It’s hard to imagine Nick Saban sacrificing preparation time by turning his TV on at all, much less watching any second of Boise State vs. BYU, just to vote accurately. Some even suggested that media relations personnel cast votes, not the coaches.

Regardless, the Coaches Poll carries weight for fans and media alike. Until the BCS formula pitted the two best teams to play for the national championship, the coaches even crowned their own champion (see 2003). Further questions surrounding the poll include inflation, where coaches or media personnel vote for teams on their schedule to improve its difficulty.

All of this fell into irrelevance for the big picture with the advent of the playoff and the selection committee.

The SEC’s relationship with the poll is complicated. Coaches of major programs outside of the conference often vocalize their dissatisfaction with the conference’s perceived prestige and claim vast, and even corrupt, ranking tampering for the sake of TV ratings and other interests.

We’re awaiting the release of the 2016 Preseason Amway Coaches Poll on Thursday, and that prompted SDS to review the Coaches Poll beginning with the 2012 expansion.

Highlights:

UK and Arkansas remain the only SEC teams to not finish the season ranked and UK, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt have yet to earn a preseason ranking.

During the same time, the conference slotted six teams on the pre- and postseason polls in consecutive years.

Alabama, Georgia and LSU began the season ranked in all four years, though only Alabama finished those seasons ranked while LSU and Georgia each fell off once each.

Ole Miss earned pre- and postseason rankings in each of the last two seasons, making it the only program other than Alabama to finish a season ranked each time it appeared on the preseason poll.

In 2013, the SEC saw its craziest year when Georgia (5) and Florida (10) finished the season unranked while the conference championship game pitted preseason unranked Missouri against preseason unranked Auburn. Even crazier, Alabama did not finish in the top 10, and Vanderbilt finished its second consecutive season with a Coaches Poll ranking.

Year-by-year since expansion:

2012:

Seven teams ranked preseason: LSU (1), Alabama (2), Georgia (6), South Carolina (9), Arkansas (10), Florida (23), Auburn (25).

Seven teams ranked postseason: Alabama (1)*, Georgia (4), Texas A&M (5), South Carolina (7), Florida (10), LSU (12), Vanderbilt (20).

Biggest bust: Auburn. After Cam Newton led the Tigers to a perfect season, he left for the NFL and offensive coordinator, Gus Malzahn, left to take the helm at Arkansas State. It turns out Cam and Gus were pretty good. Without them, the Tigers squeaked out an early-season miracle against Utah State that would be a precursor for how the rest of the season would go. From undefeated national champions to 3-9 and a fired coach.

Biggest surprise: Texas A&M. Johnny Manziel and company walked into Bryant-Denny Stadium, promptly went up 20-0 on the defending national champs only to nearly lose the lead before sealing the deal. The game became iconic and led to the first-ever freshman Heisman winner. All in the first year in the conference. Not bad.

2013:

Six teams ranked preseason: Alabama (1), Georgia (5), Texas A&M (6), South Carolina (7), Florida (10), LSU (13).

Seven teams ranked postseason: Auburn (2), South Carolina (4), Missouri (5), Alabama (8), LSU (14), Texas A&M (18), Vanderbilt (23).

Biggest bust: Alabama. The Tide is the only program that deserves this level of harsh scrutiny. However, there was complete lack of preparation and game management from Saban and company against Auburn, and lackadaisical effort against an Oklahoma team that many didn’t think had a chance. This is not the first time Saban failed to motivate a team for a non-national championship bowl after it seemed like a title was a forgone conclusion. The Tide finished at No. 8,  but for an Alabama team with that roster, it was a disaster.

Biggest surprise: Tie: Auburn/Missouri. The Tigers and the Tigers went from unranked to playing one another for the right to represent the SEC in the national championship game. Missouri did it in its second year in the conference, and partially with a backup quarterback, while Auburn did it after a 3-9 record the year before. Missouri came out of the much weaker East Division, but Auburn blew a 21-3 lead to end the SEC’s streak of seven straight national championships.

2014:

Seven teams ranked preseason: Alabama (2), Auburn (5), South Carolina (9), Georgia (12), LSU (13), Ole Miss (19), Texas A&M (20).

Seven teams ranked postseason: Alabama (4), Georgia (9), Mississippi State (11), Missouri (14), Ole Miss (17), Auburn (22).

Biggest bust: South Carolina. Under Steve Spurrier, the Gamecocks continually improved, and many thought they’d win an SEC title and make it to the national championship game at some point. Coming off three straight 11-win seasons, South Carolina fell to Texas A&M in Week 1, but a big win against Georgia in Week 3 seemed to revive the hopes of those in Columbia. However, South Carolina appeared to be a step or two behind on all sides of the ball. This year represented the beginning of the end for one of the greatest college football coaches of all-time.

Biggest surprise: Mississippi State. The No. 11 spot on the final poll cannot represent the unexpected, and frankly ridiculous, season the Bulldogs put together in 2014. At one point, they’d won nine straight, including consecutive comfortable wins against top 10 SEC foes LSU, Texas A&M and Auburn. They held the No. 1 spot more than any other team, and Dak Prescott looked like a lock for Heisman. Even their close loss to Alabama in Tuscaloosa didn’t completely rule them out for a spot in the final four. Robert Nkemdiche did, though. After dropping the egg to Ole Miss, Georgia Tech roughed Bully up as a small part of arguably the worst SEC bowl season in decades.

2015:

Eight teams ranked preseason: Alabama (3), Auburn (7), Georgia (9), LSU (13), Ole Miss (15), Arkansas (20), Missouri (23), Tennessee (25).

Six teams ranked postseason: Alabama (1), Ole Miss (9), LSU (17), Tennessee (23) Georgia (24), Florida (25).

Biggest bust: Auburn. Honestly, no one knows what the Tigers will do in any given year. In 2015, the struggles began with a day game against Jacksonville State that led to an OT win. The next week, Leonard Fournette turned into a jaw-dropping highlight reel against the Auburn defense. The Tigers faltered most in SEC play by going 2-6, including a close call at Kentucky and 0-4 record at home.

Biggest surprise: Florida. The Gators spanked No. 5 Ole Miss at home and things looked to be headed in the right direction, some even whispered about a national title run. They limped to the finish line by losing to Florida State, Alabama in the SEC Championship Game and Michigan in a thorough beatdown, which was one of only two black eyes for the SEC in an otherwise exceptional bowl season for the league. However, Florida’s stock trended up overall for Jim McElwain’s inaugural campaign.

Based on a quick review of the past four seasons, the following predictions can be made:

  1. The SEC will slot six or seven teams in the pre- and postseason polls.
  2. Alabama will be top 10 beginning, middle and end.
  3. Predicting Auburn’s team is pointless.
  4. LSU will be solid; not great, solid.

Interesting questions:

  1. How bad is it in South Carolina?
  2. Will Tennessee ever really break through?
  3. How much did Ole Miss depend on first-rounders Robert Nkemdiche, Laremy Tunsil and Laquon Treadwell?