game by which we all measured ourselves."

It's true that Spurrier's 102 wins and five conference championships were the best during the 1990s. But on Saturday night, his measuring stick came up a little bit short. In fact, a good bit short.

Buddy Martin is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.