The SEC Championship Game could not quite match last year, but it topped the Iron Bowl a week earlier.

The Alabama/Missouri SEC Championship Game drew a 7.7 overnight rating on CBS Saturday afternoon, down 12% from Auburn/Missouri last year (8.7) and down 23% from Alabama/Georgia in 2012 (10.0). The 7.7 is the lowest for the title game since the last time neither Alabama nor Auburn was involved — 2011, when LSU/Georgia drew a 7.4.

Despite the decline, Alabama’s win drew the season’s largest SEC overnight rating. The previous high was a 7.2 for the Auburn/Alabama Iron Bowl on ESPN the previous week.

Overall, the 7.7 ranks as the second-highest overnight of the completed 2014 regular season, trailing only Notre Dame/Florida State on ABC in October (8.5). Alabama played in three of the five highest rated games in the metered markets.

For the first time in three weeks, the SEC on CBS was the week’s top college football draw. The ACC Championship Game on ABC ranked a fairly close second, with a 6.9 overnight. The SEC on CBS tied or earned the week’s top overnight nine times in 13 tries.

Regardless of network, an SEC team was involved in the week’s top game in 11 of 15 weeks.

(Sat. overnight from Sports Business Daily)