Friday, December 7, 2012

Ranking the SEC during the BCS era

As we enter bowl season, and slowly say goodbye to the BCS, it's time to rank the SEC programs from 1998-2012.  Keep in mind, the stats are from the entire BCS era, not just the years when your favorite team was winning.  Also, even though Texas A&M and Missouri are in their first year of SEC play, you (SEC presidents) wanted them in the conference so I've included them in my ranking.

How did the conference do as a whole?  Considering 6 wins equals a non-losing season, 10 out of 14 programs have over 96 wins in the BCS era.  That translates to at least 6 wins per season for those programs.  Now, I'm sure all true SEC fans know this stat, but I'm putting it anyway.  The SEC won the inagural BCS championship and has won 8 total, with three programs winning 2 each.  How does that compare to other conferences?  Well, the Big 12 is the only other conference with multiple titles (2).  The ACC, Big East, Big Ten, and Pac-12 each have 1 title a piece.  I'm just thowing this in here, but this year Notre Dame has a chance to become the first Independent to win a BCS championship.  Of course, they are playing another SEC team making a championship game appearance.  That makes 10 championship game appearances by SEC teams.  Now onto the rankings and stats.

  1. Florida Gators
    • 145-48 (75.13%); 3 SEC titles; 2 BCS titles
      • The most successful program.  7 ten win seasons with 0 losing seasons.
  2. LSU Tigers
    • 140-51 (73.30%); 4 SEC titles; 2 BCS titles
      • While the Tigers have 8 ten win seasons, they also have 2 losing seasons.
  3. Alabama Crimson Tide
    • 130-61 (68.06%); 3 SEC titles; 2 BCS titles
      • The first team to win a BCS title without winning the conference title, much less their division.  8 ten win seasons, but also 3 losing seasons.
  4. Georgia Bulldogs
    • 142-51 (73.58%); 2 SEC titles; 0 BCS titles
      • 8 ten win seasons and only 1 losing season.  More wins than Bama but the lack of BCS titles drop them down a spot.
  5. Auburn Tigers
    • 121-67 (64.36%); 2 SEC titles; 1 BCS title
      • 3 ten win season and 4 losing seasons. A toss up between Auburn and Tennessee, but the Tigers have 1 more SEC title so they get #5.
  6. Tennessee Volunteers
    • 121-68 (64.02%); 1 SEC title; 1 BCS title
      • The original BCS champion.  However, while they have 5 ten win seasons, they also have 5 losing seasons.
  7. Arkansas Razorbacks
    • 113-74 (60.34%); 0 SEC titles; 0 BCS titles
      • 3 ten win season and 4 losing seasons.  Everyone knows what happened to their BCS title hopes, they went down on two wheels.
  8. Texas A&M Aggies
    • 108-78 (58.06%); 1 Big12 title; 0 BCS titles
      • 2 ten win seasons and 4 losing seasons. 
  9. Missouri Tigers
    • 105-80 (58.76%); 0 Big12 titles; 0 BCS titles
      • 3 ten win seasons and 6 losing seasons.  3-1 record versus SEC teams before joining the conference including a win over my #10 team.
  10. South Carolina Gamecocks
    • 99-84 (54.10%); 0 SEC titles; 0 BCS titles
      • 2 ten win seasons and 4 losing seasons.  Loss to Missouri in the 2005 Independence Bowl, which dropped them down a spot.
  11. Ole Miss Rebels
    • 90-91 (49.72%); 0 SEC titles; 0 BCS titles
      • 1 ten win season and 6 losing seasons
  12. Mississippi State Bulldogs
    • 84-97 (46.41%); 0 SEC titles; 0 BCS titles
      • 1 ten win season and 8 losing seasons
  13. Kentucky Wildcats
    • 76-105 (41.99%); 0 SEC titles; 0 BCS titles
      • 0 ten win seasons and 8 losing seasons
  14. Vanderbilt Commodores
    • 57-119 (32.39%); 0 SEC titles; 0 BCS titles
      • 0 ten win seasons and 13 losing seasons, but the future is bright with James Franklin leading them to back-to-back bowl games.
That's my ranking, what's yours?

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