SEC major bowl records (there are several surprises)

This counts BCS and College Football Playoff games. Ties went to the program with the most appearances. I.e., it's an achievement to make an appearance. Major bowl games is much more of a program status indicator because the number has remained constant since 1935 (in 2014 it increased from 8 to 12 teams), while the others have increased dramatically in the past 30 years to the point of almost being meaningless. The W/L record carries weight because you are playing another very good opponent. Note that only 4 programs have a winning record and only one is more than 2 games over .500. Most are at or close to .500 except teams 8-10: Ark, AU, Mizz. But 10-15 games is a small sample size so you can't read too much into it.

1. Alabama: 26-17-1 (note 1)
2. LSU: 11-11-1 (note 2)
3. UGA: 10-8
4. Tenn: 8-11 (note 3)
5. UF: 8-7
6. OM: 7-7 (note 4)
7. A&M: 5-7 (note 5)
8. Ark: 4-11
9. AU: 4-7-1
10. Mizz: 2-5
11. UK: 2-1
12. MSU: 1-2
13. USCe: 0-0
14. Vandy: 0-0

Note 1: From 1925 when Alabama went to the Rose Bowl as the first team from the "3rd world South", until 1945 when Bama was the last team to play in an "open" Rose Bowl, Bama was 4-1-1. The rest of the nation was 4-11 during those 21 years. The RB was essentially the only bowl until 1933-35 when the Sugar, Cotton and Orange were added.

Note 2: Many fans continuously undervalue LSU's history.

Note 3: From the early 30s til the 60s, UT was Bama's equal regionally, but Alabama far out distanced UT on the national stage. Even Neyland was 2-5 in major bowls. Their 1939 unscored on team was beaten 14-0 by USC in the Rose Bowl. They played another RB a few years later and still haven't scored.

Note 4: Most do not know how good Vaught was from the late 40s til the early 60s. No NC, but very close 3 times and 6 SEC titles. 1952-1963 4 top 5s, 8 top 7s, 10 top 11s. OM was who Alabama and Bryant had to dethrone in the SEC, not UT.

Note 5: A&M and Ark had more success than some want to admit. They are both at the tail end of the historical top 25. They were number 2 and 3 behind Texas in the SWC.

Note 6: Let's save Rabern57 and aufbfan some trouble: Bama is a worthless, cheating program. They've bought every player that was ever any good from 1925 on. They've paid off all SEC refs from 1933 forward, NCAA presidents from Walter Byers to Mark Emmert, US presidents from Calvin Coolidge to Donald Trump and UN Sec-Generals from Trygve Lie to Ban Ki-moon. Occam's Razor - it's obvious isn't it? Success means cheating - unless you are AU. They were framed for their SEC leading 7 major infractions (that's not counting Barkley, Bowden's confession, SACS, Cam, McGlover, etc.). But they're here to set the record straight. The injustice done to that poor school is stunning.