By Rock Westfall
As we prepare for the 2024 August camps and the start of the regular season, this is an opportune time to separate SEC fantasy from reality. As they say at baseball spring training, hope springs eternal. But the fact remains that only a s elect few SEC programs can sustain national championship contention for the long term. Meanwhile, other programs may rise for a year or two but inevitably fall back. Next are the programs that can be regular bowl teams but will rarely, if ever, make a serious run for a natty. And then there are those poor souls who will eternally reside in Never Ever Land.
SEC Established Powers
At the onset of any SEC conversation regarding bona fide national championship threats, the Georgia Bulldogs, Texas Longhorns, Alabama Crimson Tide, Oklahoma Sooners, LSU Tigers, and Florida Gators come to mind.
Yes, Oklahoma and Texas are new arrivals from the Big 12 , and Florida can’t get out of its own way, but we are judging long-term viability and potential.
Each of these schools has the recruiting footprint and potential, the fan and donor bases, NIL , branding, histories, and the facilities to make consistent runs at the national championship. And with the new 12-team College Football Playoff format that begins in 2024, these programs figure to be in the conversation more often than not.
The SEC Wannabes
The next tier of SEC programs is made of those that aspire to greatness but have little in the way of history showing they can consistently achieve it. Auburn Tiger fans will scream that they won the 2010 national championship and nearly won the 2013 title, as well. Additionally, War Eagle will remind you of their undefeated 2004 campaign. However, those were the exceptions to the rule.
Auburn’s 2010 national championship was only the second in program history - the other being in 1957. Additionally, Auburn has only three SEC titles since 1989 at the peak of the Pat Dye glory years.
Can Auburn win a natty? Absolutely. Can they consistently contend for one? No way. Auburn remains a passionate but unstable program with meddlesome boosters that always seem to ruin a good thing. And they continue to operate under the shadow of Alabama.
Other SEC programs in the wannabe class include the Ole Miss Rebels, Texas A&M Aggies, Tennessee Volunteers, and Missouri Tigers. All these programs could occasionally make a serious occasional run to a natty, but none of them have a recent history of being capable of sustaining the hunt on an annual basis.
Missouri is the most underrated and underappreciated program in the SEC. Since 2007, Mizzou has had three Top 9 or better finishes and four division titles (2 Big 12 North, 2 SEC East). The Tigers have six 10-win or better seasons since 2007 and went 11-2 last year.
Texas A&M boosters print money and have facilities and fans as good as any in the sport, but they have never been able to figure it out. The Aggies' last national championship was in 1939, and their last conference title was in the Big 12 in 1998.
The Ole Miss Rebels are coming off their first 11-win season in program history, but were destroyed by Georgia in 2023 to serve as a reminder of just how far they still have to go. The Rebels have never made the SEC championship game.
The classy Tennessee fans who love to litter football fields with garbage thrown from the stands will no doubt riot again, but their program has only one national championship since integration (1998) and has not won the SEC since that same season. Big Orange is a legend in its own mind.
SEC Can’t Quite Get Reach Programs
The South Carolina Gamecocks, Kentucky Wildcats, and Arkansas Razorbacks have passionate fans who care. Still, history shows that a serious SEC or national championship run is, at best, once in a generation.
Steve Spurrier maxed out South Carolina with 11-win seasons from 2011-2013, but Alabama shellacked his program in its only SEC championship game experience.
Mark Stoops has taken Kentucky to eight consecutive bowl games with two Top 20 finishes but has never seriously threatened the SEC elite. That is as good as it gets in Lexington.
Meanwhile, Arkansas has made the SEC championship game three times, never winning it, and has not returned since 2006. The Hogs are a proud program but have been outclassed in the SEC since defecting from the old Southwest Conference in 1992.
SEC Never Ever Land
The Mississippi State Bulldogs have a small but passionate fan base with limited NIL and recruiting potential. They lack the institutional firepower to contend seriously.
Clark Gable’s favorite SEC team is the Vanderbilt Commodores, where Nashville area residents and alums say, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”
Most Popular
Comments / 0