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We’ve all heard the saying, “we must protect this house.” Well, not all houses get protected. For some, the moat out front is just not deep enough.
When it comes to winning on the road, the SEC is among the nation’s elite dating back to 2000. But it’s not all crimson-colored roses when it comes to road life in the conference.
We’ve gleaned some road-win tidbits from Reddit poster KTFFAN, who recently shared a list of the best road records among all 128 FBS teams.
SEC TIERS BY ROAD WIN PERCENTAGE
There’s a definitive line of demarcation when it comes to the conference’s best, middling and worst road records dating back to the year 2000. And the results speak for themselves.
The first tier consists of the SEC’s top teams, Georgia (.738), LSU (.631), Florida (.613) and Alabama (.606) — teams that finished in the top 15 in the nation for road winning percentage. Auburn (.515) sits just on the outside of the best at No. 26 in the country for road winning record during that time.
The middle of the pack includes Missouri (.493), Texas A&M (.486), Tennessee (.486) and South Carolina (.472). How close are these teams? Since 2000, the Aggies and Volunteers have identical 34-36-0 road records. South Carolina is 34-38 during that same stretch, while Missouri is 35-36.
The bottom rung of SEC teams rounds out with Arkansas (.391), Ole Miss (.324), Mississippi State (.320), Vanderbilt (.286) and Kentucky (.211). When you cross the road records with SEC teams’ home winning records, patterns begin to develop, including that Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Kentucky all finish at the bottom of both lists. That makes sense considering that prior to last year, those programs struggled at times to finish above .500.
DAWGS LOVE HOME
With the best road record in the SEC since 2000 and the fourth-best home winning percentage (.800), you’d think the Georgia Bulldogs would have a more robust résumé. During this time span, Mark Richt — who took over at Georgia in 2001 — has 136 wins to Nick Saban’s 139. Saban has coached one less season during that span, but the close numbers and lack of results can only be maddening to Georgia fans.
WHERE DREAMS GO TO DIE
Since 2005, road teams have had an equal success rate at Tiger Stadium (LSU) and at Bryant-Denny Stadium (Alabama). And it’s not very good for the road team. In the last 10 years both the Tigers and Crimson Tide are 62-9 at home for an .813 winning percentage.
The last road team to beat Alabama at home was the Johnny Manziel-led Texas A&M in 2012. Alabama went into Death Valley last year and dealt the Tigers their last home loss. Both Alabama and LSU have gone into each other’s homes three times in the last decade and came away with a road win.
LSU has the SEC’s second-best road record since 2000. It’s no surprise that the Tigers have finished inside the top-three in AP poll’s final rankings four times during that span.
SEC DEPTH
The SEC is among the best when it comes to winning on the road. The conference has nine of the top 50 schools with the best road winning percentages. The Big Ten and ACC follow close with eight teams in the top-50. That said, having only one team among the top 10 (Georgia, 0.738) is a bit of a head scratcher.
THE TIDE TURNS
How’s this for a surprise? Alabama (.606) finds itself behind teams such as Virginia Tech (.726), Miami (.620) and Louisville (.617) for road winning percentage dating back to 2000.
POOR ON THE ROAD, (COMMON) WEALTHY AT HOME
Kentucky might want to schedule as many home games as possible. The Wildcats aren’t just the worst team in the SEC for road record since 2000, they’re among the nation’s most abysmal. Kentucky (.211) finds itself behind Florida International (.242), Akron (.234) and Tulane (.218).
Perhaps some teams just prefer to be basketball schools. Sitting not far behind Kentucky’s football team at No. 117 for road losses are hoops juggernauts Indiana (No. 121, .177) and Kansas (No. 122, .164).
Chris Wuensch is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers South Carolina and Tennessee.
