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What are each teams' 2026 floor expectation?

Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:09 am
Posted by AUTiger789
Birmingham, AL
Member since Apr 2022
4485 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:09 am
In other words, where is the line of what would make a season "acceptable"?... what number of wins would mark the point that one fewer win would make the fanbase extremely disgruntled?

NOTE: Every fanbase is hoping for better than the below... this is supposed to be the low end of acceptability, not the high end.

I'm going to take a guess at each... tell me I'm wrong:

Texas: 10-2
I think 10-2 should get a team into the playoff and as long as Texas gets to the playoff, that should meet the standard of meeting the low end of expectations.

Georgia: 10-2
Ditto. Same as above

Alabama: 10-2
Same. I think 9-3 with a playoff appearance might work here. Bama fans wouldn't like eating that 9-3 sandwich but they'd keep eating it without a major fuss as long as they made the playoff. Now 8-4 would probably get DeBoer run off. 9-3 and a playoff miss would make the seat hot for sure but probably not be enough to run him off.

LSU: 9-3
I think a 9-3 season and missing the playoff would make some folks be disappointed, but at the end of the day it's a first year coach taking over a team that went 7-6 and lost to Houston in a bowl game last season. I think 8-4 would probably wake LSU fans up enough to realize the circus they have to endure probably isn't worth it. There'd be some disgruntled Cajuns.

Ole Miss: 8-4
At the end of the day, it's Ole Miss. a first year coach going 8-4 in this SEC is a huge accomplishment for that program. 7-5 would probably end the very short honeymoon for the new coach.

Texas A&M: 8-4
Elko has done a good job so far. Anything less than 8-4 would probably throw most of the goodwill he's earned out the window.

Oklahoma: 8-4
Same as above. I feel like a 7-5 Year 4 for Venebles would put him back on the hot seat going into 2027

Tennessee: 7-5
The Vols went 7-5 last season without beating a ranked opponent and they still act like Heupel is the greatest coach since Knute Rockne. Obviously they will put up with this record.

Auburn: 7-5
A 7-5 season would not create excitement but it would be a nice page-turner from the Harsin/Freeze era... wild give Golesh something to build upon for 2027.

Florida: 7-5
Same as above.

South Carolina: 7-5
Any coach who can win 7 games at South Carolina playing a 9-game conference schedule + Clemson should be celebrated.

Missouri: 7-5
Same as above but without having to play Clemson. If Drinkwitz can get to 7 wins it means he likely won a meaningful game which would be rare for him.

Arkansas: 5-7
Arky's schedule is brutal. Getting to 5 wins for a first year coach would be a decent first year.

Kentucky:
Ditto. Same as above

Miss St: 5-7
Lebby seems like a dead man walking. 5-7 would actually be a pretty decent step in the right direction.

Vanderbilt: 5-7
I know Vandy is not the worst team in the league and they should hope for far more. But at the end of the day, Vandy fans have very low expectations.
Posted by LSU Patrick
Member since Jan 2009
78593 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:10 am to
Given what has taken place over the past 10 months, making the playoffs is the floor.
Posted by NFLSU
Screwston, Texas
Member since Oct 2014
21885 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:12 am to
Man, what happened to Auburn and Florida?

Just hoping for a winning season…

Damn.
Posted by AUTiger789
Birmingham, AL
Member since Apr 2022
4485 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:15 am to
quote:

Given what has taken place over the past 10 months, making the playoffs is the floor.


Nah. You say that now. But if LSU goes 9-3... say losing to Ole Miss, Bama, and Texas and misses the playoff... that would likely put LSU around #12 or so in the country going into the bowls. Fans might not get excited about that, but there would be no cries for the coach's head or demands for firing coordinators, etc.
Posted by WG_Dawg
Member since Jun 2004
91204 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:16 am to
Our floor is 9-3.

I think we'll be better than that, but OU/@bama/@OM are daunting regardless of how good I think we might be.
Posted by OMapologist
Member since Oct 2015
692 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:18 am to
A 2 win improvement is Auburn's floor expectation? Keep dreaming buddy.

At the end of the day, Auburn has been terrible for the last 6 years.
Posted by FightingOkra
Member since Oct 2024
439 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:18 am to
quote:

Now 8-4 would probably get DeBoer run off. 9-3 and a playoff miss would make the seat hot for sure but probably not be enough to run him off.


Nope. They just extended him and raised his buyout. He's not going anywhere for at least 3 more years. He has one of the least hot seats in the country. He'd have to have a losing season for it to even be considered.
Posted by AUTiger789
Birmingham, AL
Member since Apr 2022
4485 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:19 am to
quote:

Man, what happened to Auburn and Florida?


Auburn went 6-7, 5-7, 6-7, 5-7, and 5-7 the past five seasons. Obviously fans are expecting Golesh to get Auburn back to the Top 10 and making the Playoff. But it's also his first season and he's digging out from that giant hole. No one would be celebrating 7-5 but it's an obvious improvement from the past five years.

Florida is nearly identical. 6-7, 6-7, 5-7, 8-5, 4-8.... same story.

LSU had one bad season last year... not five consecutive. So situations are indeed different. It's just reality.
Posted by AUTiger789
Birmingham, AL
Member since Apr 2022
4485 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:23 am to
quote:

At the end of the day, Auburn has been terrible for the last 6 years.


5 seasons. People look at the 2020 records and are ignorant of the fact that it was a 100% SEC schedule with no OOC games. On the surface, Auburn's 6 wins look bad without that context. In reality Auburn finished 5th in the SEC standings that season. That's not "terrible".
Posted by AUTiger789
Birmingham, AL
Member since Apr 2022
4485 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:24 am to
quote:

He's not going anywhere for at least 3 more years. He has one of the least hot seats in the country.


That's fine. Let's see how the fans react if he goes 8-4 and takes Bama to the Music City Bowl. I'm sure fans would be 100% supportive.
Posted by VFL67
Member since Feb 2025
3012 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:27 am to
quote:

The Vols went 7-5 last season

Shocker. You wrote something wrong in your OP

You can't help yourself
Posted by NFLSU
Screwston, Texas
Member since Oct 2014
21885 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:28 am to
quote:

Auburn went 6-7, 5-7, 6-7, 5-7, and 5-7 the past five seasons. Florida is nearly identical. 6-7, 6-7, 5-7, 8-5, 4-8.... same story.

Hence my question…what happened to Auburn and Florida?

Then they both replaced the head coaches who put together those records with head coaches from the G6…again?
Posted by Yokelhoma
Member since Jul 2021
314 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:28 am to
I agree that 8-4 is the minimum for Venables but I think some context needs to be added (and I'm guessing it's the same for other teams). There's a pretty big difference between having four losses by the skin of your teeth (and thus being a top 20 team with a hard schedule) and four losses where you're not even competitive. The latter would not be acceptable and would have him on the hot seat.
Posted by Milk
central
Member since May 2010
1480 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:32 am to
LSU - Sunbelt Conference.

Realistically the floor is losing to
aTm, bama, UTx, UT.

I’m guessing 10-2 with losing the boarder battle with Texas
Posted by AUTiger789
Birmingham, AL
Member since Apr 2022
4485 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:36 am to
quote:

Shocker. You wrote something wrong in your OP


*8-5. My bad. The point remains Vols fans are content with perpetual 5-loss seasons. That's been proven.
Posted by Kashmir
Member since Dec 2014
10435 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:41 am to
L$u will win the CFP title this year!
Posted by VFL67
Member since Feb 2025
3012 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:41 am to
quote:

Vols fans are content with perpetual 5-loss seasons

He has had one 5 loss season at TN not counting his first year where he improved our win total by 4 games in one offseason lol. Like, always your OP's are wrong, and your retorts are incoherent

Only 2 coaches at Auburn since 1920 have had higher winning percentages than Heupel. You are a fool
This post was edited on 9/3/26 at 9:43 am
Posted by AUTiger789
Birmingham, AL
Member since Apr 2022
4485 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:41 am to
quote:

Hence my question…what happened to Auburn and Florida?


What I just said. Did you not read it?

quote:

Then they both replaced the head coaches who put together those records with head coaches from the G6…again?


What does that have to do with it?? Are you saying no head coach that came out of the G6 has ever succeeded?
Posted by NFLSU
Screwston, Texas
Member since Oct 2014
21885 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:46 am to
The two programs have fallen off the face of the earth in the last decade plus…

Are you going to try and explain why or just hope for something different while doing the exact same thing?
Posted by Trumansfangs
Mo
Member since Sep 2018
9372 posts
Posted on 9/3/26 at 9:54 am to
quote:

Missouri: 7-5



Hahaha that's my ceiling expectation. ( We're weak )
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