Ranking SEC Football Schedules--Very Revealing

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

This says a lot. http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/07/sec_football_schedules_alabama.html#incart_hbx#incart_best-of

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

Just seems like they're out to get us sometimes now doesn't it

[ValleyTiger 2,894]

Auburn has historically always played a stronger schedule than our SEC brethren, especially UAT.

[WarTiger 3,915]

Understand this about SEC football schedules: There is no formula for perfect balance. There will always be inequities filled with good luck and bad luck since every team doesn't play each other.

In the 21-year history of the SEC's eight-game format, Alabama possesses the third-easiest conference schedule and Auburn has the second hardest, according to an AL.com analysis of opponents' SEC records. The easiest schedule belongs to Florida, which has the most SEC titles since the conference championship game started, and the hardest belongs to Vanderbilt.

"Nobody ever said it's supposed to be fair," said South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, a frequent critic of SEC scheduling. "We all know last year Georgia did not play the top three on the Western side: Alabama, LSU or Texas A&M. But a lot of people don't know Alabama didn't play the top three on the Eastern side -- us, Florida and Georgia. So those are the two that won the divisions. Scheduling. Pepper Rodgers (a former college football coach) at one time said a coach is as good as his players and his schedule."

How important is scheduling? That's what AL.com attempted to quantify in analyzing the league schedules for every SEC team since 1992, when eight conference games started across the board to usher in the SEC Championship Game.

Evaluating schedules can be subjective so AL.com kept the criteria simple. Who did a team play each season? What were those opponents' SEC records each year? And what are each teams' opponents' total SEC winning percentage since 1992?

SEC Football Schedules Since 1992

Team Opponents' SEC win % Games vs. Vandy/KY Games vs. SEC's 6 Best Teams Division Titles Florida .469 42 83 10

Georgia .471 42 75 5

Alabama .483 20 75 8

Tennessee .485 42 77 5

Ole Miss .496 29 90 0

Mississippi State .498 27 84 1

LSU .511 20 77 5

SouthCarolina .512 42 84 1

Kentucky .514 21 89 0

Arkansas .522 13 91 3

Auburn .528 15 83 4

Vanderbilt .539 21 92 0

Note: "Games vs. SEC's Best 6 Teams" means the six schools with the best all-time SEC records: Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. The SEC divided three into the East and three into the West in 1992 when the conference expanded to 12 members.

How teams were originally slotted into divisions naturally plays a big factor in these results. Playing Kentucky and Vanderbilt every year is usually a nice treat for SEC East teams.

Who teams play annually from the opposite division has a significant impact, too. For the first 11 years of the eight-game schedule, when teams played two permanent cross-divisional opponents, Auburn drew Florida annually while Alabama faced Vanderbilt.

And, of course, the cyclical nature of college football success plays a role. When Georgia went 11-20-1 in SEC games from 1993 to '96, Auburn benefitted by playing the Bulldogs annually while Alabama played a more difficult Tennessee team on the verge of a national championship. These days, the Vols are down and Georgia is up, an advantage for Alabama.

Florida has played the easiest schedule since 1992, with its opponents owning a .469 SEC winning percentage over those years. Close behind the Gators are Georgia (.471) and Alabama (.483).

Vanderbilt, which naturally can't enjoy the benefits of playing itself, has faced the hardest schedule (.539). Auburn has the second-toughest schedule (.528), followed by Arkansas (.522).

"There will be some years when you'd have a favorable schedule just based on what the situation is in that particular year and how the rotation gets set up," SEC Executive Associate Commissioner Mark Womack said. "Those things are cyclical. If you do a 12-year schedule, strengths and weaknesses are going to change over that 12-year period."

The SEC is trying to determine how it wants to schedule beyond the next couple years. Fixed cross-division games occur because Alabama-Tennessee and Auburn-Georgia games preserve SEC tradition.

But since the SEC went from 12 to 14 teams and stayed at eight games, the fixed opponent can now become even more of an advantage or disadvantage. LSU wants to eliminate the permanent opponent since it plays Florida every year.

Other findings of the AL.com study of SEC schedules:

* Last year, Alabama and Georgia played the first SEC Championship Game in which both participants avoided the top three teams from the opposite division. The opponents for Alabama and Georgia each had a combined .375 SEC winning percentage, tied for the third-easiest schedules ever by SEC division winners.

* Six of the eight easiest paths to Atlanta have occurred since 2008. Georgia's road in 2011 was the easiest ever (.313 opponents' SEC winning percentage), slightly ahead of Mississippi State's schedule in 1998 (.328).

* Nine SEC division winners had opponents who finished with a combined SEC record of .500 or greater. That's happened only twice within the past nine years: South Carolina and Auburn, both in 2010.

* Eighteen of the 21 SEC West champions played a cross-division game against Vanderbilt and/or Kentucky, who are the weakest SEC members since 1992. Only Auburn 1997, LSU 2003 and Alabama 2012 reached Atlanta without playing either Vanderbilt or Kentucky.

* Arkansas and Auburn have played Vanderbilt and Kentucky the fewest number of combined times at 13 and 15 games, respectively. In the West, the most games against Vanderbilt and Kentucky belong to Ole Miss (29) and Mississippi State (27).

* When the SEC expanded in 1992, the six teams with the best historical records were split up -- Alabama, Auburn and LSU to the West, and Florida, Tennessee and Georgia to the East. Alabama and Georgia have played the fewest games since 1992 against fellow "Big 6" teams with 75 each; Auburn and Florida have played the most with 83 each.

* Since 1992, Alabama has played more games against Vanderbilt (14) than Florida and Georgia combined (12). Auburn, which plays Georgia annually and used to have an annual series against Florida, has faced the Bulldogs and Gators a total of 35 times.

* Florida and LSU, who are annual cross-division opponents, have both been ranked in the Top 25 in nine of their past 10 meetings. Here are the number of times both teams were ranked in other annual cross-division games over the past decade: Auburn-Georgia, four out of 10; Alabama-Tennessee, one out of 10; and Arkansas-South Carolina, one out of 10.

* SEC division champions are nearly as likely to lose at home (22 times) than on the road (23). Florida has the most wins over a division champion (nine), followed by Auburn and Tennessee (seven each). Vanderbilt and SEC newcomer Missouri are the only schools that haven't beaten an opponent in a year it wins a division title.

Easiest SEC Division Titles

Team Opponents' SEC win %

Georgia 2011 .313

Mississippi State 1998 .328

Alabama 2012 .375

Georgia 2012 .375

Tennessee 1997 .391

Alabama 2008 .391

Florida 2009 .391

LSU 2011 .391

Florida 1992 .398

Alabama 1992 .406

Florida 1994 .406

Arkansas 2006 .406

Alabama 1996 .422

Florida 1999 .422

Florida 1995 .438

LSU 2005 .438

Georgia 2005 .438

LSU 2007 .438

Alabama 2009 .438

Alabama 1994 .453

Arkansas 1995 .453

Tennessee 1998 .453

Florida 2008 .453

Hardest SEC Division Titles

Team Opponents' SEC win %

Florida 1996 .469

Tennessee 2001 .469

Arkansas 2002 .469

Georgia 2003 .469

Tennessee 2004 .469

Florida 2000 .484

Georgia 2002 .484

Auburn 2004 .484

Florida 2006 .484

Tennessee 2007 .484

Alabama 1999 .500

Auburn 2000 .500

Auburn 2010 .500

South Carolina, 2010 .500

Florida 1993 .508

Auburn 1997 .516

LSU 2001 .516

LSU 2003 .516

Alabama 1993 .547

So every Auburn team that won division titles did so with an opponents winning percentage OVER .484, while only 2 of uats division titles came with opponents winning percentage over .484

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,701]

So Alabama's other rival and Vandy has been a piece of trash for the longest

While ours has been Georgia and Alabama

This works out perfect, right

[johnjacob 44]

Well the East has Vandy, UK and now Mizzou, not to mention UT is not the UT of the 90's and is quite bad. It is time to switch AU & Mizzou to even it out and make travel for the fans of both schools and their opponents easier.

[Charleston Tiger 134]

Beginning to get more and more on board with your suggestion of shifting divisions.

[cooltigger21 0]

Well the East has Vandy, UK and now Mizzou, not to mention UT is not the UT of the 90's and is quite bad. It is time to switch AU & Mizzou to even it out and make travel for the fans of both schools and their opponents easier.

I wouldn't mind switching divisions. I'd love to go back to playing UF every year. The main thing is to see the SEC go to a 9 game schedule, at least for me anyway.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,701]

Well the East has Vandy, UK and now Mizzou, not to mention UT is not the UT of the 90's and is quite bad. It is time to switch AU & Mizzou to even it out and make travel for the fans of both schools and their opponents easier.

I wouldn't mind switching divisions. I'd love to go back to playing UF every year. The main thing is to see the SEC go to a 9 game schedule, at least for me anyway.

Then everything should go to a 13 game schedule

It's not like the players care about an extra week (most of them want to play an extra week in fact)

[Dom1ni0n 51]

So Alabama's other rival and Vandy has been a piece of trash for the longest

While ours has been Georgia and Alabama

This works out perfect, right

As it concerns Eastern division rivals, up until 2002, we had to tangle with UGA and UF every season.

[Dom1ni0n 51]

This article makes a very strong case for reasons to eliminate permanent cross division rival games in a 14-team league. This will increase the frequency in cross division contests and will help in randomizing the schedules.

[Charleston Tiger 134]

This article makes a very strong case for reasons to eliminate permanent cross division rival games in a 14-team league. This will increase the frequency in cross division contests and will help in randomizing the schedules.

Problem is, I really DO enjoy the UGA rivalry. I like the history behind it, and it's just that, a rivalry. Not a bunch of psychos. I'd be fine to go to the East, Bama cross-div rival, cycle the rest, and try to bring back the GT yearly game as well.

[jj3jordan 2,059]

In a lot of years, the reason our schedule is tougher is because we don't get to play...us. UAT has an easier schedule because they don't have to play...them.

[Charleston Tiger 134]

In a lot of years, the reason our schedule is tougher is because we don't get to play...us. UAT has an easier schedule because they don't have to play...them.

Props for saying what no one wanted to admit hahaha

[Rednilla 5,396]

In a lot of years, the reason our schedule is tougher is because we don't get to play...us. UAT has an easier schedule because they don't have to play...them.

It goes the other way, too. Not having a strong Bama team cost us a little in 2004, and they were down for at least some of the six straight wins we had in the Iron Bowl.