The SEC Forum at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

With Tennessee's problems the last 20 years I have a hard time considering them a have.

Getting back to the original question, A&M is the only one you listed that has a snowball's chance at a SEC title. A&M and Fisher are actually building a power down there and are replete with players that Bama would like to have. Jaylon Jones is a Patrick Peterson level talent at db. Bobby Brown and McKinley Jackson are the best pair of defensive tackles in the league. Mond is a winner at qb and Spiller is a very good rb. Nobody else that you listed has players like this.

I agree.

Why do the "have nots" even bother?  
Take Kentucky.  A founding member of the SEC, since 1933.  Was in the precursor to the SEC as well (Southern Conf).  The Wildcats have ONE conference title (1950).  One.  In 87 years of football.  One conference title.  What are they doing?  
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Mississippi State?  You have to go back even further for their ONLY SEC championship (1941).  One.  
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Ole Miss has SIX!  Wow, six, that's great.  Except that they have none since 1963.  57 years with nothing to celebrate.  57 "We'll get 'em next years". 
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The newbies (Mizzou and A&M) have an excuse.  The relative newbies' (Carolina, Arkansas) excuses are fleeting.  The Cocks aren't just a have-not in the SEC, but they're also playing "little brother" to their in-state rival.  Mizzou came in and BAM, went to Atlanta TWICE in their first 3 years in the SEC.  But they've fallen back down to earth.  They haven't had to worry about visiting Atlanta since.  
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Vanderbilt has never, and I'll predict - will never, win the SEC.  They made the mistake of being great 20 years before the SEC existed.  The 'Dores were good when the Ivy League was crowning national champions every year, lol.  Why do they bother?  
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Of course, circa 1990, the same could be said for Florida.  Not really, because 1984 happened, but still.  I'm not ragging on these programs, I'm earnestly asking what their plans are.  What are they doing, honestly?  
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Anyway, the more I see the chasm growing between P5 and G5 programs, the more it's revealed that there may be a larger chasm between the 'haves' and the 'have nots' among football programs.  I know there are other sports, but football carries the checkbook for entire athletic programs (some, not all).  
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I'm just rambling.  But imagine all of the haves of the sport to separate from their dead-weight conference brethren.  Wouldn't that be something?

The problem you are having and a lot of this weeping and gnashing of teeth about only three or four teams get to play for the NC every year is there are other things of importance that schools play for. Vanderbilt obviously will never play for a championship but the elation for beating Tennessee is immeasurable. There are about 10 teams in the Big 10 that will never play for the title, but they have their Oaken Buckets and Paul Bunyan Axes to celebrate plus they can beat Ohio about once in every 20 years. Those are causes for celebration as are the rare times an Ole Miss or a South Carolina beats Alabama. I think the idea that a school has to play for championships for meaning is over blown.

From SEC...
Out:  Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Miss State
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From B1G...
Out:  Purdue, Indiana, Rutgers
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From ACC...
Out:  Virginia, GA Tech, Wake Forest
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From Big XII...
Out:  Iowa State, Kansas State, Kansas
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From the PAC...
Out:  Oregon State, Washington State, Arizona
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Is there a more amazing fact than Virginia never having won an ACC championship??? 
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Anyway, if the P5 conferences trimmed the fat, you could get it down to about 50 football programs that make football a priority, have shown some ability to have successful seasons, and they could just face each other. 

Are you sure on Virginia?

Tennessee played them in the 1990 Sugar Bowl (when that meant something), and they had a bad ass QB at the time.  Maybe Shawn Moore.

I can't think of another ACC team that would have been better that year, but I didn't look it up admittedly.

They lost their last 3 games that year.  The Cavaliers were #1 on Nov 3rd, and lost to GT. 
Clemson was the ACC bully on the block in the late 90s, pre-FSU. 

UVA did share the ACC title with Duke in Spurrier's last year in Durham. 

Cool, thanks.

Weird how you could lose 3 straight back then and still make the Sugar Bowl.  Or 2 straight plus the bowl game.

On a side note … those 1990 old school uni's were far superior to their new navy blue with crossed swords on the helmet.  They should go back to that.

sans aTm no one else will ever win it

the sec problem is unique to that league in that there are too many powers.

in the big xii for ex if tx and ou are down it’s anybody’s game

same in the pac with sc

acc with clemson fsu and mia 

big ten w/ mich ohst 

for mizzou let’s say, fla, ga, au, ua, lsu, and tenn will never all be down at the same time and the league will always produce at least one playoff caliber power, it’s too deep not too

but as previously stated that doesn’t mean you don’t try as there are other meaningful things to attain.  the charm of cfb is all it’s quirks and regional squabbles.  

Arkansas has been a power in the past, well, so has Ole Miss if we go back another decade from Arky.  Missouri has had strong teams.  I almost never say "Never", but I'd say that about Vandy.  I would be quite surprised if Ole Miss or Miss State got to the CG, same with USCe and UK in my lifetime.  I wonder if Tenn would make it back.

I hope that is a lot of years yet.