USA TODAY International Edition
Ending West’s rule of SEC tall task for East
Florida, Georgia leading charge to even things up
HOOVER, ALA. Don’t fault Roquan Smith for not knowing the answer, even if the question wasn’t especially tricky. Do you know, he was asked, the last team from the East to win the Southeastern Conference?
“Just off the top of my head?” the Georgia linebacker asked. “Actually, I’d have to think about it.” It was Florida, in 2008. The Gators went on to win the national championship. Tim Tebow was a football player at the time. And Smith, who will be a junior this fall, was a sixth- grader. Yes, it was a different world. In December, when Alabama pounded Florida 54- 16, it was the eighth consecutive championship for the SEC West. And the score — well, it seemed indicative of the severe imbalance, over the last few years, between not just the best teams in each division but also the divisions themselves.
It’s not only the championship games. The SEC East’s overall record against the West since 2012, when the league expanded from 12 schools to 14, is 24- 51.
“Give me that again?” Florida offensive lineman Martez Ivey said.
That’s 24- 51, a .320 winning percentage. Which is why, even as the SEC West developed a reputation as the roughest, toughest division in college football, well, SEC folks don’t talk much about the East. Frankly, it’s amazing that the division’s historic powers Florida, Georgia and Tennessee have struggled as much as they have — and all at the same time.
It’s no coincidence that the SEC West’s reign began when Nick Saban got things cranked up at Alabama. But not long after that, Urban Meyer left Florida and retired from football ( if only briefly). Tennessee has struggled to regain traction since firing Phillip Fulmer.
In 2012, Georgia was 5 yards away in the final seconds from beating Alabama in the SEC championship game. Given what the Crimson Tide then did to Notre Dame in the national championship game, it seems probable the Bulldogs would have blown out the Irish, too. And how might history be different if that had happened?
But that seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it? Mark Richt was forced out at Georgia after the 2015 season. It’s way too early to assess Kirby Smart, who is set to start his second season. As he tries to build the program in the mold of Saban, his mentor, the Bulldogs have recruited well but are just getting started. At least Smart knows the standard.
“When you come to the University of Georgia, the expectation is to win championships,” Smart said.
But these days, no one really expects the SEC East to win them. After Georgia’s near- miss, SEC newcomer Missouri won the next two East titles but was overmatched by Alabama in the SEC championship game. Florida has won the last two — and then been handled twice by Alabama in the SEC title game. Stop if this sounds repetitive, but the gap only seems to have grown.
“They’re right now at the top,” Florida coach Jim McElwain said. “And, you know, it’s up to the rest of us to go get them.”
And while that’s true when measuring Alabama against the rest of the SEC, the overall imbalance between the West vs. the East remains a sore spot — especially if you’re talking to, say, guys affiliated with the East.
“You hear that,” Smith said. “I don’t pay much attention to that. We control what we control. It is what it is.”
And what it is, of course, is a conundrum.
“I’d love to give you a great answer on that one,” McElwain said. “But I’m not sure I have one. … You’ve got to go win those games.
“I don’t know. Some very good ball squads out there.”
Just maybe, Florida will be one of those. The Gators open the season vs. Michigan in Arlington, Texas. It’s the kind of high- profile matchup that brings luster to the winner and its conference — or, in this case, even to its division. The last time the teams met was in January 2016 at the Citrus Bowl, where Michigan blew out the Gators 41- 7.
McElwain, who is set to start his third season, might finally have a quarterback. ( Although Malik Zaire transferred in from Notre Dame, McElwain is calling it a four- way competition.) Though there’s obviously more to it than this — Florida has to replace eight defensive starters — mediocre quarterback play has been a real issue throughout the division; the last seven all- SEC quarterbacks have been from the West. “If you’ve got one of those, you’ve got a real chance,” McElwain said.
For the SEC East to have a chance, its historic powers have to rebound. But it’s worth noting that after losing nine of their first 10 games against the West last season, SEC East teams closed the regular season strong, winning four of five. That includes Florida’s loss to Alabama in the SEC championship game. But while everybody is chasing the Tide, the finish at least provided hope that the divisional imbalance might close some.
But let’s try that trick question one more time: Hey, Martez, can you name the last SEC East team to win the conference? The Florida junior paused for a long moment.
“I want to say it was Georgia,” he said.
Given the right answer — Gators, Tebow, Bowl Championship Series titles and so on — he shook his head.
“I really started watching SEC championships when Tebow played,” he said. “That’s what made me a Florida fan.”
Ivey stopped, reflecting on 2008, when he was an impressionable 13- year- old, and then asked, “That was the last year? That was the last year?”
But what no one can answer is this: Which is the next East team to become SEC champion? And when? FOLLOW REPORTER GEORGE SCHROEDER @ GeorgeSchroeder for college football news and analysis.