You know, you’d think if the SEC was really all that deep as a conference, there would be a little more diversity in this stat.
You know, you’d think if the SEC was really all that deep as a conference, there would be a little more diversity in this stat.
Only 7 of the 48 SEC Championship Game slots have gone to anyone but the 6 teams that have won the game (Ala, AU, UF, UGA, LSU, Tenn),
— David Wunderlich (@Year2) September 28, 2016
Filed under SEC Football
“We remember the Sugar Bowl, I think it my junior year of high school, we let Alabama beat us twice,” Brinson said of a team that also lost to the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship game. “We’re not letting Alabama beat us twice. In the Sugar Bowl in 2018, they… thought they should have been in the playoffs and lost to Texas.” -- AB-H, 12/27/23
We should note that the gators made the list one full season before divisional play.
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They would have made it earlier, but had a title stripped for cheating.
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Galen Hall, now in for Charlie Pell
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.. or if Spurrier had not thrown interceptions in the WLOCP
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At least UGA is one of the seven, haha.
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Er, no. It’s saying that there have been 48 SEC Championship game slots given out. 43 of those slots have gone to a program which has won the SEC Championship Game, which includes UGA. The remaining 7 slots have gone to a program which has not won the SEC Championship Game (Arkansas x 3, Missouri x 2, Mississippi State x 1, South Carolina x 1).
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That leaves: Ole Miss, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M as never-have-beens.
Man, that 4th and 22 must still hurt in Oxford.
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UGA by most accounts prior to split was the 3rd winningest program in the SEC. Bama and TN being the top 2.
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A pro pos to nothing in this column, but reviewing CKS’s comments to date, did we hire a head coach or a ship’s captain???
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This year the conference really is weak. Maybe two or three legit top 15 teams, at best; a few barely top 25 after that, and a pile of junk in the lower half–5 or 6 really bad teams down there. Any one of the P5 conferences would have a case to be better than the SEC right now.
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Compare that to other conferences. Its actually amazing that fully half the conference has played for a championship. Also, look at home many teams in the conference have been in a national championship game, or finished 2nd since 1998 (the year UTK won it all) and its amazing as well.
Thing is, the bottom half of the conference isn’t that strong and probably never will be more than just the occasional team rising up before falling back to the mean.
That 7 slots actually went to someone other than the big 6 is a pretty good accomplishment compared to other conferences.
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“One of these teams is not like the others…”
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And two of those seven went to freaking Missouri for crying out loud.
It’s fairly remarkable that Ole Miss has never been, I suppose, especially when you consider they’re the only team from the west besides A&M to never represent the west. I guess the west was the weaker sister in the 90’s though, so it was more wide open. In the east…call me crazy, but I just don’t really envision a year when Kentucky or Vanderbilt would ever win the division.
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Ole Miss did technically tie LSU for the West in 2003, but of course, they lost to them head-to-head. It’s actually more amazing to me that Mississippi State has ever managed to play in the title game. That’s not unlike Kentucky making it.
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Miss State did play in the title game. They lost to UT in 98.
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I know, which is why I said I find it amazing they’ve ever played in it.
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LOL! Man I can’t read! Good catch. I thought you wrote “never”.
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Since 2011, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan(!), Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue, and Rutgers have yet to make an appearance in a B1G Championship Game. Nebraska and Iowa have only appeared once.
Since 2011, California, Colorado, Oregon State, Utah, Washington, and Washington State have yet to make an appearance in a Pac-12 Championship Game. Arizona, Arizona State, and USC(!) have only appeared once.
Since 2005, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Virginia have yet to make an appearance in an ACC Football Championship Game. Wake, Duke, and N. Carolina have only appeared once.
From 1996 to 2010, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech never appeared in a Big 12 Championship Game.
Since 1992, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt have yet to make an appearance in an SEC Championship Game. Miss St. and USCe have only appeared once.
Smaller sample size, but who in the other conferences is likely to crack their championship game in the next decade and demonstrate more parity? I got Michigan, Penn State, Utah, Washington, Louisville, Miami, and Baylor. That’s still 4 non-invitees per conference, same as the SEC, except for the B1G, which would still have 7 non-invitees. And each conference other than the SEC and Big 12 would have more once-invited teams.
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SEC is toughest conference because they always will have the best players, not necessarily the best performing teams top to bottom.
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Definitely a fact, and one that seldom gets factored in. Look at the recruiting rankings for the SEC versus anyone else. You are going to take shots from quality athletes in all eight conference games, not many layups. That drain over the course of the season is not understood when people question the OOC schedule.
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Conference comparisons are so difficult, and another reason why each Power 5 champ should get a seat at the playoff table. The improved play by some mid-level schools is augmenting the case for their inclusion as well. Certainly all conferences have doormats, but they will hang around because the crumbs are pretty filling. Going to be tough to break those TV contracts to get to four 16 team conferences.
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Oh I don’t know. I’d prefer to keep the sport regional and use the bowl season for exhibition games creating the intriguing matchup ‘s.
Mythical national champ::true national champ
Kirbys man ball::reality
Forcing the issue will just keep messing it up.
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My vision of four 16 team conferences would be regional, more so than now. Don’t know if it will ever come to be, but the concept doesn’t require the geographical spread at all. I would see a SE conference, a combo of Atlantic/Great Lakes, a Midwest, and a Western Conference. Good natural rivalries, same time zones, reduced travel, etc. Also could still have interesting intersectional match ups in bowls.
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“No team has won the SEC in the divisional era (1992-present) that didn’t also win the conference before divisional play began.”
That’s a fairly meaningless stat. Vandy is the only pre-expansion program (ignoring Sewannee, because come on) which never won the SEC before division play began. So of the 14 current teams, 9 won the SEC in the pre-division era, including Kentucky and Mississippi State. A&M and Mizzou have been in the SEC for only three full seasons each (this is the fourth). At this point, the stat is mostly just an indictment of Arkansas and SCAR not being able to get the job done.
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Arkansas is a little surprising as they did win SWC championship. SCAR prior to joining had very modest success and was used as a cupcake game before the WLOCP, Ole Miss or Bama. SCAR has come a long way since ’92.
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Interesting and fun. But change of this nature occurs quickly, but permanence requires time. It only takes one coach to turn a program around. Reaching the summit is a whole ‘nother deal. Staying there is nearly impossible.
Both UK and Vandy have sour coaches to drag them up from the depths. One should assume they’ll eventually be successful. TexAg seems to be well positioned this year. One would think as close as sasnakrA has come they will get there. Missouri has made it, so it’s just a matter of one more win. And, of course, Ole Miss.
If Spurrier couldn’t do it at USC, I’ll be surprised if Muschamp does.
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Agreed on Spurrier vs Muchamp but I don’t think very highly of Boom. Spurrier ramped up donations and facilities at SCAR to the point where they were on level footing if not near the top of the SEC. If they keep the facilities up, and get the correct coach, USCe could win the SEC.
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Off subject, a bit, but first Max Wray and now Andrew Thomas both claiming their unequivocal, undying love and commitment to UGA. What happened?Did we hire a bagman?
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The SEC blue bloods, if you will.
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