SEC Football: A Few Facts about 2010 and Before

While it is not a common belief among SEC fans, it seems the national pundits have embraced Alabama and Florida as dominant teams in the SEC. Most articles written on a national point of view simply expect fans to take for granted that one of these teams will win the SEC.

This turns off most true SEC fans immediately as most are well educated in college football and know what a chore it is to win the SEC. With this in mind, hopefully before another writer fails to do his or her homework, let's take a look at the SEC and trends within the conference.

The SEC is comprised of two divisions—and each division contains some really impressive teams. Each division would be as strong as the majority of other entire conferences. Here is a look into the SEC as each team is ranked in winning percentage.

The SEC Western Division

Teams	Rank All Time	Rank 1992-2009	Rank 2000-2009
Alabama	Sixth	32nd	48th
Arkansas	29th	48th	41st
Auburn	16th	16th	14th
LSU	13th	21st	Eighth
Mississippi	45th	47th	56th
Mississippi State	89th	81st	99th

The SEC Eastern Division

Teams	Rank All	Rank 1992-2009	Rank 2000-2009
Florida	15th	Second	Sixth
Georgia	12th	11th	Eighth
Kentucky	72nd	92nd	87th
South Carolina	74th	70th	46th
Tennessee	Ninth	Ninth	21st
Vanderbilt	76th	113th	110th

Each division has two or more teams in the top 15 in the nation over the last decade. Maybe a comparison is needed to actually show how significant this information is.

The Pac 10

Teams	Rank All Time	Rank 1992-2009	Rank 2000-2009
Arizona	40th	57th	89th
Arizona State	19th	46th	53rd
California	44th	62nd	40th
Oregon	52nd	18th	13th
Oregon State	86th	61st	24th
Southern California	Seventh	10th	Fifth
Stanford	49th	80th	91st
UCLA	34th	42nd	51st
Washington	18th	58th	90th
Washington State	78th	68th	76th
Colorado*	22nd *	39th *	79th *
Utah*	33rd *	15th *	12th *

*Will join the Pac 10 in 2011

The Pac-10 has three teams in the top 20 all time, two since 1992, and two in the last decade. The addition of Utah and Colorado will give the Pac-10 one more top 20 team for the last decade.

The Big 10

Team	Rank All Time	Rank 1992-2009	Rank 2000-2009
Illinois	65th	95th	96th
Indiana	103rd	100th	105th
Iowa	57th	40th	24th
Michigan	First	12th	22nd
Michigan State	32nd	66th	66th
Minnesota	38th	85th	61st T
Northwestern	102nd	77th	61st T
Ohio State	Fourth	First	Fourth
Penn State	10th	13th	29th
Purdue	56th	60th	51st
Wisconsin	46th	17th	18th
Nebraska*	Eighth*	Fourth *	20th *

* Will be in the Big 10 in 2011

The Big 10 has three teams in the top 10 all time, four teams in the top 20 since 1992, and two in the top 20 for the last decade. Nebraska would make a third team in the top 20 for the last decade.

Big 12 (10)

Team	Rank All Time	Rank 1992-2009	Rank 2000-2009
Baylor	77th	104th	109th
Oklahoma	Fifth	14th	Third
Oklahoma State	79th	67th	49th
Texas	Third	Fifth	Second
Texas A&M	24th	26th	59th
Texas Tech	47th	28th	19th
Iowa State	94th	98th	80th
Kansas	68th	64th	76th
Kansas State	100th	19th	41st
Missouri	55th	63rd	43rd

The Big 12(10) has two top 10 teams all time, three top 20 teams since 1992, and two over the last decade.

The ACC

Teams	Rank All Time	Rank 1992-2009	Rank 2000-2009
Boston College	31st	28th	16th
Clemson	30th	34th	28th
Florida State	11th	Sixth	30th
Maryland	59th	72nd	38th
North Carolina State	73rd	53rd	53rd
Wake Forrest	105th	83rd	60th
Duke	80th	119th	120th
Georgia Tech	25th	36th	27th
Miami (Fla.)	14th	Seventh	11th
North Carolina	42nd	48th	81st
Virginia	58th	37th	55th
Virginia Tech	21st	Eighth	10th

The ACC has two top 20 teams all time, two since 1992, and three in the last decade.

The Big East

Team	Rank All Time	Rank 1992-2009	Rank 2000-2009
Cincinnati	75th	50th	32nd
Connecticut	*****	55th	58th
Louisville	67th	31st	17th
Pittsburg	37th	71st	34th
Rutgers	69th	91st	74th
South Florida	*****	23rd	26th
Syracuse	35th	54th	94th
West Virginia	23rd	22nd	15th

***** New Programs No Long Term Records

The Big East has two top 20 teams in the last decade.

It is evident that either division of the SEC could easily stand on its own as a powerful conference. In fact, it would be easy to make an argument that they would still be the two most powerful conferences in the nation.

The truly remarkable fact is that there are six SEC teams in the top 20 all time, four since 1992, and five in the last decade even though they have played each other for over a century. This certainly disproves the notion that any team has ever dominated the SEC.

Some would like to claim that Alabama dominated the SEC from 1960 to 1969. In truth, there were five SEC teams with top 20 winning percentages from 1960 to 1969. The only decade when the top 20 teams by winning percentage did not have several SEC teams was from 1970 to 1979. This was truly a decade when the conference was dominated by Alabama with only one other SEC team with a top 20 winning percentage.

Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee have all won the Eastern Division within the last five years. Auburn, LSU, Arkansas, and Alabama have all won or tied for the SEC Western Division in the last five years.

The average margin of victory by the current SEC champion Alabama when playing Tennessee, Auburn, Florida, and LSU in 2009 was less than two scores.  The margin of victory for Florida when they played LSU and Tennessee was less than two scores.

Alabama had three games that were decided in the final quarter of the game in 2009. In fact some were decided in the final seconds. Florida had three games that were decided in the final quarter in 2009 as well.

There has not been any SEC team repeat as champion since Tennessee did it in 1997 and 1998. There have been repeat champions only twice since 1992, and only 14 times in conference history.

Alabama has repeat championships on four occasions.

LSU has repeat championships on one occasion.

Georgia Tech has repeat championships on two occasions while in the conference.

Mississippi has repeat championships on two occasions.

Georgia has repeat championships on one occasion.

Tennessee has repeat championships on three occasions.

Auburn has repeat championships on one occasion.

While it might be convenient for “experts” to simply pencil in Florida and Alabama, history tells us that they will most likely be wrong. Neither Alabama nor Florida has been dominant within the traditional six powers of the SEC in the last thirty years, or in the last two years.

It is certainly admirable that Alabama and Florida were able to achieve such a stellar record over the last two years. It shows what kind of quality programs they are. The records of Auburn, LSU, Georgia, and Tennessee also show a century old tradition of being a top program and this tracks right up to the last decade.

Here is a look at the head to head records of Alabama and Florida against the top tier of the SEC over the last decade.

Alabama v Auburn from 2000 to 2009 3-7 from 2005 to 2009 2-3

Alabama v Florida from 2000 to 2009 2-2 from 2005 to 2009 2-2

Alabama v Georgia from 2000 to 2009 1-3 from 2005 to 2009 1-1

Alabama v Tennessee from 2000 to 2009 5-5 from 2005 to 2009 4-1

Alabama v LSU from 2000 to 2009 3-7 from 2005 to 2009 2-3

Florida v Alabama from 2000 to 2009 2-2 from 2005 to 2009 2-2

Florida v Auburn from 2000 to 2009 3-3 from 2005 to 2009 0-2

Florida v Georgia from 2000 to 2009 8-2 from 2005 to 2009 4-1

Florida v LSU from 2000 to 2009 6-4 from 2005 to 2009 3-2

Florida v Tennessee from 2000 to 2009 7-3 from 2005 to 2009 5-0

This shows a record that is far from dominant by either of these teams over the last decade, or even over the last five years. To simply pencil them in as automatic winners of the SEC is both an uneducated and naïve assumption. Could Alabama and Florida win their divisions? Possibly.

Could Alabama or Florida win the SEC? Possibly.

It is a simply fact that the chances are against either of them winning the SEC this year. Of the two, the chances are more in the favor of Florida.

In truth it is likely that Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Georgia, and Florida all have a chance at winning the SEC. That is supported by team talent and record within the conference in recent history. Some pundits and experts think that South Carolina and Arkansas have a chance as well.