One day removed from the first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship, USA Today revealed its season-long grades for all 128 programs in the FBS, including all 14 SEC schools. These grades are based on accomplishments this season but are also weighed against preseason expectations for each team.
The grades below are USA Today’s — the breakdowns of those grades are our own. Take a look and see how USA Today graded your favorite team following the 2014 season:
A-: Alabama, Mississippi State, Missouri
The Crimson Tide fell short of its ultimate goal this season, but it still posted yet another 12-win season and added another SEC championship to its trophy case. Mississippi State won 10 games for just the second time in 70 years, and stunned the conference as the league’s proverbial underdog story. Missouri continues to fly under the radar but won 11 games and the SEC East crown for a second straight season.
B+: Arkansas, Ole Miss
The Hogs got off to a slow start in 2014 but won four of their final six games to snap a 17-game SEC losing streak and earn their first bowl victory since 2011. Ole Miss dropped four of its final six games this season but still managed to beat four 10-win teams, including wins over Alabama as well as Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl.
B-: Auburn, Kentucky, Tennessee
Auburn failed to defend its 2013 SEC title, but it still scored monumental wins over LSU (by 34 points) and Ole Miss as one of the SEC West’s most threatening programs. Kentucky lost its final six games of the season, but it won more games than it won in 2012-13 combined, and it won its first SEC contest since the 2011 season. Tennessee took a major step forward by winning four of its final six games to reach a bowl for the first time since 2010 and win a bowl for the first time since 2007.
C+: Georgia
Georgia closed the season ranked in the top 10 of the final Associated Press poll, but it dropped two games to teams with at least five losses apiece (Florida and South Carolina) and also fell to its arch-rival Georgia Tech in the regular season finale to cost itself a chance at a New Year’s Six bowl berth.
C: LSU, Texas A&M
LSU won eight games for the 15th year in a row, but it boasted the SEC’s worst passing offense (statistically speaking) and were left at the alter by John Chavis when he departed Baton Rouge for Texas A&M. Speaking of the Aggies, they managed to win eight games in the daunting SEC West despite losing three first round picks in the 2014 NFL Draft.
D+: Florida
Florida would’ve finished 8-5 this season had it played Idaho in Week 1, but it lost its five games in embarrassing fashion, resulting in Will Muschamp’s termination. Jim McElwain has proven himself to be a popular hire in Gainesville, but with plenty of talent from this year’s team departing for the NFL he’ll have to start from scratch with the Gators.
D-: South Carolina
South Carolina began the season ranked in the top 10 in the national polls, but six losses later it ended the year as one of the SEC’s biggest disappointments. The offense was dynamic, but the Gamecocks defensive flaws ultimately cost them a chance at a memorable season.
F: Vanderbilt
The Commodores fell apart in their first season without James Franklin, winning just three games for new head coach Derek Mason. Vandy lost by 30 at home to Temple, and lost seven of its eight SEC contests by double digits as it free fell from legitimacy back to the SEC basement.
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
