7 Biggest SEC Surprises, Both Good and Bad, This Season

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) With the year winding down, it's easy to see how the season is due to wind up for the teams in the SEC.

This was a year with a lot surprises, some good and some bad, so let's look back over the year so far and identify the teams that made the list and why.

Let us know if you agree with the list, who you may have added or subtracted and why. Thanks for coming to Bleacher Report for all your sporting news and stories.

From Wildcats to Mildcats, Kentucky Hits the Bottom

Kentucky may lead the list of biggest surprise disappointments in the SEC East. Since almost never making a bowl game, the Wildcats went on a good run and attended bowls for the last several years while being a steady, but mid pack SEC team.

So far this year, with just four wins and six losses and just one SEC win over lowly Ole Miss, it is clear that the Wildcats and have turned back in to the Mildcats of old.

Kentucky fans are just counting down the days to the end of football season so they can give their undivided attention to basketball again.

Florida Fell Harder Than Anyone Could Have Predicted

Though people expected Florida to lose to Alabama, they didn't expect Alabama to ruin the season for the Gators. But in taking out both starting quarterback John Brantley and his backup in that game, the Gators were done for the season.

At 5-5 right now and only 1-5 in the SEC, the Gators first season under Wil Muschamp hasn't gone as hoped, but no one knew that things would go this bad.

Auburn, from Champs to Chumps in Just One Season

Auburn is lucky to try and finish the season with just seven wins and five losses.

From the first game of the season when they needed a miracle to beat lowly Utah State, Auburn fans knew it would be a long fall from the top.

Though they had a few bright spots like a win over South Carolina that was unexpected, the ugly 45-7 loss to Georgia, the 45-10 drubbing by LSU and the 38-14 thumping by Arkansas showed that these Tigers were now one of the worst teams in the SEC West.

I guess they can always be grateful there's Mississippi State.

Arkansas, This Was a Season That Almost Saw Pigs Fly

Arkansas put together another fine season, and were it not for both Alabama and LSU being at the top of their game and both in the same division, they could have a great season.

Arkansas has clearly entrenched themselves as the third best team in the SEC and could have easily won the SEC East if they have been in that division.

The good news for Razorbacks fans is that they're not as good as they are going to be.

The Game of the Century Lived Up to It's Billing

Few games can possibly live up to the billing and hype that the Alabama-LSU game had in the weeks building up to it, but this time, it did.

What the country saw was almost unquestionably the nation's two best teams and certainly the best two defenses battle it out in a very momentous game.

It may be years to see another SEC match the intensity and hype of this game, unless there's a re-match.

The Total and Utter Collapse of of Ole Miss and Houston Nutt

Houston Nutt came to Ole Miss and, in year one, made the fans believe that the good times were fixing to roll, but in year two, the wheels fell off and nothing but heartache followed.

Now the Rebels are the worst team in the SEC and Houston Nutt is about to find out that he's joined Phillip Fulmer on the bench of coaches that nobody wants any more.

People didn't expect much from Ole Miss this year, but they got almost nothing.

With just two wins over pathetic teams like Southern Illinois and Fresno State, Ole Miss is an Ole Mess.

Nutt's gamble to bring in a one -ear quarterback left this team as unprepared for life afterward as Auburn was for life after one-and-done Cam Newton.

Georgia's Mark Richt for Himself off the the Hot Seat

Most thought it was almost time to stick a fork in Mark Richt. The last few years, his team and coaching has been mediocre at best. Even die-hard Georgia fans were wondering if it was time to start looking around for a new coach.

But a weak—a very weak SEC East—combined with a better-than-normal Georgia team was the formula that Richt needed to win his way off the hot seat.

With a squeaking 24-20 win over a very badly beaten up Florida team and 33-28 win over Vanderbilt that they could have just as easily lost, Georgia may not be as good as their record once the SEC Championship Game comes around and the bowl games come.

But Richt has at least quieted the hot seat for another year or two at least, and for a coach, that could be just what he needs.

(Larry Burton is a syndicated writer whose work appears online and in print. If you'd like to keep up with all his articles, follow him on Twitter and sign up as a fan on his Bio Page.)