Rumors of the SEC's demise were greatly exaggerrated.
The SEC just posted the first eight win bowl season in the history of college football, breaking the conference's own record of seven bowl wins. (Which, despite all the hate this offseason, was equaled by the SEC last year, though the conference only went 7-5 last year in bowls).
I tried to tell y'all to climb aboard the SEC gambling train this bowl season. Hell, I didn't even bet enough on the SEC teams. All 8 SEC teams that won covered and A&M was throwing into the end zone with a third string quarterback against Louisville. All six SEC West teams won by 21 or more. That's incredible.
Only the Florida Gators, who I believe will regress to 7-5 or 6-6 next season, were really bad in their bowl game. I think Florida is the equivalent of 2013 Auburn, a team that got every break en route to a good season, but will lose every close game the next year. Remember this Gator team could -- and maybe should have -- lost to Tennessee, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and FAU. Sure, the Gators finished 10-4, but if you look at their box scores they were more like a 7-5 team. (To be fair, we don't really know what the Gators would have been capable of if Will Grier doesn't get suspended. There was a seismic drop off between Grier and Treon Harris.)
Here are the end of the year SEC power rankings:
1. Alabama (12-1)
2. Ole Miss (10-3)
3. Tennessee (9-4)
4. LSU (9-3)
5. Georgia (10-3)
6. Mississippi State (9-4)
7. Arkansas (8-5)
8. Auburn (7-6)
9. Texas A&M (8-5)
10. Florida (10-4)
11. Vanderbilt
12. Kentucky
13. Mizzou
14. South Carolina
