Alabama is the best program in SEC history. But who's No. 2?

[TUSKtimes]

When Tennessee won against Bama in 1970, the series was tied 21 wins each. There was also very little difference between the two teams' SEC and National Championships. The 70's decade and the past 10 years has been the difference. The 80's was Bama 6-4. The 90's was Tennessee 6-4. 2000-2009 was a tie with 5 wins each.

Guess you could say we won the battle of desegregation. That and coach Bryant's mighty wishbone era. And the 90s was actually 5-4-1. Surely there are still a few over here that remember Bama going 83 yards in 83 seconds and David Palmers 2 point conversion to tie the game?

 

[kbear01]

https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/s...he-best-program-in-sec-history-but-whos-no-2/

The Case for Tennessee
Greetings your honor and members of the jury. Given the last few years, many of you may be wondering how we made it here today. Well, forasmuch discord and disappointment as there has been in Knoxville, Tennessee, recently, if you wipe the decade of dust off of our program, you will uncover a history of winning and a team robust with tradition and pride.

Names like Johnny Majors, Peyton Manning, Reggie White, Eric Berry, Jamal Lewis, Al Wilson and General Robert Neyland immediately come to mind when you think about Tennessee. Though Alabama was gathering a bouquet of Pasadena roses and sending the Yellow Jackets to a watery grave, we were every bit as much the gold standard in the SEC until the 1960s. To that end, we might mention that when Bryant arrived at Alabama in 1958, Tennessee had won 6 conference championships to Alabama’s 5! (Even after Bryant arrived, it still took him 3 years to beat us!)

Though our tradition began in 1891 and flourished before the war, in many ways, the 1950s were our decade. During that stretch, we brought home the school’s first national title in 1951, and coach Neyland also guided his teams to 10-win seasons in 1950 and 1956, including 2 SEC crowns.

“But who cares about the 1950s?” you say.

OK, fine. Let’s talk about Tennessee of the 1990s, without question our best decade. Included were 4 10-win seasons, a national title in 1998 with a perfect 13-0 record, and the biggest bowl win in school history: a 23-16 victory over Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl. And though Florida dominated us in head-to-head matchups, we won 98 games, 6 bowls and had 6 top 10 finishes. Not too shabby.

Head-to-head, we hold an overall edge with most SEC schools, including LSU (20-10-3) and Arkansas (13-5), and overall we are tied with Georgia at a 23-23-2 mark. Outside of the SEC, we have defeated the illustrious programs of Ohio State, Michigan, Florida State, Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska and Penn State, among others.

We recognize that our current demise has rendered us the laughingstock of the SEC to many fans, and rival schools revel in the implosion that’s occurred in Knoxville. But why?

Peel back the layers of this hilarity and you will discover that we have been good — very good — in the past. Had our program have been mediocre all these years, no one would feel the need to comment or laugh at our decline. So in ways it’s actually a testament to how good we have been.

Consider this: We claim 6 national titles — 1938, 1940, 1950, 1951, 1967, 1998 — overall and 2 AP. We are tied with Georgia for second in overall Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships with 13. Out of the 5 schools vying for second place, we have the most overall wins with 838, most Consensus All-Americans (40) and most members of the College Football Hall of Fame (24). Our 28 bowl wins and 6 SEC East division titles are more than a subtle nod to our great football heritage.

Laugh at that.


I can dig it.

I can dig it, as well. but, sorry, denied. UT has losing records to Auburn, Florida, and after this season, UGA. Add Missouri as well. Get in line. Love my Vols. But, we have fallen this far.

1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Auburn
4. UT/UGA
5. LSU

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

That's neat. But, to do it retroactively years later takes away the principal of it. However, two of our last five SEC championships are due to an ineligible team.

It wasn't that an ineligible team finished above them though. A team that has been caught cheating like Florida in 84' shouldn't reap the rewards. That's apples and oranges from what Kentucky did here, Kentucky counts a loss to an ineligible team as a win, and counting that loss as a win brought them into a tie with their "co-champion" (who was not ineligible) and also beat them 31-7. It's a laughable claim.

 

[NorCalVol67]

Guess you could say we won the battle of desegregation. That and coach Bryant's mighty wishbone era. And the 90s was actually 5-4-1. Surely there are still a few over here that remember Bama going 83 yards in 83 seconds and David Palmers 2 point conversion to tie the game?

I am still pissed about the defensive call on Palmer’s two point play.

 

[MikeVol44]

This is one of those questions we all know the answer to, IMO.

From a historical perspective, the answer is pretty clear and I don’t think there is much of an argument.

From a “here and now” perspective (since cable TV), the answer is pretty clear and I don’t think there is much of an argument.

So, it depends on who you talk to and how much they care about looking at an entire historical perspective.

There is certainly no doubt about who has dominated the SEC East since 1990.....hands down Gators.
Gators have won the East outright or shared 1st place 15 times since then.
Gators have 8 SEC conference titles since 1990. Bama has 9 since 1990.
Gators haven't won a SEC title since 2008.

Gators were 6-3 against Bama with Spurrier as HC.
Gators are 2-7 against Bama since Spurrier left...and 0-6 since Tebow left.

Gators are 4-6 against LSU since Urban left
Gators are 5-5 against UGA since Urban left
Gators are 1-3 against AUBURN since Spurrier left

That's a whopping 10-20 record against the SEC Elite ....
---just trying to offer up a little "here and now" perspective for you Gators.......

 

[OffTackleVol]

Guess you could say we won the battle of desegregation. That and coach Bryant's mighty wishbone era. And the 90s was actually 5-4-1. Surely there are still a few over here that remember Bama going 83 yards in 83 seconds and David Palmers 2 point conversion to tie the game?

According to the NCAA, the "official" result is we won. Kind of like golf, get caught cheating and you lose. Anyway, the NCAA says we win. If you guys can claim a hand full of those bogus NC's back in the 30's and 40's, we can claim that victory.

 

[livefaith]

You better hope not. Dubose wasn't the DC for our NC team in '92.' That was brother Bill Oliver. Dubose was just over his head as a HC but still managed to beat Florida twice in '99' and win the SEC.

Yes, I hope not.

 

[livefaith]

When Tennessee won against Bama in 1970, the series was tied 21 wins each. There was also very little difference between the two teams' SEC and National Championships. The 70's decade and the past 10 years has been the difference. The 80's was Bama 6-4. The 90's was Tennessee 6-4. 2000-2009 was a tie with 5 wins each.

Wow. Never looked at it like that.

 

[99gator]

There is certainly no doubt about who has dominated the SEC East since 1990.....hands down Gators.
Gators have won the East outright or shared 1st place 15 times since then.
Gators have 8 SEC conference titles since 1990. Bama has 9 since 1990.
Gators haven't won a SEC title since 2008.

Gators were 6-3 against Bama with Spurrier as HC.
Gators are 2-7 against Bama since Spurrier left...and 0-6 since Tebow left.

Gators are 4-6 against LSU since Urban left
Gators are 5-5 against UGA since Urban left
Gators are 1-3 against AUBURN since Spurrier left

That's a whopping 10-20 record against the SEC Elite ....
---just trying to offer up a little "here and now" perspective for you Gators.......

Ok. Now do those same calculations for everyone else.

If I am not mistaken, the entire SEC East has one win against Alabama since 2009.

The fact that most would argue Florida has been subpar since Urban (me included), and yet, they are basically .500 against the elite of the league except Alabama is telling.

If you define “here and now” as this very minute, Missouri probably makes the top 5

 

[BubbaWms]

---just trying to offer up a little "here and now" perspective for you my Gators.......

FYP....thank me later but your gators still suck !

 

[MikeVol44]

Ok. Now do those same calculations for everyone else.

If I am not mistaken, the entire SEC East has one win against Alabama since 2009.

The fact that most would argue Florida has been subpar since Urban (me included), and yet, they are basically .500 against the elite of the league except Alabama is telling.

If you define “here and now” as this very minute, Missouri probably makes the top 5

Yessir.....I agree completely!

No doubt that the entire SEC East is on reset mode----except maybe UGA.

I like what I see and hear from CJP and hope he's the guy to make us relevant again...

Who do you see emerging in the West?? I think aTm is gonna make some noise with Jimbo in the next 4 yrs....

 

[99gator]

Yessir.....I agree completely!

No doubt that the entire SEC East is on reset mode----except maybe UGA.

I like what I see and hear from CJP and hope he's the guy to make us relevant again...

Who do you see emerging in the West?? I think aTm is gonna make some noise with Jimbo in the next 4 yrs....

On a year in, year out basis, I like A&M as well. I don’t believe in Eddie O. Auburn manages to have a breakthrough year every three or four years.

But, I like A&M to be consistent

 

[MikeVol44]

On a year in, year out basis, I like A&M as well. I don’t believe in Eddie O. Auburn manages to have a breakthrough year every three or four years.

But, I like A&M to be consistent

Ed O gets shown the door if he loses 4 games this year.
I could see LSU going after a guy like Whittingham or Matt Campbell.

I don't like Jimbo, but he definitely knows the game. I think he wins a SEC title in 3 or 4 yrs....

gonna put you on the spot-----do you really believe Mullen is the guy to get you back to Urban's level of success???

 

[99gator]

Ed O gets shown the door if he loses 4 games this year.
I could see LSU going after a guy like Whittingham or Matt Campbell.

I don't like Jimbo, but he definitely knows the game. I think he wins a SEC title in 3 or 4 yrs....

gonna put you on the spot-----do you really believe Mullen is the guy to get you back to Urban's level of success???

It's going to be hard to duplicate what Urban did. So, I can't see that happening.

I can see Dan Mullen winning an SEC championship. I can envision that. Whether that happens or not, is another story. I am of the general belief that Florida will put out quality teams on a consistent basis now. Some years will be better than others, but that's true of everybody. But, I don't think Florida is going to have Birmingham Bowl/losing season type teams while Mullen is there. I don't think they are going to beat themselves and I don't think I'll be watching games wondering what the hell I am looking at. I think if you are going to beat Florida while he is the coach, you are going to have to have a good football team that is playing well that day.

But, I do see a day where Florida-Georgia is a pick-em game on a consistent basis (whether Kirby is there or not) and that Florida will have the ability to take on the best from the West. I saw a lot of things last season that need improvement in order to become a champion. What I did not see was any rank incompetence and that's half the battle at Florida because Florida generally has quality athletes, if even by accident.

Now, having said all of that, I think we are all of the belief (and I don't think it's merely hope) that Saban will be around for another 5 years or less (at least at this level) and so none of us are going to have to climb that mountain any longer.

And I anticipate some of these coaches still being around after Saban's Alabama is not the Alabama we currently know.

 

[ProudVOLfan]

Solid post DD

 

[MikeVol44]

It's going to be hard to duplicate what Urban did. So, I can't see that happening.

I can see Dan Mullen winning an SEC championship. I can envision that. Whether that happens or not, is another story. I am of the general belief that Florida will put out quality teams on a consistent basis now. Some years will be better than others, but that's true of everybody. But, I don't think Florida is going to have Birmingham Bowl/losing season type teams while Mullen is there. I don't think they are going to beat themselves and I don't think I'll be watching games wondering what the hell I am looking at. I think if you are going to beat Florida while he is the coach, you are going to have to have a good football team that is playing well that day.

But, I do see a day where Florida-Georgia is a pick-em game on a consistent basis (whether Kirby is there or not) and that Florida will have the ability to take on the best from the West. I saw a lot of things last season that need improvement in order to become a champion. What I did not see was any rank incompetence and that's half the battle at Florida because Florida generally has quality athletes, if even by accident.

Now, having said all of that, I think we are all of the belief (and I don't think it's merely hope) that Saban will be around for another 5 years or less (at least at this level) and so none of us are going to have to climb that mountain any longer.

And I anticipate some of these coaches still being around after Saban's Alabama is not the Alabama we currently know.

Thanks for the honest answer....agree with the assessment.

As an outsider--I think Mullen is in the driver's seat to win the in-state recruiting battles between Miami & FSU.
He and his staff really improved that team last year.

Putting you on the spot again--What's your honest assessment of Pruitt?
Maybe you've shared it on here before, but I don't remember reading it.
Not looking to argue or anything like that....I just want to hear your thoughts.

 

[99gator]

Thanks for the honest answer....agree with the assessment.

As an outsider--I think Mullen is in the driver's seat to win the in-state recruiting battles between Miami & FSU.
He and his staff really improved that team last year.

Putting you on the spot again--What's your honest assessment of Pruitt?
Maybe you've shared it on here before, but I don't remember reading it.
Not looking to argue or anything like that....I just want to hear your thoughts.

I honestly don't have a feel for him. I really don't.

My fear when he was hired (from a Tennessee point of view) is that he never had to take inferior talent and develop it. He was at Alabama, Georgia, and FSU. He was never at a North Carolina and had to take lesser talent and prepare it to compete with superior opposition. His resume seems to indicate that if he has the horses, he knows what to do with them.

So, if he recruits well, that's all moot.

But, if talent were equal, is he going to be better on gamedays than the other current SEC coaches? I don't know.

What I do like is that (from what I can gather), he's definitely in charge. He's definitely doing things in a manner that he wants them to be done. He's comfortable in his own skin. I don't think he's making decisions based on a fear of what someone may think on the outside. So, he's got that part down. I also think he fits culturally with the program. So, those are positives that I feel pretty comfortable in stating that those things are there.

Where he will take Tennessee, I don't know. I believe, at worst, he'll leave Tennessee better than when he found it. But, I said the same thing about Dooley and Jones.

 

[MikeVol44]

I honestly don't have a feel for him. I really don't.

My fear when he was hired (from a Tennessee point of view) is that he never had to take inferior talent and develop it. He was at Alabama, Georgia, and FSU. He was never at a North Carolina and had to take lesser talent and prepare it to compete with superior opposition. His resume seems to indicate that if he has the horses, he knows what to do with them.

So, if he recruits well, that's all moot.

But, if talent were equal, is he going to be better on gamedays than the other current SEC coaches? I don't know.

What I do like is that (from what I can gather), he's definitely in charge. He's definitely doing things in a manner that he wants them to be done. He's comfortable in his own skin. I don't think he's making decisions based on a fear of what someone may think on the outside. So, he's got that part down. I also think he fits culturally with the program. So, those are positives that I feel pretty comfortable in stating that those things are there.

Where he will take Tennessee, I don't know. I believe, at worst, he'll leave Tennessee better than when he found it. But, I said the same thing about Dooley and Jones.

good points....I appreciate your candor.

I just wanted to hear someone else's thoughts about CJP because I just can't be objective.
I WANT CJP to be the guy.

I do realize that CJP's "equity" in recruiting is his prior affiliations with winning programs as you mention above.
But he has to WIN in order to cash that equity in on the recruiting trail.

Thanks, again.