re: which "former glory" SEC team is least likely to ever be relevant again?

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The correct answer is Florida.

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The world and the rant would be a better place if the answer was Florida, but this is highly unrealistic.

For all the shite we give our Gator brethren, it's pretty easily a top 5 job in college football. Top tier talent in state... only SEC team in the state. Well perceived home field and finally starting to invest some dollars in needed facility upgrades. Academics are on the high side of the conference, and proximity to south Georgia/Alabama gives them a really good general "recruiting radius".

My personal opinion is that Mullen will turn out to be more or less a bust as a hire, but the reality is that it clearly doesn't take a long time to turn Florida around with the right coach. There will be more "Urban Meyer" like coaches out there in the future, and if the Gators manage to make that kind of pull, there's not much that anyone can do to prevent them from jumping right back to a huge pain in the arse in the East at a minimum. Maybe I'm wrong, and maybe Mullen will be that guy. He's pretty clearly a mediocre recruiter, but if he's a great evaluator, the recruiting rankings may not matter as much. Broadly, they do tend to equate to more success, but individually, less so.



FWIW, the real answer to the question asked is either "no one" or "unknown"... Too many variables to say "ever again" for any team not named Vandy with SEC $$ coming in every year... (Keep in mind that Kentucky was more relevant than they've been in a long time this past season... IIRC they were some pretty piss poor officiating in the aTm game away from going into the UGA game at 9-0.)

But if I take that as more of a "for the foreseeable future" the easiest answer here is Tennessee in the current environment. Less in-state resources, annual matchup with Alabama, general perception right now makes it a hell of an uphill battle, went through an absolute debacle just to get their last coach (and fricked up the 2-3 previous hires depending on what your take on Kiffin is). If Florida turns things around fast under Mullen and Georgia doesn't pull a complete U-turn, life gets awfully hard in Knoxville for Pruitt. This year's schedule is pretty manageable, but they pick up Oklahoma next season, then the SEC West rotation kind of comes back on them shortly after with LSU & A&M rotating back. Until Saban leaves the sidelines in Tuscaloosa, Tennessee is in a pretty unenviable position in the East.