Unless you’re a fan of the Florida Gators, this is not a great time to be in the SEC East. Some might even suggest that this is the worst this side of the league has been collectively since the alignment came into being back in 1992.

But is it really? You could certainly argue that way.

Let’s go down the list, shall we?

Florida — New coach Jim McElwain has made quite a splash in his first season in Gainesville. The Gators still have a shot at grabbing a playoff spot, assuming they win all of their remaining games. Even the crown jewel of the SEC East this season isn’t without a bit of tarnish, though, as starting quarterback Will Grier was hit with a year-long suspension for a failed drug test.

Georgia — A trendy pick to win the SEC and compete for a national championship, the Bulldogs lost standout running back Nick Chubb to a knee injury early in the Tennessee game. They’ve since forgotten how to complete forward passes, throwing the job security of coach Mark Richt into question.

Tennessee — Another popular pick for big things this year, but a sour tone was set in a Week 2 collapse against Oklahoma. Come-from-ahead losses against Florida and Arkansas, and a valiant near-miss against Alabama, have the Vols at 5-4 overall but still optimistic about the future under coach Butch Jones.

Kentucky — It’s been another close-but-not-quite campaign for the Wildcats, who couldn’t build on a Week 2 win at South Carolina. Four straight losses has coach Mark Stoops shuffling the deck in order to find the wins needed to become bowl eligible.

Vanderbilt — The Commodores have mixed embarrassing losses (Western Kentucky and 34-0 to Houston) with close, hard-fought ones (9-7 at Florida and 19-10 at South Carolina) this season. Points have been hard to come by as Vandy hasn’t scored more than 16 in a game against an FBS school in 2015.

Missouri — Things have fallen apart at bit for the Tigers this season. From Maty Mauk’s suspension, to the racial strife that led to a proposed player strike — it’s been filled with drama. It’s affected the on-field product also as Mizzou has dropped four straight games while scoring just two touchdowns since Oct. 3.

South Carolina — The co-poster children of off-field chaos this season, the Gamecocks have seen their focus shift all over the map this fall. South Carolina has dealt with an injury-driven quarterback shuffle, torrential rains moving a home game to Baton Rouge and Steve Spurrier’s resignation — and an avalanche of coaching search speculation that came with it. While the team has shown signs of life under interim coach Shawn Elliott, the results haven’t been much better.

So, it’s pretty bad, right?

Yes, it is.

But is it the worst ever? I don’t think so.

For me, that dubious honor falls to the 2010 SEC East. Here’s how it finished up:

Overall     SEC    
School W L Pct W L Pct
South Carolina 9 5 .643 5 3 .625
Florida 8 5 .615 4 4 .500
Georgia 6 7 .462 3 5 .375
Tennessee 6 7 .462 3 5 .375
Kentucky 6 7 .462 2 6 .250
Vanderbilt 2 10 .167 1 7 .125

Only two teams with a winning record to go with a 1-4 mark in bowl games made this a season to forget. It may have lacked the off-field headlines that this season has produced, but between the white lines, it was certainly less productive.

Sometimes, it’s easy to get caught up in the error of recency, or the notion of whatever is happening right now is the best (or worst) ever.

The SEC East is bad this season. If you’re talking about non-football issues, then yes, it may be at an all-time low.

But on the field, things have clearly been worse.