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Election special, SEC West edition: Is your team better off than it was four years ago?
By Joe Cox
Published:
What’s a presidential election year without the overbaked rhetoric that goes with it? While we’re not here to talk politics, it does provide some occasional inspiration. Politicians love to ask as Ronald Reagan famously did in 1980, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” As college football fans, we might ask the same question about our favorite teams. The answer might go a long way toward persuading those who matter whether the head coach deserves another term or not.
Alabama: Slightly better
Of course, this is all relative because four years ago, Alabama was the defending BCS champion, and now it’s the defending playoff champion. But four years ago, Saban had won two titles at Alabama, and the conventional wisdom was that maybe he would get tired of the college football lifestyle. Four years and two more titles later, that’s pretty much unimaginable. Bama was picked to finish second to LSU four years ago, but now, given how good the Tide has been, it’s hard to imagine picking anybody else until Alabama is dethroned on the field.
Arkansas: Better
On the one hand, four years ago, Arkansas was coming off of two seasons where they had won 21 games. On the other hand, Bobby Petrino ended up in a neck brace en route to coaching at Western Kentucky, and last-second interim coach John L. Smith was getting ready to lead a top 10 preseason team to an embarrassing 4-8 campaign. Bret Bielema could only win three games in 2013 but has managed 15 wins in the last two seasons. He’s made Arkansas football respectable again and seemingly on much safer footing than under Petrino.
Auburn: Slightly worse
Auburn has to have experienced some of the wildest swings in recent memory. Four years ago, they were coming off an 8-5 season and a win in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. They were only two seasons removed from Cam Newton’s march to a national title. But Gene Chizik went 3-9 in 2012 and promptly got himself replaced by Gus Malzahn. The Gus Bus missed the national title by a field goal in 2013, but an 8-5 season followed by a 7-6 year leaves Auburn in an uncomfortably awkward spot again. You could argue that four years ago, Auburn was sliding toward mediocrity and that 2013 was a fluke. Or the Tigers could rebound into another upcycle again.
LSU: Slightly worse
LSU had lost the national title game to Alabama four years ago and entered 2012 as the favorite to win the West. The last four seasons haven’t worked out quite as well. Four years ago, the Tigers had won two national titles in five seasons. While LSU hasn’t been awful, it has lost 14 games over the past four seasons and hasn’t come close to the national title hunt again. Les Miles appeared unlikely to keep his job at some points last season, but with a talented and seasoned team, the Tigers, led by Heisman hopeful Leonard Fournette, could turn things around in a hurry and perhaps deliver Miles his third title.
Mississippi: Much better
Four years ago, the Rebels were coming off of a disastrous 2-10 campaign with Houston Nutt. They made a coaching change and brought in Hugh Freeze, who has won seven, eight, nine and 10 games, respectively, over the past four campaigns. The Rebels boast one of the most potent offenses in the country and are a dark horse candidate for SEC and national title honors. The approaching darkness of the NCAA does loom uncomfortably, but that issue aside, Ole Miss football is in better position than it has been in some time.
Mississippi State: Slightly better
Four years ago, the Bulldogs were coming off a second straight bowl bid, but they had some uncertainty at quarterback and were picked to finish sixth in the West. The Dak Prescott era ran for the next four seasons and provided State with some of its best football in recent memory. But four years later, Prescott is gone and one of the biggest questions for State is who will start under center. At this point, Dan Mullen has a streak of six straight bowl games going into 2016, and despite the fact that the Bulldogs are generally picked to finish last in the West, there’s a fair chance that Mullen ends up pulling another rabbit out of his hat.
Texas A&M: Better
Four years ago, Mike Sherman had just left College Station and A&M was picked to finish fifth in the West. Instead, along came Kevin Sumlin and Johnny Football, and the Aggies ended up in the top 10. While the ensuing seasons haven’t been that stellar, 25 wins in three years is no mean feat in the SEC West. The Aggies are a dark horse for success again, and a high-wattage passing game could leave them exactly where they were four years ago — getting ready to sneak up on the rest of the West.
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.
