The SECās spot at the top of college footballās food chain is unquestioned. However the pecking order of the programs within the conference is always up for debate.
From year to year there can be wild swings of momentum with the teams in the league. Some will move up, others will move down, and a few will wonder why they canāt seem to move at all.
With that in mind hereās an assessment of where things stand now in the SEC and where theyāre likely headed:
Programs on the rise
Alabama
Hereās a scary thought: The SEC West will never be more competitive than it has been in the time period since 2009. Forgetting Nick Sabanās exploits with the Crimson Tide for a moment, in the last seven years this division has produced two other Heisman Trophy winners ā Cam Newton at Auburn in 2010 and Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M in 2012. Itās also seen two other programs play for national championships ā Auburn, which won the title in 2010 and played for it again in 2013 along with LSU, which played for the national championship in 2011.
Yet despite the depth and balance of the SEC West, Alabama still managed to rack up three national championships, four conference titles, and two Heisman Trophy winners of its own during this period.
If thatās what Alabama does when the divisionās at its toughest, what will the Crimson Tide be able to do now that a few programs in this half of the league are trending downward? As hard as it is to imagine, the Alabama dynasty may just be getting started.
Which SEC programs are trending up and which are trending down?
From year to year there can be wild swings of momentum with the teams in the league. Some will move up, others will move down, and a few will wonder why they canāt seem to move at all.
With that in mind hereās an assessment of where things stand now in the SEC and where theyāre likely headed:
Programs on the rise
Alabama
Hereās a scary thought: The SEC West will never be more competitive than it has been in the time period since 2009. Forgetting Nick Sabanās exploits with the Crimson Tide for a moment, in the last seven years this division has produced two other Heisman Trophy winners ā Cam Newton at Auburn in 2010 and Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M in 2012. Itās also seen two other programs play for national championships ā Auburn, which won the title in 2010 and played for it again in 2013 along with LSU, which played for the national championship in 2011.
Yet despite the depth and balance of the SEC West, Alabama still managed to rack up three national championships, four conference titles, and two Heisman Trophy winners of its own during this period.
If thatās what Alabama does when the divisionās at its toughest, what will the Crimson Tide be able to do now that a few programs in this half of the league are trending downward? As hard as it is to imagine, the Alabama dynasty may just be getting started.
Which SEC programs are trending up and which are trending down?
