South Carolina has claimed the SCRC Championship, but perhaps the biggest news of the weekend among the SEC teams is that they didn’t beat Tennessee in the final, they beat Alabama.

In Saturday’s semifinal, SCRC West #2 Alabama upset SCRC East #1 Tennessee 32-25 in overtime. Liam Clark’s try put Alabama up 20-10 in the second half before the Vols stormed back to tie it 20-20 at full time. In overtime the Crimson Tide scored through sub No. 8 Sean Branham, and added another before Tennessee scored. But it was enough for Alabama, 32-25.

“We almost lost a game earlier in the season against Mississippi State when we were ahead and sent in a lot of subs,” said Alabama Head Coach Mark Seitz. “We got fresh legs, but the cohesiveness of our team fell apart. When Tennessee sent on subs they got fresh legs, but some of their guys were playing independently of the rest of the team. We worked really hard on our fitness and I think that paid off for us in overtime."

Meanwhile, South Carolina dispatched Mississippi State 55-7.

On Sunday, Alabama didn’t wilt, either. They fell behind 7-0 after Zach Mullineaux scored for USC, but scored a forwards try to tie it, and then scored again to lead 12-7. Timmy Hamill scored for the Gamecocks but ‘Bama came back with a penalty to lead 15-14. It wasn’t until late in the first half that South Carolina started to break it open. A penalty kick and two tries made it 29-15, and in the second half the Gamecocks rolled with three tries to win 50-22.

Alabama’s fitness was there but the final 40 minutes of a 190-minute weekend was too much.

“We hadn’t played back-to-back games in a weekend like this,” said Seitz. “And we picked up a couple of injuries on Saturday. I think it was just a bit too much.”