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Eight SEC schools have spent a combined 197 weeks ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll, and that doesn’t count the 10 weeks spent at No. 1 between Arkansas, Missouri and Texas A&M, which all achieved the feat before joining the SEC.
Because so many teams spent so many weeks ranked atop the national polls, we’ve decided to break down the SEC’s all-time No. 1 teams by superlatives:
MOST RECENT
Alabama & Mississippi State (2014): The Crimson Tide didn’t take its usual place atop the AP poll until late last season, closing the year as the No. 1-ranked team and the No. 1 seed in the inaugural College Football Playoff. The Bulldogs earned their first No. 1 ranking in school history last season upon topping three straight opponents ranked in the top 10 in the national polls. Mississippi State maintained its No. 1 ranking for five weeks before dropping its first game of the year to, you guessed it, Alabama, which would take over as No. 1 after the win.
FIRST No. 1
Tennessee (1939): The Vols assumed their first No. 1 ranking in 1939, three years after the first AP poll was released. Tennessee began the year unranked, worked its way to No. 5 in the polls, topped Alabama to vault to No. 1 midseason (even in the 30s a win over Alabama weighed heavily in the rankings) then held the No. 1 spot for five straight weeks. The Volunteers dropped from No. 1 to No. 4 despite maintaining an undefeated record throughout the season, and they closed the season at No. 2 in the polls before falling to No. 3 USC in the Rose Bowl. Tennessee has spent 13 weeks since ’39 at No. 1, none since the BCS title season of 1998.
MOST FREQUENT
Alabama (73 weeks): The Tide has spent more time at No. 1 in the national polls than any other team in the SEC, adding four weeks to that total last season. Alabama ranks fifth in all of college football in weeks spent at No. 1, trailing only Oklahoma (101 weeks), Notre Dame (98 weeks), Ohio State (95 weeks) and USC (91 weeks).
THE UNEXPECTED
Auburn: Despite all its football success through the years, Auburn has only spent nine weeks all-time in the No. 1 spot in the AP poll, fewer than Washington, Minnesota and Pitt, to name a few. The Tigers were last No. 1 in 2010 when they won the BCS championship with Cam Newton leading the way, but they never amassed the No. 1 ranking until that championship victory over Oregon.
Florida: Although the Gators played in 15 bowl games from 1952-84 (during an era with far fewer bowls and thus fewer bowl berths), Florida never earned its first No. 1 ranking in the AP poll until 1985 with Galen Hall serving as head coach. However, between 1985 and 2009 (Tim Tebow’s final season at Florida) the Gators spent 41 weeks at No. 1, which ranks 10th all-time in college football history.
ONE FLEETING MEMORY
Arkansas (1965): The Razorbacks have spent one week all-time at No. 1 in the AP Poll, and that came 50 years ago in 1965, one year removed from the program’s only national championship (it won its title as the No. 1 ranked team in the Coaches’ Poll in 1964). The Razorbacks entered a showdown with North Texas as the No. 1 team in the land on Oct. 23, 1965, and despite winning that game 55-20 they fell to No. 2 in the following week’s polls. The Hogs were members of the Southwest Conference at the time.
THE OTHER NEWCOMERS
Texas A&M: The Aggies have spent seven weeks all-time at No. 1 in the AP poll, but they haven’t amassed the top spot since 1957. They earned their first No. 1 ranking in 1939, a year in which they were crowned national champs, and then returned to No. 1 in the mid-1950s with Paul “Bear” Bryant serving as head coach before moving on to Alabama, where he’d elevate his legacy from top-flight coach to immortal legend. Like Arkansas, A&M was a member of the Southwest Conference during each of its weeks at No. 1.
Missouri: The Tigers have spent two weeks all-time at No. 1, one week in 1960 and another in 2008 with Chase Daniel quarterbacking the team. Mizzou was a member of the Big 8 Conference in 196o and a member of the Big 12 in 2008. Missouri finished the 1960 season undefeated but dropped from No. 1 to No. 5 late in the season after topping Kansas via a forfeit. In 2008 the Tigers lost their first game as the nation’s No. 1 team and could never reclaim the spot.
NEVER BEEN THERE
Kentucky: The Wildcats make up for their lack of No. 1 rankings in football with a plethora of No. 1 rankings in the AP’s college hoops polls. The last time UK even cracked the top 10 in the AP poll was in 2007 when it beat then-top 10 Louisville and then-No. 1 LSU in a span of four weeks.
South Carolina: Despite posting three straight 11-win seasons under Steve Spurrier from 2011-13, the Gamecocks could never rise all the way to No. 1 in the AP poll. South Carolina finished all three seasons ranked in the top 10 in the AP poll, something it had never done before its run of 11-win seasons, but could never earn a ranking better than third during any portion of those three years.
Vanderbilt: Not known for having an illustrious football history, Vanderbilt posted consecutive nine win seasons in 2012-13 under head coach James Franklin, who now serves as HC at Penn State. It was the first time Vandy had reached consecutive bowl games in program history and the first time it had won nine games in a season since 1915. The Commodores closed the 2012 season ranked No. 23 in the AP poll and finished the 2013 season ranked No. 24 by the AP.
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
