Could the SEC be the best top to bottom conference ever in 2015?
- Wyeth Wilson
- Apr 30, 2015
- 2 min read
The SEC has long been known as the best conference in college football.
But looking ahead to 2015 at all the teams as a whole, the conference looks as if it could be even better this year than in years past – maybe even the best conference (top to bottom) ever.
Judging how good a conference is should be by the whole conference, not just one or two teams.
If you were to go by that criteria, the Big Ten would be the nation’s best conference from last season, due to Ohio State winning the national championship.
But if you were to mention the Big Ten in a debate of which conference was the best, you would be laughed at.
That’s why the SEC was the best conference last season (and still is) in all of college football, despite not having one of its members win the national title.
Looking ahead to the 2015 preseason polls, as many as ten SEC teams could be ranked, 71 percent of the conference.
The current record for the most teams in one conference to be ranked in one poll is eight, set by the SEC in the 2014 preseason poll.
All of the teams in the SEC western division are among the top 25 teams in the nation, but a few may be left out of the rankings simply because of the fact that they are all in the same conference.
The SEC East is often dismissed as being not nearly as good as its counterpart of the West, which may be true, but it doesn’t mean that the SEC East shouldn’t be respected.
Missouri and Georgia both finished in the top 15 of the final rankings in 2014, and their fellow East member Tennessee is on the rise and is likely to be a top 25 team by season’s end.
The streak of seven national championships in a row is now over. Two teams from outside the SEC have won the title since then.
But just because the streak of national titles is gone does not mean the SEC has disappeared as well.
The SEC will have a chance to start a new streak of championships in 2015 – if a team can escape one of the greatest conferences of all time.
Here is a list of some early preseason polls along with where SEC teams rank:
Way-Too-Early Top 25 – ESPN
4. Alabama
8. Georgia
12. Auburn
14. Ole Miss
16. LSU
20. Tennessee
22. Arkansas
24. Missouri
Phil Steele's Projected AP Top 25 – philsteele.com
3. Alabama
9. Auburn
10. Georgia
12. Ole Miss
14. LSU
19. Missouri
20. Arkansas
21. Mississippi State
24. Tennessee
Teams that just missed the cut: Texas A&M
Post-Spring Practice Top 25 – Bleacher Report
5. Alabama
9. Auburn
11. Ole Miss
13. Georgia
15. Tennessee
18. Arkansas
19. Texas A&M
22. LSU
Early top 25 rankings for 2015 college football season – NFL.com
3. Alabama
7. Ole Miss
11. Auburn
13. Georgia
19. LSU
22. Texas A&M
24. Tennessee
25. Arkansas
Way-Too-Early College Football Top 25 – Sports Illustrated
3. Auburn
5. Alabama
10. Ole Miss
15. Georgia
22. Missouri
24. Texas A&M
Next Five: Mississippi State, Tennessee
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