2014 proved that maybe the SEC’s dominance over the college football landscape isn’t as strong as it once was. For the first time in a long time, namely since Vince Young and Texas beat USC and Reggie Bush in the 2006 for the BCS National Championship, that there was no SEC team in the National Championship game. The inaugural edition of the College Football Playoff culminated in two programs that have been victimized by the SEC in previous editions of the game. Ohio State was embarrassed by both LSU and Florida in the National Championship in the past decade and Oregon hung tough against a Cam Newton helmed Auburn squad.
It is easy to argue that the SEC just isn’t as good as it has been, but it’s still way above the majority of the other conferences and programs. But it is significant to think about the narrative inherent in this argument. Regardless of its flaws, a significant portion of the national media and fandom will always say that SEC will always be superior no matter what. 2014 is the perfect example of how flawed this argument is. The cauldron of the SEC West and the mediocrity of the SEC East are not evidence of some sort of parity, an any given Saturday phenomenon. Instead it is proof that the quality of play in the conference allows for perennial also-rans like Ole Miss, Mississippi State or Kentucky to be competitive.
In the Western division Alabama and LSU while remaining the class of the field have given back some of their superiority in recent years. The introduction of Texas A&M especially during the Johnny Manziel era made the SEC West a much more crowded filed and one that the usual suspects could not be expected to win unconditionally. The other school in Alabama, Auburn, has also made somewhat of an impact recently going to a National Championship Game in the Gus Malzahn era and winning one in 2011 under Gene Chizik. I don’t know if the kind of season both Mississippi schools had in 2014 were anomalies or not. But a recruiting class in the top 25 for both teams according to Rivals means that they could continue to make noise in the near future in an increasingly more competitive division.
In the Eastern division the story is dominated by the struggles of the Florida Gators who have mightily struggled since Urban Meyer’s “retirement” following the 2010 season. With Will Muschamp going 28-21 with a 17-15 SEC record including a 4-8 season highlighted by a 37-7 drubbing at the hands of the archrival Florida State Seminoles at The Swamp. Tennessee has also struggled since firing Phillip Fulmer following the 2008 season, only managing two winning seasons and going 35-40 overall while putting up a pitiful conference record of 14-34. The Vols have barely recovered from when their head coach Lane Kiffin just up and left Knoxville to go coach the USC Trojans. Very interesting story about that night here Kiffin could have been the answer but since then the program has wallowed in mediocrity looking for answers that aren’t there.
The fall of the Florida and Tennessee programs, the consistently good but uninspiring form of both Georgia and South Carolina and the expansion of the league to include Missouri have made things very interesting indeed in the East. While it may be premature to say at the moment it feels that new Kentucky coach Mark Stoops coming off of rebuilding the FSU defense under Jimbo Fisher is ready to make Kentucky into a factor as a legitimate program in the SEC. There is a good chance that Austin Kendall a highly-rated QB prospect could land on Stoops’ lap after decommitting from Tennessee. Another sign is the pro day being held in Lexington for potential first round pick defensive end Bud Dupree among others show that football talent can come out of Lexington.
A shifting of the balance of power from Knoxville to Lexington and Columbia are the future of the SEC. Stoops who comes from a veritable coaching dynasty chiefly brother Bob and took his tutelage from Jimbo Fisher in Tallahassee seems to be determined to make Kentucky a truly competitive program in the SEC. Things look bright in Lexington and that’s overall a good thing for the conference.
I’m not saying that the perennial powers Alabama, LSU, Florida and Georgia are no longer the class of the conference but what 2014 proved is that there is room for other programs to be a part of the fun too. The Mississippi schools, Kentucky, Texas A&M and Missouri are not anomalies they are here to stay and create a new SEC maybe one that isn’t as dominant or as top heavy as the ones from five years ago but overall more interesting and much more challenging to actually come out of. In short, Alabama will no longer just have to beat LSU and maybe Auburn to win the SEC West there will be tough competition up and down the whole league.