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SEC teams are no strangers to the polls. If you’ll recall, there was a point last season when five of the teams in the top 10 in the Associated Press Top 25 came from the SEC, and half of the the conference’s teams were in the poll at one point.
Since the AP poll debuted in 1934, the SEC’s current members have combined for 362 top-25 finishes. We’ll take a look at how that breaks down team-by-team.
Alabama takes the crown for most years ranked in the poll at season’s end, followed by Tennessee, Auburn, LSU and Georgia. Seven of the SEC’s programs have finished a season ranked No. 1, while Georgia and Florida tie for the longest streak of consecutive top-25 finishes.
Bear Bryant presides over two programs’ longest streaks, while Steve Spurrier has had a hand in two schools’ as well.
Here’s how each team has fared in the final AP polls.
Alabama
Top 25 finishes: 52
Highest finish: No. 1 (nine seasons)
Longest streak of ranked seasons: 11 seasons (1971-81)
Arkansas
Top 25 finishes: 28
Highest finish: No. 2 (1964)
Longest streak of ranked seasons: 4 seasons (1959-62, 1968-71)
Auburn
Top 25 finishes: 37
Highest finish: No. 1 (two seasons)
Longest streak of ranked seasons: 5 seasons (1968-72, 1986-90, 1993-97)
Florida
Top 25 finishes: 29
Highest finish: No. 1 (three seasons)
Longest streak of ranked seasons: 12 seasons (1990-2001)
Georgia
Top 25 finishes: 35
Highest finish: No. 1 (1980)
Longest streak of ranked seasons: 12 seasons (1997-2008)
Kentucky
Top 25 finishes: 8
Highest finish: No. 6 (1977)
Longest streak of ranked seasons: 5 seasons (1949-53)
LSU
Top 25 finishes: 37
Highest finish: No. 1 (two times)
Longest streak of ranked seasons: 6 seasons (1968-73)
Mississippi State
Top 25 finishes: 13
Highest finish: No. 9 (1940)
Longest streak of ranked seasons: 3 seasons (1940-42)
Missouri
Top 25 finishes: 19
Highest finish: No. 4 (2007)
Longest streak of ranked seasons: 3 seasons (1959-61)
Ole Miss
Top 25 finishes: 24
Highest finish: No. 2 (two times)
Longest streak of ranked seasons: 7 seasons (1957-63)
South Carolina
Top 25 finishes: 9
Highest finish: No. 4 (2013)
Longest streak of ranked seasons: 4 seasons (2010-13)
Tennessee
Top 25 finishes: 42
Highest finish: No. 1 (two times)
Longest streak of ranked seasons: 11 seasons (1989-99)
Texas A&M
Top 25 finishes: 26
Highest finish: No. 1 (1939)
Longest streak of ranked seasons: 7 seasons (1989-95)
Vanderbilt
Top 25 finishes: 3
Highest finish: No. 12 (1948)
Longest streak of ranked seasons: 2 seasons (2012-13)
To make it a little easier to compare, here’s a table with all of the above results:
| School | Top 25 finishes | High finish | Longest streak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 52 | 1 | 11 |
| Arkansas | 28 | 2 | 4 |
| Auburn | 37 | 1 | 5 |
| Florida | 29 | 1 | 12 |
| Georgia | 35 | 1 | 12 |
| Kentucky | 8 | 6 | 5 |
| LSU | 37 | 1 | 6 |
| Mississippi State | 13 | 9 | 3 |
| Missouri | 19 | 4 | 3 |
| Ole Miss | 24 | 2 | 7 |
| South Carolina | 9 | 4 | 4 |
| Tennessee | 42 | 1 | 11 |
| Texas A&M | 26 | 1 | 7 |
| Vanderbilt | 3 | 12 | 2 |
Rankings information courtesy of sportsreference.com.
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
