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Ranking the SEC’s non-conference losses — and figuring out where bowl losses might fall
By Joe Cox
Published:
Nine SEC bowl games means nine more non-conference games for the league — and possibly a 10th in the CFP final. But if we’re going to consider the good of non-conference play, we have to consider the bad.
We ranked the SEC’s 10 non-conference losses this season from worst to least embarrassing. Then we considered which bowl games could work their way onto the list should the SEC team lose.
First, the worst SEC non-conference losses of 2017:
THE UGLY
1. Troy 24, LSU 20
Sure, Troy was a legitimate opponent. Witness its 10 wins in 2017. But LSU should never, ever lose a game to a team from the Sun Belt. The SEC was 23-1 against non-Power 5 FBS opponents in 2017. This was the one.
2. California 27, Ole Miss 16
This was the only SEC loss to a non-conference opponent that won’t make a bowl game. Ole Miss led early but stumbled badly in the second half against a 5-7 Cal team. The loss ended up costing the Rebels a winning season, which they probably won’t sniff for a while now.
3. Purdue 35, Missouri 3
Was Purdue, under new coach Jeff Brohm, better than expected? Sure. Should it have gone to Mizzou and outgained the Tigers 477 yards to 203? Nope. Purdue not only dominated the scoreboard, it held the ball for almost 44 minutes in this humiliating beatdown.
4. UCLA 45, Texas A&M 44
There are bad losses, and then there is blowing a 34-point lead in the final 19 minutes of a game. It’s not like UCLA was a juggernaut either, as the Bruins fired their coach and would have missed a bowl if not for this massive comeback. Of course A&M ended up firing Kevin Sumlin, and he pretty much signed his death certificate in the fourth quarter of this game.
THE BAD
5. Louisville 44, Kentucky 17
A year after beating Louisville at Louisville, Kentucky was humbled by a revenge-minded Lamar Jackson. Louisville was the more talented team, but it’s hard to stomach a loss in which your defense does not force a single punt.
6. Florida State 38, Florida 22
This will go down in history as the least celebrated FSU-Florida game ever. Florida was awful and unwatchable, and this game is a pretty good exhibit on both fronts.
7. TCU 28, Arkansas 7
It’s not really surprising that TCU was better than Arkansas. That said, getting demolished on your home field is never a pleasant thing, and a very efficient TCU team (10 for 14 on third downs in this game) did just that.
THE NOT-THAT-BAD
8. Clemson 34, South Carolina 10
The margin is a little rough, but this isn’t exactly a shocker. When you’re the second best team in the state vis-à-vis the number one team in the nation, a loss isn’t exactly shocking.
9. Michigan 33, Florida 17
Michigan was a better team than Florida, and while Florida’s offense began its season-long habit of playing five miles below its talent level, there’s no real shame in this loss. If this game had been played 10 times, Michigan wins at least nine of them.
10. Clemson 14, Auburn 6
Losing on the road by one score to the team that ends up as the CFP’s No. 1 seed is hardly embarrassing. Giving up 11 sacks, even to Clemson, is a brutal game, but Auburn gave Clemson a dogfight, which not many other teams have done. No shame here.
The bowls
So where would any SEC bowl losses rank?
The only game that looks like a potential addition to the “The Ugly” group would be the Peach Bowl. Sure, UCF is undefeated and scores points like a nerd in a video game convention. But Auburn is carrying the mantle for big boy football and will likely be a double-digit favorite by kickoff.
A few that might fit “The Bad” classification are Missouri (a hot favorite against a mediocre Texas team) and perhaps LSU (against Notre Dame in the Citrus Bowl).
Any other losses would be to teams that are either favorites over the SEC squads or are underdogs by less than a field goal.
A CFP loss would be disappointing for either Georgia or Alabama, but it would hardly qualify as a bad loss.
Joe Cox is a columnist for Saturday Down South. He has also written or assisted in writing five books, and his most recent, Almost Perfect (a study of baseball pitchers’ near-miss attempts at perfect games), is available on Amazon or at many local bookstores.
