ESPN: Ranking the SEC programs for the decade.

[jadennis]

Here's the link so you can read the chart better.

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/15978/ranking-the-sec-programs-this-decade

And it should be noted with an *  that Alabama only finished 6th because they sucked (ie, bad coaches, injuries, refs, weather, etc).  Had they not sucked, they would have finished #1 with 10 SEC titles.

This also shows that not much has changed in the last 10 years in regards to the "Big Six" of the SEC.  
Of the 20 SEC title game appearances, 18 of them (90%) were by the top 6 programs.  
Of the 46 Top 25 finishes, 40 of them (87%) were by the top 6 programs.  
Of the 20 Top 10 finishes, all of them were by the top 6.  
Of the 210 wins against Top 25 teams, 155 (74%) of them were by the top 6.
Only the top 6 programs finished with a .600 or better winning %.

What is impressive about the bottom teams (for people who say the SEC has no depth), is that the bottom 5 teams are a combined 12-3 in bowl games this decade.  Arkansas?  What the hell?  2 SEC title game appearances, yet a 1-5 bowl record and only one finish in the Top 25?  Damn that Right Reverend Nutt!

Alabama has a chance to win the SEC’s fifth national championship this decade and the sixth of the BCS era, which dates back to 1998.

As this decade comes to a close, we’ve done some research to provide a statistical answer to the question everybody’s going to be asking: Who’s been the strongest program in the SEC over the last 10 years?

We’ve tried to cover just about every category, from record against SEC competition, to record against nationally ranked foes, to record in bowl games.

Taking into account all that information and then some, we’ve come up with our own ranking of the 12 SEC teams for this decade.

Florida edges out LSU for the top spot, but barely.

Here's what we came up with:

Ranking the SEC programs, 2000-2009
Team    Total WL   WL vs SEC  WL vs Tp 25  Bowl WL  Tp 25 fin  Tp 10 fin SEC ttl gms SEC ttls Nat'l ttles
1.Florida.........99-30......64-20.........35-21          4-5     9           4         4                3           2
2.LSU.............99-30.......58-26.........31-20       7-2     7           5         4                3           2
3.Georgia........97-31........57-26........30-22       7-2     9           6         3                2           0
4.Auburn.........87-39.......53-29.........22-21       5-3     6           2         2                1           0
5.Tennessee....83-43.......51-32.........18-28       3-4     6           1         3                0           0
6.Alabama.......78-48.......47-35.........19-27       3-3     3           2         2                0           0
7.Arkansas......70-54......37-45.........15-32       1-5     1           0         2                0           0
8.S. Carolina....68-53.......37-43.........14-29       3-2     2           0         0                0           0
9.Ole Miss........62-58.......33-47.........11-22       3-1     2           0         0                0           0
10.Miss. State..42-76......20-60..........7-30       2-0     1           0         0                0           0
11.Kentucky.....50-69.......20-60..........3-35       3-0     0           0         0                0           0
12.Vanderbilt....34-83......13-67..........5-34       1-0     0           0         0                0           0

It was a tough call between Arkansas and South Carolina for the No. 7 spot and equally difficult to choose between Kentucky and Mississippi State for the No. 10 spot. The Hogs were 6-4 against the Gamecocks this decade and made two appearances to the Gamecocks’ none in the SEC championship game. Those were the two factors that made the difference for Arkansas. It was even closer between the Wildcats and Bulldogs. They both had the same SEC record, and Kentucky was 6-4 against Mississippi State this decade. But the Bulldogs had four more wins against nationally ranked teams and also recorded a Top 25 finish in 2000. Those were the two factors that nudged Mississippi State into the No. 10 spot.

Also, Florida, LSU, Georgia and Auburn were the only four teams with winning records against nationally ranked teams. Alabama was just 19-27, but 8-2 over the last two seasons. Ole Miss has won four of its last six games against Top 25 teams. But prior to that stretch, the Rebels had lost 15 straight games to nationally ranked opponents.

[jmar]

Hurts that we stunk up the place versus Georgia and LSU. Beat the stew out of everyone else though.

[jadennis]

Hurts that we stunk up the place versus Georgia and LSU. Beat the stew out of everyone else though.

Yeah, 4-6 against both of them.  

Our records against SEC teams since 2000
5-0 (1.00%) Tennessee
2-0 (1.00%) South Carolina
5-1 (.833%) Vanderbilt
8-2 (.800%) Ole Miss
8-2 (.800) Mississippi State
7-3 (.700%) Alabama
2-1 (.667%) Kentucky
5-5 (.500%) Arkansas
3-3 (.500%) Florida
4-6 (.400%) Georgia
4-6 (.400%) LSU

That's a 23-18 against the other top 5 programs, not bad.

Here are the records of the top 6 teams against each other for the decade.

1. Florida - 26-14 (.650%)
2. LSU - 24-18 (.571%)
3. Auburn - 23-18 (.561%)
4. Georgia - 20-20 (.500%)
5. Alabama - 14-24 (.368%)
6. Tennessee - 14-27 (.341%)

So Auburn is one game away from being tied with LSU for the 2nd best record against the other top 5 teams in the SEC.  

Notes:  Florida was at least .500% against every team (2-2 against Alabama, 3-3 against Auburn).
Only one team had an undefeated record against one of the other teams (Auburn was 5-0 against Tennessee).
The SEC West led the head-to-head with the East 31-30.

[jmar]

Arkansas at their place has been nightmarish too.