Photo courtesy of Alabama athletics
When thinking about lengthy stretches of 10-win seasons, two instances come to mind.
The first would be Bobby Bowden’s Florida State teams that finsished in the AP top 5 every year from 1987 to 2000. The second is what Nick Saban is doing at Alabama currently.
Right now, Alabama has won at least 10 games in 14 straight seasons. That ties those Florida State teams from back in the day.
Virtually everyone is in awe at what Alabama has accomplished. Most accept that it’s pretty hard to win 10 games in a season. It’s even harder to do it consistently.
Most would concede that in 2022, the SEC is the best conference in football. At times, it can be very top-heavy where the middle-of-the-road teams do not see the same success as the main characters.
When we go through this list that shows consistency, you may be surprised at what teams have managed to sustain success. Some SEC teams have never had back-to-back 10-win seasons.
Let’s check it out:
The Last Time Each SEC Team Had Consecutive 10-Win Seasons
Alabama: 2020 and 2021
Arkansas: 2010 and 2011
Auburn: 1988 and 1989
Florida: 2018 and 2019
Georgia: 2018 and 2019
Kentucky: Never
LSU: 2018 and 2019
Mississippi State: Never
Ole Miss: 1959 and 1960
Missouri: 2013 and 2014
South Carolina: 2012 and 2013
Tennessee: 2003 and 2004
Texas A&M: 1993 and 1994
Vanderbilt: Never
Takeaways
One thing that stands out about this list Auburn. Since 2010 Auburn has won a national championship and played for another. It’s surprising that the Tigers haven’t been able to sustain their success.
Former head coach Steve Spurrier was so important to South Carolina as a program. The “Ol’ Ball Coach” brought the Gamecocks their only 10-win seasons and a top-5 finish. Without him, they would be in the “never club”.
Mississippi State being in the “never club” is surprising. The Bulldogs reached No. 1 in the polls under Dan Mullen in 2014. That was one of just three 10-win seasons in program history.
Kentucky has a chance to make it out of the “never club” in 2022. Most Wildcat fans expect another 10-win season from Mark Stoops. The Wildcats went 10-3 in 2021.
Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher recently put together the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class. The last time that the Aggies put together consecutive 10-win seasons however, they were nearly two decades away from joining the SEC. In fact, the Big 12 had not even been formed yet. Texas A&M was a member of the Southwest Conference.