From "College & Magnolia," SEC Domination And The Big Six

Interesting stuff at College & Magnolia regarding the "Big Six" of the SEC: Alabama, Auburn, UGA, Florida, LSU, Tennessee. With the exception of a "blip on the radar" like Bryant's Kentucky teams, every SEC title for the past 50 years has been won by just one of those schools, and, for the better part of 20 years only three teams were in the mix: Alabama, UGA, Tennessee.

The Southeastern Conference Big Six: Who Is Historically the Best? - College and Magnolia

Kentucky tied for the Southeastern Conference crown with Georgia in 1976. They should have tied for it in 1977 as well, but more on that, later. Other than that, it has been since the 1963 Ole Miss Rebels won the title that any team not named Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, or Tennessee has emerged as the football champion of the Southeastern Conference.

That's an amazing run for those six schools, really. For most of the 1960s and 70s it was pretty much the Big One. Alabama took the vast majority of SEC titles, with UGA and Tennessee snagging one here and there. LSU picked one up in 1970, but between 1964 and 1983 when Pat Dye's Auburn Tigers won the SEC it was all Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. Oh, and that one year Kentucky tied for it.

Historically, Alabama obviously has been the standard bearer for the conference. But, since 1977 Florida has been the most consistent team. Again, that's not a surprise. Alabama had six years of upheaval following the death of Paul Bryant, then it wandered in the woods of mediocrity (NCAA-imposed or otherwise) for almost 15 years following the departure of Gene Stallings.

Tomorrow, C&M promises to explain these numbers in terms other than "Bear Bryant was a really good football coach." That's the installment that should have you grabbing your popcorn. While it probably won't be "cheatin' Bammers," my guess is it'll be more like "loophole Bammers."