Fun Facts Regarding Every SEC Football Program.

Alabama:
The 1930 Alabama team coached by Wallace Wade went 10-0 with eight shutouts. According to the Paul W. Bryant Museum, sports writer Everett Strupper of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote a long soliloquy on the size of the Alabama players upon witnessing a game against Mississippi, after which writers referred to the team as the Red Elephants.



Arkansas:
The Razorbacks don’t have a Heisman Trophy winner in their history yet, but the school got back-to-back second place finishes from Darren McFadden in 2006-07. During McFadden’s magical run, he won the Doak Walker Award twice (2006-07) and the Maxwell Award (2007). In his three college seasons, McFadden racked up 4,590 yards and 41 touchdowns on the ground.


Auburn:
Many don’t realize that John Heisman, the legendary coach for which the award is named, once coached at Auburn for five seasons from 1895-99. His teams were 12-4-2 in 18 games during those five seasons, although there were no bowl games and no Associated Press poll during that time.


Florida:
Emmitt Smith broke the 57-year old Florida single game rushing record in his first start at running back when he rushed for 224 yards on 39 carries. It is noted that Smith left Florida a year early due to concerns about his role in incoming head coach Steve Spurrier’s offense. Interestingly, Spurrier’s first running back, Errict Rhett, went on to break Smith’s career rushing yard records under the Ball Coach.


Georgia:
The Bulldogs have won six national titles in their 123-year history, but only two were claimed (1942 and 1980) on the field. Need of further explanation? Before the invention of the College Football Playoff during the 1920, 1927, 1946 and 1968 seasons, Georgia was awarded mathematical titles by various outlets not recognized by the NCAA. In 1968 for example, despite a loss to Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl, the Bulldogs (8-1-2) were voted No. 1 in the final Litkenhous poll.


Kentucky:
Paul “Bear” Bryant became a coaching legend during his years at Texas A&M and decades at Alabama, but he received his first SEC head coaching job at the University of Kentucky in 1946. He coached at UK through 1953 before departing for A&M, and in eight seasons as head coach his teams posted a record of 60-23-6 (.674 win percentage) and won the 1950 SEC championship with an 11-1 record.


LSU:
Wide receiver Josh Reed is unquestionably one of the greatest players in LSU history. His 2001 season is one for the books, as he set several school and SEC records while becoming the first Biletnikoff Award winner in school and SEC history.


Miss. State:
Mississippi State was once known as Mississippi A&M College in the early 1900s, and during those days its nickname was the Aggies. In 1932 its named changed to Mississippi State College, and with that change it also changed its nickname to the Maroons. The team went with the nickname Bulldogs in 1961 upon receiving university status, and since then the team has been known as the Mississippi State University Bulldogs.


Missouri:
Missouri unfortunately was part of one of the most blatant, clear-cut, factual errors by an officiating crew in college football history on Oct. 6, 1990. Facing the eventual national champion Colorado Buffaloes, Missouri held a 31-27 lead in the game’s final seconds with CU driving. The chain crew did not flip the down marker after second down. The Tigers stuffed Eric Bieniemy short of the end zone and backup quarterback Charles Johnson spiked the ball with two seconds left on fourth down, forgetting the team already had run three plays. The officials forgot as well, apparently, awarding CU a “fifth down,” during which Johnson may or may not have scored a touchdown. But Colorado officially won the game, 33-31.


Ole Miss: Will become the first SEC school in history and only the second in NCAA history to receive the Death penalty.

South Carolina:
Has one win over a top-ranked team in school history, which came in 2010’s SEC East title season. Coming off a national championship, Alabama arrived at Williams-Brice Stadium with a 19-game winning streak. With ESPN’s College GameDay on campus, South Carolina pulled off the upset, winning 35-21 thanks to massive performances from Alshon Jeffery and Marcus Lattimore


Tennessee:
Tennessee is tied for the third-most bowl appearances in NCAA history with 52, trailing only Alabama (66) and Texas (54). For all its impressive success on the gridiron, one achievement lacking from Tennessee’s record book is a Heisman Trophy winner. Peyton Manning finished second in the Heisman voting as a senior in 1997, losing to Charles Woodson, who remains the only defensive player to win the award. Manning won the Maxwell Award that year and remains the most recent Volunteer to contend for the Heisman.


Texas A&M:
On Oct. 11, 2014, the Aggies shattered school, SEC and Texas state records for attendance. For the game against Ole Miss, 110,633 fans packed into Kyle Field, breaking Texas A&M’s own school and state record set two weeks prior against Rice, as well as the previous SEC record of 109,061 set in 2004 at Neyland Stadium. It’s tough to imagine anyone breaking the record, as Kyle Field is shrinking in capacity from 2014 to 2015 by about 4,000 seats.


Vanderbilt:
Vanderbilt’s 40-0 win over Nashville (Peabody) at Nashville Athletic Park was the first organized football game ever played in the state of Tennessee. Team captain Elliott Jones, a fullback, was also Vanderbilt’s coach. Imagine that.