SEC 2010 // Florida Still Owns the East
by Year2 on Aug 3, 2010 2:26 PM EDT
in SEC Football
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PrintI went over this last year, but as this is Florida preview week, I think it could stand a repeated and updated appearance.
Florida still owns the SEC East to an uncanny degree. Since the beginning of divisional play, here is how UF has fared against the other teams in its half of the league:
| Opponent | UF Record |
|---|---|
| Georgia | 15-3 |
| Kentucky | 18-0 |
| South Carolina | 17-1 |
| Tennessee | 13-5 |
| Vanderbilt | 18-0 |
| Overall | 81-9 (.900) |
That's nine division losses in 18 seasons (compared to nine division championships), and only once (2004) did two SEC East losses come in the same season. Of course, that double in 2004 means Florida has gone undefeated against the East more times (10) than not (eight). And as long as we're on the subject, three of the nine losses came under Ron Zook. Steve Spurrier was an amazing 46-4 against the division from 1992-2001, and Urban Meyer has matched that pace by going 23-2 so far.
Of course, the other side of the coin is that the Gators haven't been nearly as dominant against the SEC West. To wit (no SEC title games included):
| Opponent | UF Record |
|---|---|
| Alabama | 2-2 |
| Arkansas | 6-0 |
| Auburn | 8-5 |
| LSU | 13-5 |
| Ole Miss |
3-3 |
| Mississippi St. |
4-3 |
| Overall | 36-18 (.667) |
Florida has handled Arkansas easily enough (with an exception here or there), and Spurrier took full advantage of LSU's lost decade of the '90s with an 11-1 record against those Tigers. From there it gets murkier. UF has lost three of the last four to Auburn, and the Mississippi schools trip up the Gators as well as anyone else does. In fact, they along with Alabama are the only SEC teams to have played Florida roughly evenly in the divisional era, despite not having nearly the same success (one title game appearance between them).
Florida has only had four undefeated seasons against the West, compared to ten against the East. The West has double the victories the East has against the Gators despite only playing roughly 57% of the games the East has. When making your prediction about Florida's schedule, you basically can start with the three West teams and decide which one or two will beat Florida in the upcoming year.
Florida's West slate in 2010 has them going to Alabama and hosting LSU and Mississippi State. The first of those would seem to be the most likely loss, though it's unwise to count LSU out against Florida in recent years (4-4 record since 2002). Plus, Bama gets Florida a week after it goes to Fayetteville while UF hosts Kentucky. Don't bet on Mississippi State to get the job done, and not just because Florida's offense will be going away a bit from the system Dan Mullen helped to install. MSU is 0-3 at Florida Field in the divisional play era with the closest loss being by 12 points. Starkville is where those Bulldogs get the Gators, not Gainesville.
In any event it's remarkable how much Florida has mastered its division, even going 12-3 (.800) under its weakest coach in the span. With Tennessee rebuilding; Georgia changing defensive scheme and starting a freshman quarterback; South Carolina going to Gainesville; and Vandy and Kentucky still being Vandy and Kentucky, I don't think I would bet on this fact changing much this fall.
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Wow
Didn’t realize just how much of a one team division the East was. I still think of TN as being a force to be reconed with, but how long has it been since that has been true? GA always seems to have their best days in Birmingham in the summer rather than on the field in the fall. As for the rest….
Well, I guess it does make sense. Dominate GA, let TN have down seasons, and let the other 3 be, well, be South Carolina, Vandy, and Kentucky.
Overall, I just think that one of these years TN will come back, GA will put it all together, and FL’s run will end. But maybe not this year :)
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." - Bear Bryant
Georgia "always seems to have their best days in Birmingham in the summer rather than on the field in the fall"?
In the last three years, Georgia has gone 16-8 in SEC play, behind only Florida and Alabama (20-4 each). In the last five years, Georgia has gone 26-14 in SEC play, behind only Florida (32-8), Alabama (28-12), and LSU (27-13). In the last ten years, Georgia has gone 55-25 in SEC play, behind only Florida (61-19) and tied with LSU.
In the last nine years, the SEC East has been represented in the conference championship game by Georgia three times, by Florida three times, and by Tennessee three times. In the last eight years, Georgia has won two SEC championships, Florida has won two SEC championships, LSU has won two SEC championships, and Alabama and Auburn have won one SEC championship apiece.
As Year2 demonstrated in the above posting, the Gators unquestionably have been the alpha dog of the SEC East since the divisional split in 1992, but the Bulldogs just as unmistakably have taken on in the 2000s the role Tennessee occupied during the 1990s; namely, that of chief challenger to Orange and Blue hegemony.
Georgia’s 3-17 record against Florida since 1990 tells no lies; more of those losses were blowouts than nailbiters, and a late time out in Jacksonville in 1993 represents the only even arguably controversial finish in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party since Steve Spurrier returned home to Gainesville. However, the Red and Black’s consistently solid overall performance and ability to match division crowns and league titles with anyone in the 21st century demonstrate how wrong it is to argue that the ’Dawgs have fewer good days on the field in the fall than their SEC coevals.
Go 'Dawgs!
OK, you got me
they are a good team. I guess it’s just expectations. When I was young, GA was the king of the SEC (80s). I always expect them to knock off Florida. They just can’t seem to put it all together to get there, to the place that, in my mind at least, I always expect them to be.
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." - Bear Bryant
That's a fair point.
The funny thing about rivalry series is that they often tend to be streaky; think about Auburn’s recent winning streak over Alabama, or the way the pendulum has swung between UCLA and USC, Florida and Florida State, or Oklahoma and Texas.
There’s no question Florida has owned the past two decades, against Georgia as well as against the rest of the division. Before that, though, Georgia went 15-4 against Florida from 1971 to 1989. Our time will come again, but we have to make it happen rather than simply sitting back and waiting for it to happen.
Go 'Dawgs!
To me
This shows how much more competitive the SEC West has been than the SEC East.
A lot of that has to do with probation bringing Alabama and Auburn down periodically, LSU’s wandering in the wilderness in the ‘90s, and the fact that Arkansas is generally a better program than any of the bottom three in the East. Plus, the Mississippi schools have proven far more adept at finishing in the top three of the division than Kentucky and Vandy have. They’ve not been hopeless like those two.
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That's more competitive against Florida.
Since 1992, Georgia’s .676 record against Western Division teams is a bit better than Forida’s, and that includes the horror that UGA was in the 1990s. Georgia’s had an easier time beating the western teams than those in its own division. Tennessee’s record against Western Division teams is the same as Florida’s.
Does any Western Division team have a winning record against the East?
Why, yes. Three western teams have winning records against the east.
AU .620
Bama .667
Ole Miss .519
by NCT on Aug 4, 2010 8:50 AM EDT up reply actions
I'd have guessed Auburn, . . .
. . . but the other two surprised me, though they probably shouldn’t have, given Alabama’s extended dominance through the first part of the 1990s and the fact that Mississippi’s permanent Eastern Division opponent is Vanderbilt. Well done.
Go 'Dawgs!
Our record against Vanderbilt all time is a staggering
47-35-2. That’s a whopping .559 win percentage.
It’s not like we’ve dominated the ’Dores. Who we have dominated is Ketucky (26-13-1). Oh, and being able to boast a winning record over Florida (12-10-1) is also kinda neat.
Red Cup Rebellion - Changing the Culture of Ole Miss Athletics
Take a picture, trick.
by The Ghost of Jay Cutler on Aug 4, 2010 3:10 PM EDT up reply actions
"Oh, and being able to boast a winning record over Florida (12-10-1) is also kinda neat."
You tellin’ me? 47-39-2.
But just for clarification, my numbers were since SEC expansion only.
Are you telling me that UGA has played UF 88 times
since SEC expansion? Also, I didn’t check your numbers, but 0.829 (47-39) < 0.833 (12-10.) Let a rebel be happy for once. Ole miss doesn’t hold that many winning records against national powerhouses like Florida.
Has Dan Jones left yet?
by Muddy Waterloo on Aug 5, 2010 3:11 AM EDT up reply actions
Damn
I’d have to say, this is the definition of “dominance” in college football.. To have these kinda of records over the toughest conference in the country is damn impressive.
And to the point of us and Bama being the only teams on level terms with Florida, Bama is no slouch, and WAOM.
So what if I own baby blue pants? Doesn't everybody?
by Jevan Snead's Agent on Aug 4, 2010 2:38 AM EDT reply actions
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