LEXINGTON, Ky. - Tennessee did all it could Saturday, but it likely wasn't enough to land the Vols in the conference title game.
Cedric Houston ran for 87 yards and a touchdown, and Tennessee used a dominating defense to hold Kentucky to 187 yards in a 20-7 victory.
With their 19th straight win over Kentucky, the Vols clinched their 18th 10-win season and a share of the East title with Georgia and Florida.
But under SEC's final tiebreaker - a combination of BCS rankings and head-to-head results - it appears Georgia, a 34-17 winner over Georgia Tech, likely will face LSU in the league title game Saturday.
"It wasn't easy, and it's never easy when Tennessee and Kentucky play," coach Phil Fulmer said. "Defensively, I thought we played really well in the ballgame. We're glad to be 10-2 and we're looking forward to whatever comes next."
Kentucky led 7-3 at halftime but had only five first downs in the second half. Four of Tennessee's past five opponents have scored seven points or fewer.
Kentucky capped a 14-play, 66-yard drive with a fourth-down, 1-yard TD run by Arliss Beach with 2:24 left in the first quarter.
A blown call early in the second quarter kept Kentucky from possibly expanding its lead. Tennessee's William Revill lost the ball while struggling for extra yards after a reception, and Kentucky's Dustin Williams picked up the loose ball and returned it to the Tennessee 3.
But officials ruled Revill did not fumble until he was down. Replays showed Revill appeared to fumble while upright.
Kentucky senior Derek Abney, who played despite a broken bone in his foot, returned a first-quarter punt 33 yards, making him the first in Division I-A history to record at least 2,000 receiving yards, 2,000 kickoff return yards and 1,000 punt return yards in his career.
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HAWAII 37, ALABAMA 29: Backup Jason Whieldon threw four touchdowns and ran for one as the host Warriors rallied. The Tide lost the second-most games in their history. Alabama had lost more than eight games in a season only once before, going 0-10 in 1955.
Down 21-16 in the fourth, Hawaii took the lead when Whieldon, who replaced the struggling Timmy Chang, found Jeremiah Cockheran for a 47-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion made it 24-16.
After Alabama turned it over twice, Whieldon connected with Clifton Herbert for a 20-yard score that put the Warriors up 30-21. Whieldon capped the quarter with an 18-yard scramble with 4:03 left that made it 37-21.
