College football: Predicting the last-place team from every Power Five conference
SEC: Vanderbilt
The SEC is a monster. The teams at the top are unbelievably great and the best in the nation. If only the disparity between the elite and the inferior was not as wide as the Atlantic Ocean.
No one is overcoming Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Texas A&M, leaving a bunch of average-to-terrible teams at the bottom. Even in the Crimson Tide-less division, the SEC East, the gap is still deep and has a few teams competing for last place.
Vanderbilt is the clear-cut worst of the worst in not just the East, but the entire conference. They previously had some bright starts in years past, only to succumb to the incredible talent of college football in the south, evident by former head coach Derek Mason’s handful of three-win seasons in SEC play only to accumulate a 1-16 record in his final two years.
They just can’t recruit against the top dogs of the conference. James Franklin did a good number in his final few years in charge, but the rest of the history is bleak. It’s hard to imagine the good times return soon.
Arkansas is headed for last place in the SEC West, too. With Alabama, LSU and Texas A&M all ahead and middle-of-the-road teams behind them that contain some talent, the Razorbacks are heading down a tricky path. They have more potential for an extra win or two over the Mississippi teams, but the rest of the division is defeating them.
The Commodores are just worse, though. The SEC isn’t for them. Going winless inside the conference is possible.
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