Who would win a hypothetical matchup of the greatest Southeastern Conference players in modern college football history?

That’s what we set out to debate on the latest edition of my football-themed show, “That SEC Football Podcast,” where we held a fantasy draft consisting of 2 All-SEC teams. The podcast can be found on every podcast platform including Apple Podcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, Stitcher and YouTube.

The rules for our draft were pretty straightforward: We only picked players that we actually watched compete, so any SEC players before the late 1990s didn’t make the cut, and once a player was selected, he was off the board for the other team to select.

To build the rosters, we had to fill the following positions with the exact number of players per position: 1 quarterback, 2 running backs, 3 receivers, 1 tight end, 5 offensive linemen, 2 defensive ends, 3 defensive linemen, 3 linebackers, 2 cornerbacks, 2 safeties, 1 kicker, 1 punter and 1 kick returner.

Building the rosters involved strategy, as once a position group was completely filled on one team, the other team could hold off on filling their position group for as long as they liked. For example, once the first quarterback was off the board, the second and final quarterback was selected at the very end of the draft.

Here’s a breakdown of how many players each school had on our rosters: Alabama 11, Tennessee 9, Florida 7, Auburn 5, LSU, 5, Georgia 4, Arkansas 3, South Carolina 3, Ole Miss 2, Mississippi State 2, Texas A&M 2, Kentucky 1, Vanderbilt 0 and Missouri 0.

Here’s an embed of the episode if you want to listen to our breakdown of each pick in real-time:

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Draft Order

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Roster Breakdowns

Team Mike

  • QB — Tim Tebow
  • RB — Derrick Henry
  • RB — Nick Chubb
  • WR — Percy Harvin
  • WR — Amari Cooper
  • WR — Josh Reed
  • TE — Hunter Henry
  • OT — Luke Joeckel
  • OG — Gabe Jackson
  • C — Barrett Jones
  • OG — Trey Smith
  • OT — Cam Robinson
  • DE — David Pollack
  • DL — Derrick Brown
  • DL — Jonathan Allen
  • DL — Jadeveon Clowney
  • DE — Derek Barnett
  • LB — Patrick Willis
  • LB — Al Wilson
  • LB — Jarvis Jones
  • CB — Joe Haden
  • CB — Johnthan Banks
  • S — Tryann Mathieu
  • S — Deon Grant
  • K — Eddy Piñeiro
  • P — JK Scott
  • Returner — Deebo Samuel

Team Shane

  • QB — Peyton Manning
  • RB — Darren McFadden
  • RB — Cadillac Williams
  • WR — Julio Jones
  • WR — Ja’Marr Chase
  • WR — Alshon Jeffery
  • TE — Aaron Hernandez
  • OT — Chris Samuels
  • OG — Bradon Burlsworth
  • C — Maurkice Pouncey
  • OG — Larry Warford
  • OT — Michael Oher
  • DE — Jevon Kearse
  • DL — Glenn Dorsey
  • DL — John Henderson
  • DL — Nick Fairley
  • DE — Myles Garrett
  • LB — Takeo Spikes
  • LB — Rolando McClain
  • LB — CJ Mosley
  • CB — Patrick Peterson
  • CB — Champ Bailey
  • S — Eric Berry
  • S — Mark Barron
  • K — Daniel Carlson
  • P — Dustin Colquitt
  • Returner — Cordarrelle Patterson

Fantasy Draft Recap

Strength of Team Mike: I managed to get 4 of the top 5 offensive linemen on my board and the 3 linebackers I most coveted. In addition to those strengths, I believe I have the 3 best pass rushers in the entire draft in Pollack, Barnett and Clowney. While Shane went for the bigger names, and some players who are more foundly thought of following successful NFL careers, I went with players who excelled in college and leaned toward players with a track record of success and leadership.

Strength of Team Shane: Shane used his first 2 picks to grab the running backs he wanted the most, so I have to give him an edge at that position group. I also think his defensive backfield is stronger. Cordarrelle Patterson’s time in college was brief, but he might have been the most dynamic 1-year return man in SEC history.

Why Team Mike would win: One key matchup I feel this team would exploit is the ability to get to a largely immobile Peyton Manning. Team Shane would be playing 10 on 11 every time the offense took the field, while Team Mike has a dual-threat option, and a tough one at that, with Tim Tebow. I also like the flexibility of Team Mike’s receivers and tight end, while the targets on Team Shane are all very similar. None of those receivers would be great in the slot and Hernandez was never an outstanding blocker.

Why Team Shane would win: The balance of his offense. Going up against a college offense led by Peyton Manning and Darren McFadden would be unimaginable to attempt to slow down, forget the fantasy of stopping that unit.

Which team would you bet on to win if these two met on a fall Saturday on a neutral field?