Is the SEC really the toughest football conference in the country? Here are the facts.
DALLAS — In case you haven’t heard, it just means more in the SEC.
Ask any of the coaches, players or marketing officials that have gathered in Dallas this week for the annual SEC media days. Heck, just read the banners flying inside and out at the Omni Hotel here.
But does the SEC really mean more wins for what is almost unanimously accepted as the most competitive conference in college football?
Live coverage: Follow our SEC media days updates from Dallas
Based on the SEC’s winning percentage against the other Power Five conferences over the past five years, the answer looks obvious. But dig deeper into the numbers, and the conference challenges facing newcomers Texas and Oklahoma may not be as daunting as the rhetoric.
An impressive, but top-heavy, conference
Overall, SEC teams have a 64-41 record over the past five years against opponents from the Big 12, the ACC, the Big Ten and the now-reduced Pac-12. A significant chunk of that success comes from Georgia, which won back-to-back national championships following the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The Bulldogs have gone 11-0 against other Power Five schools over the past five seasons, which means the other SEC schools have just a winning percentage of 56.3%.
Impressive? Yes. Dominant? Not quite.
More: Is SEC done expanding? Not with Clemson and Florida State in the mix | Golden
But the veterans of the SEC battles say those nonconference games often played at a neutral site during bowl season don’t reflect what makes the conference especially tough. Road games can derail even the stoutest squads, especially when it involves the blood feuds down South that stretch back more than a century.
“Playing on the road in the SEC is very difficult,” said Georgia quarterback Carson Beck, a senior and a two-year starter. “Every single game is going to be packed. Being a top team in the country like we have been these past couple years, they're going to show up and they're going to give you their best.
“Every time we walk into a stadium, we know they're going to give their best and we know that that stadium is going to be packed. It's going to be loud. It's going to be difficult. There's going to be communication problems. But you handle that in practice. You practice that. Then once you get in the game, you're comfortable with it.”
More: Best of the SEC: How the Texas offensive line stands as we rank all 16 conference teams
Lane Kiffin: Sark will face his toughest test yet
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, whose long coaching résumé includes a stint as USC’s head coach as well as several jobs in the NFL, says that transition from the Big 12 to the SEC will prove the most challenging to good friend and Texas coach Steve Sarkisian as well as Oklahoma.
“That conference (the Big 12) was competitive too, so he (Sarkisian) had tough games there and tough places to play on the road there,” Kiffin said. “This is just — it's just different. The SEC is really challenging. Study road records and study road records at night in the SEC, and why do those percentages change?”
Oklahoma coach Brent Venables expressed the same sentiment that Sarkisian has often mentioned when asked about the transition from the Big 12.
More: Why Texas DB Jahdae Barron switched to Michael Huff's No. 7 jersey: it's all about legacy
“It goes without saying, the SEC is a deep, incredibly competitive league, unlike any other in college football,” Venables said. “You've got incredibly challenging venues. Every member of this conference, top to bottom, is committed to the excellence that this conference represents. And so, as a football program, being in our first year, we are really looking forward to the challenge.”
Texas's 2024 road schedule in the SEC includes trips to Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Texas A&M as well as the annual meeting with Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
How the SEC stacks up
Here are the records for the 14 SEC programs against other Power Five conferences from 2019-23, in alphabetical order.
Alabama (7-2)
2023: 0-2
2022: 2-0
2021: 1-0
2020: 2-0
2019: 2-0
Arkansas (4-1)
2019: 0-0
2020: 0-0
2021: 2-0
2022: 2-0
2023: 0-1
Auburn (2-4)
2023: 1-1
2022: 0-1
2021: 0-1
2020: 0-1
2019: 1-1
Florida (5-5)
2023: 0-2
2022: 1-2
2021: 1-0
2020: 0-1
2019: 3-0
Georgia (11-0)
2023: 2-0
2022: 4-0
2021: 3-0
2020: 0-0
2019: 2-0
Kentucky (7-2)
2023: 1-1
2022: 1-1
2021: 2-0
2020: 1-0
2019: 2-0
LSU (5-4)
2023: 1-1
2022: 1-1
2021: 0-2
2020: 0-0
2019: 3-0
Mississippi (5-3)
2023: 2-0
2022: 1-1
2021: 1-1
2020: 1-0
2019: 0-1
Mississippi State (4-3)
2023: 1-0
2022: 2-0
2021: 1-1
2020: 0-0
2019: 0-2
Missouri (3-3)
2023: 2-0
2022: 0-2
2021: 0-1
2020: 0-0
2019: 1-0
South Carolina (2-6)
2023: 0-2
2022: 1-1
2021: 1-1
2020: 0-2
2019: 0-2
Tennessee (5-3)
2023: 2-0
2022: 2-0
2021: 0-2
2020: 0-0
2019: 1-1
Texas A&M (4-2)
2023: 0-2
2022: 1-0
2021: 1-0
2020: 1-0
2019: 1-0
Vanderbilt (0-3)
2023: 0-0
2022: 0-1
2021: 0-1
2020: 0-0
2019: 0-1
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Is the SEC really the nation's best conference? What the numbers say
