Greastest SEC College Football Teams
1930 Alabama, 10-0: This was head coach Wallace Wade's last season at Alabama and he assembled a monster of a team. On the season, Alabama shut out eight opponents and outscored all foes 271-13 even though it played seven teams that finished with winning records. The only scare was against a great Vanderbilt team in its only loss of the season in a 12-7 Bama win. The only other team to score against the Tide was Tennessee in an 18-6 Volunteer loss for UT's only loss on the year. Led by All-Americans Fred Sington and John Henry Suther, the Tide went on to give Washington State its only loss of the year in a 24-0 Rose Bowl win. In that game, Wade announced the night before that he'd start his second team in the first quarter. Washington State dominated, but didn't score. When the first team went in for Alabama, it scored 21 points in the second quarter. Notre Dame ended up winning the national title, but it took what was possibly the greatest team of all-time to keep this Alabama team from winning the championship.
1961 Alabama, 11-0: Bear Bryant's 1961 team was the one that ended up started a dominating era in Alabama football as the school won six national titles and came within a whisker several other times over the ensuing 25 years. Quarterback Pat Trammell, two-way star Billy Neighbors and legendary center/linebacker Lee Roy Jordan helped the Tide easily roll through everyone on the way to an 11-0 record. On the year, Alabama outscored its opponents 297-25 finishing off the season with a 10-3 win over Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl.
1938 Tennessee, 11-0: After rejoining the team in 1936 from army duty, head coach Robert Neyland had started to assemble a solid corps of talent. It all came together in 1938 with a team that gave up a mere 16 points on the year allowing six points over the final nine games. This team faced a brutal schedule giving Clemson, Alabama and Oklahoma their only losses of the season and beat an Ole Miss team that only lost one other game on the year. Tennessee outscored those four teams by a combined score of 97 to 7. Led by a group of sophomores, Tennessee won 30 straight regular season games, but lost the 1940 Rose Bowl and 1941 Sugar Bowl.
1925 Alabama, 10-0: Alabama allowed seven points to Birmingham-Southern in a 50-7 win in the second game of the season and finished off the year with a 20-19 win over an undefeated Washington team in the Rose Bowl. No one else scored on the Tide on the way to a share of the national title. In the Rose Bowl, the first bowl game in school history, Alabama went down 12-0 but came back by scoring 20 points in the third quarter.
1979 Alabama, 12-0: An argument could be made that the 1979 teams was Bear Bryant's finest. The Tide gave up a mere 67 points on the season (while scoring 383) shutting out five opponents and only allowed double digit points twice. The only scares came in a 3-0 win over LSU and a 25-18 win over Auburn, but the Tide got past those close calls to beat Arkansas 24-9 in the Sugar Bowl. E.J. Junior, Don McNeal and Dwight Stephenson were just a few of the big-time players on this power.
1996 Florida, 12-1: The 1996 Gators needs several things to break their way to win the national title, but there was no denying how great this offense was scoring 611 points on the season averaging 47 points per game. After beating Tennessee 35-29 in the third game of the season, Florida blew past everyone in its paths until a showdown with unbeaten Florida State in Tallahassee. The Seminole D line battered and bruised eventual Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel, but Florida rebounded to beat Alabama in the SEC title game. The Gators got their revenge over the Seminoles in a 52-20 win in the Sugar Bowl to give Steve Spurrier his first and only national title. Along with Wuerffel, the Gators boasted skill players like Ike Hilliard, Reidel Anthony and Fred Taylor.
1998 Tennessee, 13-0: Not too much was expected out of the 1998 Volunteers after losing superstar Peyton Manning to graduation. All they did was come roaring back with Tee Martin at the helm pulling off miraculous wins against Syracuse, Florida and Arkansas on the way to the national title. On the year, Tennessee beat eight teams that finished with winning records culminating with a national title win over Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl. As far as talent, 15 Volunteers were drafted over the following two drafts including Peerless Price, Jamal Lewis and Shaun Ellis.
1958 LSU, 11-0: The 1958 team was more than simply a national champion, it was the one that holds a space in the hearts of LSU fans like none other. After three straight lousy seasons, everyone was pointing to 1959 as the season when LSU would finally put everything together. It just so happened that the 1958 team would move things up ahead of schedule. The Tigers didn't really play anyone of note with the exception of a great Ole Miss team. The Tigers were able to come up with a goal line stand and got scores from Durel Matherne to win its signature game of the year. Billy Cannon and the three platoon system of the White Team, the Go Team and the Chinese Bandits finished the dream season with a 7-0 win over Clemson in the Sugar Bowl.
1980 Georgia, 12-0: Led by super-frosh Herschel Walker, Georgia was finally able to win a national title under head coach Vince Dooley. The Bulldogs beat a bunch of average teams until a showdown with George Rogers and South Carolina. Helped by a Rogers fumble, Georgia came away with a 13-10 win and were on their way to the dream season. The following week, Lindsay Scott took a catch 93 yards with just over a minute to play to beat Florida 26-21. The Bulldogs finished out the year beating Notre Dame 17-10 in the Sugar Bowl. Over the following two years, Georgia lost three games. One was in 13-3 loss to eventual national champion Clemson. One was to Pittsburgh on a miraculous play from Dan Marino to propel the Panthers to an 11-1 season. The third was in the 1982 national title game against Penn State.
1992 Alabama, 13-0: The 1992 Crimson Tide defense might not have been the best in college football history, but few made as many big plays as this one did. On the year, Alabama gave up 122 points, beating good, but not outstanding, Tennessee and Florida teams on the way to an SEC title. Against the defending national champion and undefeated Miami Hurricanes in the Sugar Bowl, Alabama put a 34-13 pasting on Heisman winner Gino Torretta and crew.
1995 Florida, 12-1: Forgetting for a moment Nebraska's obliteration of Florida in the Fiesta Bowl, this Florida team was one of the best ever. It just so happened to play one of the greatest teams of all-time in its signature game. Before that debacle, Danny Wuerffel and company outscored opponents 534 to 201 on he season with no one coming closer than eleven points of the Gators. Tennessee lost only one game in 1995 and it just so happened to be a 62-37 loss to Florida.
1983 Auburn, 11-1: This team has never received the credit it deserved because it happened to have a big season in the same year that Nebraska, Texas and eventually Miami all had epic years. The only loss came 20-7 to a Texas team that would've won the national title if it wasn't for some late game heroics by Georgia in the Cotton Bowl. Auburn played, and beat, Southern Miss, Tennessee, Florida, Maryland, Georgia, Alabama and in the Sugar Bowl, Michigan. Those seven teams lost a mere 14 games combined other than the losses to the Tigers. In fact, all of Auburn's opponents, not counting the losses to the Tigers, had a combined winning percentage of 70%. Led by Bo Jackson, Auburn finished the year No. 3 in all of the major polls, but finished first in the New York Times computer poll when strength of schedule was factored in.
2002 Georgia, 13-1: It's hard to argue with what this team was able to do beating ten teams that finished the season with winning records including seven bowl teams and two others, Alabama and Kentucky, that would've gone to bowl games if it weren't for probation. Georgia won its final three games over Georgia Tech, Arkansas in the SEC Championship game and Florida State in the Sugar Bowl by a combined score of 107 to 23. Only a 20-13 loss to Florida prevented the Dawgs from their dream season.
1978 Alabama, 11-1: The 1978 Crimson Tide is knocked down the list a bit because of a 24-14 loss to a USC team that finished the season 12-1 and partial winners of the national title, but this team was loaded with talent. Barry Krauss, Marty Lyons, Tony Nathan, Don McNeal, Dwight Stephenson and E.J. Junior were all drafted early over the following three years. The season culminated with a classic 14-7 win over 11-0 Penn State in the Sugar Bowl highlighted by Krauss's goal line stop of Mike Guman.
1959 Ole Miss, 10-1: 1959 was a big year for college football teams, but Ole Miss was still able to win the national championship according to several sources. The Rebels beat a great Arkansas team 28-0 and overcame a 7-3 loss to LSU in a classic game made famous by Billy Cannon to get revenge on the Tigers 21-0 in the Sugar Bowl. Fullback Charlie Flowers and quarterback Jake Gibbs gave Ole Miss fans their best team ever.
1957 Auburn, 10-0: Shug Jordan's 1957 Auburn team won the national title outscoring opponents 207-28, but it didn't really play anyone. The only strong teams on the schedule that year were Tennessee, Florida and Mississippi State, but they weren't anything that special. Alabama was 2-7-1 that year. That shouldn't take anything away from a great team led by Zeke Smith, who'd become one of Auburn's greatest linemen the following year, and game breaking receiver Jimmy Phillips.
1964 Arkansas, 11-0: This Arkansas team might have been in the Southwest Conference at the time, but this is a listing of the greatest teams from programs now in the SEC. While the Hogs didn't win the national title according to the major polls, that's only because the votes were done before the bowl games. Alabama, the AP and UPI national champion, last to Texas in the Orange Bowl while the Hogs beat Nebraska in the Cotton to finish the year unbeaten. Oh yeah, and Arkansas beat Texas earlier in the season on an 81-yard Ken Hatfield punt return for a score to give the Longhorns their only loss on the season. Arkansas outscored opponents 231 to 64 on the season and only allowed seven points over the final six games. This team had some very prominent figures other than just Hatfield. On the line were Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones. Assistant coaches to Frank Broyles were Johnny Majors and Barry Switzer.
1973 Alabama, 11-1: The 1973 season almost ended in a national title, but Notre Dame beat the Tide 24-23 in one of the most hyped games of all-time. While Alabama was dominant, it didn't really play anyone of note until the Sugar Bowl. The only good wins on the schedule was a 21-7 win over LSU and a 42-21 win over Tennessee.
1933 LSU, 7-0-3: The 1933 Tigers are one of the better teams in SEC history that doesn't seem to get its due. Led by end W. Jeff Barrett, lineman Justin Rukas and backs Jesse Fatherree and Abe Mickal, the Tigers tied a Centenary team that didn't lose all season along with ties against good Vanderbilt and Tulane teams. Along the way, LSU shut out a great Arkansas squad 20-0, and shut out Tennessee 7-0. On the year, LSU gave up 27 points shutting out six teams.
1951 Tennessee, 10-1: In what became head coach Robert Neyland's final great team before stepping down in 1952, Tennessee won the national title by going 10-0 including a 27-13 win over Alabama in the school's first televised game. Led by future Hall of Fame players Doug Atkins, Hank Lauricella and John Michaels, the Vols went into the Sugar Bowl against unbeaten Maryland, but lost 28-13 to the Terrapins. On the year, Tennessee didn't beat any of the top teams with the best win coming in a 28-0 win over a Kentucky team that finished 8-4.