There are number of differences in how professional and collegiate sports operate, and yet the two are also more comparable than many realize.

Just like in college, professional sports has its perennial powerhouses and its constantly faltering teams, and just like professional sports college has iconic names and faces that drive the sports more than anything else.

So we thought it might be fun to compare a few SEC football programs to their professional sports counterparts. Not all of these comparisons are made between a school and an NFL team; sometimes a program is more comparable to an organization from another sport.

Take a look at some of the connections we made and see if you agree:

FLORIDA GATORS

Pro sports comparison: New York Knicks (NBA)
Rationale: Both franchises are old traditions that are historically significant to their respective leagues, and both have reached perhaps all-time lows in recent years. The Gators lost to Georgia Southern and missed a bowl in 2013, then barely won more games than they lost upon firing coach Will Muschamp in 2014. The Knicks promptly resigned Carmelo Anthony and changed head coaches themselves, yet are one of the worst teams in the NBA this season.

ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE

Pro sports comparison: San Antonio Spurs (NBA)
Rationale: Another NBA comparison, both the Tide and the Spurs are consistently the most successful teams in their leagues. The Spurs can be placed in the NBA’s Western Conference playoff bracket before the season even begins, and Alabama is as good as a lock to win at least 10 games every year during Nick Saban’s reign in Tuscaloosa. Both teams are regularly loaded with talent (the Spurs obviously have less roster turnover than a college team), and both are perennial preseason title contenders.

LSU TIGERS

Pro sports comparison: New York Yankees (MLB)
Rationale: The Yankees either reach the postseason or contend for a spot into the final days of the season every single year. LSU has won at least eight games for 15 years in a row. The Yankees may be the standard for professional sports success in America, and LSU fills that same role in the SEC. Even when the Tigers don’t win the West, they’re a contender to win the division late into every season, almost never falling short of a prominent bowl game even in its worst seasons. It’s not so much about the success of these two programs as it is about their consistent lack of failures over a prolonged period of time.

MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS

Pro sports comparison: New York Mets (MLB)
Rationale: I can’t imagine MSU fans are taking too kindly to this comparison, but please let me explain. The Mets are widely regarded as New York’s second baseball team behind the Yankees. And in a less demeaning sense, Mississippi State is viewed as the Magnolia State’s second program behind Ole Miss. Both the Mets and the Bulldogs have achieved success throughout their histories, but neither has been consistently successful over a string of years for a long time, which is why these two teams are so comparable in the landscape of American sports.

ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS

Pro sports comparison: Kansas City Chiefs (NFL)
Rationale: The Razorbacks are like the Chiefs of the SEC in a number of ways. As of late, the Chiefs have been consistently good but far from dominant, vying for one of the AFC’s last playoff spots the last few years without ever truly establishing themselves as a Super Bowl threat. The Hogs are the same way, looming as a threat to beat anyone in the SEC but never really posing a threat to win the division. The Chiefs come from one of American pro sports’ smaller markets in Kansas City, while Arkansas is located more than 250 miles from any other SEC campus, which only furthers the comparison. The unbridled passion of both fan bases really hammers it home.