SEC Football by the Numbers: Season-opening streaks

SEC Football by the Numbers: Season-opening streaks

The 91st season of SEC football kicks off at 6:30 p.m. CDT Saturday when Vanderbilt hosts Hawaii. The other members of the conference will start their seasons next week, with 11 playing on Sept. 2 and LSU opening on Sept. 3.

The conference has started four seasons with its teams sweeping their opening games — 1951, 1973, 1974 and 1997. Last year, the league went 13-1, with LSU spoiling the perfect mark.

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The most season-opening losses for the SEC in one year is seven in 2016 and 2020. The seven losses could not have been avoided in 2020 because the SEC’s opening weekend consisted of seven conference games. This season starts with 14 non-conference games.

A team-by-team look at the SEC in season-openers:

ALABAMA: The Crimson Tide carries a 21-game winning streak in season-opening contests into this year’s first game against Middle Tennessee on Sept. 2. The 21-game streak is the second-longest in SEC history, but it is not the school record. Alabama opened its season with a victory 30 straight times from 1904 through 1934. (Alabama did not field a team in 1918.) Only the final two of those victories came as an SEC member. The Crimson Tide’s most recent loss in a season-opening game came 20-17 to UCLA on Sept. 1, 2001.

Alabama’s season-opening winning streak ranks second in NCAA FBS currently. Ohio State has started its past 23 seasons with a victory. The Buckeyes begin their 2023 season against Indiana on Sept. 2. Ohio State’s most recent season-opening setback came 23-12 to Miami (Fla.) in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in 1999.

Against Middle Tennessee, Alabama will be seeking its 105th victory in a season-opening game. Alabama’s 104 season-opening wins are the most among the SEC’s current members. Arkansas and Auburn have 101 victories apiece in season-opening games, Georgia 99, Ole Miss and Tennessee 94 each, LSU 92, Texas A&M 91, Kentucky 90, Florida and Mississippi State 88 apiece, South Carolina 86, Missouri 85 and Vanderbilt 81.

Alabama has won seven in a row when opening the season in Tuscaloosa, where the Crimson Tide will play the Blue Raiders. The 2001 loss to UCLA is Alabama’s only setback when starting the season in Tuscaloosa during the SEC era. The Tide has a 17-1-1 record in those games, with the tie coming 7-7 against Howard (now Samford) in 1935.

ARKANSAS: The Razorbacks started the 2022 season by beating Cincinnati 31-24 for their second straight 1-0 record. Arkansas’ longest opening-game winning streak as an SEC member is nine, accomplished from 1997 through 2005. Arkansas joined the league in 1992, so its school record of 17 straight achieved from 1933 through 1949 did not come as an SEC member but as a member of the Southwest Conference.

Arkansas opens the season against visiting Western Carolina on Sept. 2. The Razorbacks have won 14 consecutive season-opening games when playing non-conference opponents, and all the victories came at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Arkansas will kick off 2023 against the Catamounts at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

Since a 50-14 home setback against Southern Cal to kick off 2006, Arkansas is 14-0 in openers against non-conference opponents and 0-2 in openers against SEC rivals, losing 45-21 at Auburn in 2014 and 37-10 to Georgia at home in 2020. During the 14-game winning streak, the Razorbacks have beaten Troy, Louisiana-Lafayette, UTEP, Louisiana Tech, Rice, Cincinnati and eight NCAA FCS opponents.

AUBURN: The Tigers carry a six-game winning streak in season-opening contests into this year’s first game against Massachusetts in Auburn on Sept. 2. Auburn’s longest streak as an SEC member is 11, when it won every season-opener from 1935 through 1946. (Auburn did not field a team in 1943.) Auburn’s most recent loss in a season-opening game is a 19-13 home setback against Clemson on Sept. 3, 2016.

During the SEC era, Auburn has a 40-7 record when opening the season with a home game.

Auburn has won 18 in a row when opening the season against an opponent that’s not currently in a Power 5 conference, dating to a 31-20 loss to Memphis on Sept. 13, 1975.

Hugh Freeze will begin his tenure as Auburn’s coach against Massachusetts. Of the 11 Auburn coaches who have made their debut with the Tigers in a season-opening game during the SEC era, all but two have won. Jack Meagher lost to Birmingham-Southern 7-0 in Montgomery in 1934 and Doug Barfield lost a road game to Arizona 31-19 in 1976. The past six new coaches have won their season-openers.

FLORIDA: The Gators carry a five-game winning streak in season-opening contests into this year’s first game against Utah in Salt Lake City on Sept. 2.

Florida’s SEC-record 27-game winning streak in season-opening games ended with a 33-17 loss to Michigan in Arlington, Texas, in 2017. Until the loss to Michigan, Florida hadn’t had an 0-1 record since a 24-19 setback against Ole Miss on Sept. 9, 1989. All the victories came in Gainesville, and the teams that Florida beat in the streak were Arkansas State, Ball State, Bowling Green, Charleston Southern, The Citadel, Eastern Michigan (twice), Florida Atlantic, Hawaii, Houston, Kentucky, Louisiana-Lafayette, Marshall, Massachusetts, Miami (Ohio), New Mexico State (twice), Oklahoma State, San Jose State (twice), Southern Miss (twice), Toledo, UAB, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan and Wyoming.

Since the 1989 loss to Ole Miss, Florida has won 30 in a row when starting the season in Gainesville. When starting the season in Gainesville against a non-conference opponent, the Gators have won 50 in a row, dating from a 16-14 loss to Stetson on Sept. 24, 1938.

During the 50-game winning streak, Florida has a 10-12 record when opening the season outside of Gainesville against a non-conference opponent.

GEORGIA: The Bulldogs carry a nine-game winning streak in season-opening contests into this year’s first game against UT Martin in Athens on Sept. 2. Georgia’s longest winning streak in season-opening games is 12, accomplished from 1997 through 2008. Georgia’s most recent loss in a season-opening game is a 38-35 setback against Clemson on Aug. 31, 2013.

This will be Georgia’s first season-opening game at Sanford Stadium since a 45-0 victory over Austin Peay in 2018. The Bulldogs have won 18 in a row when opening the season at home against a non-conference opponent, dating to an 11-7 setback against Southern Miss on Aug. 31, 1996.

KENTUCKY: The Wildcats started the 2022 season by beating Miami (Ohio) 37-13 for their second straight 1-0 record. Kentucky’s longest winning streak in season-opening games as an SEC member is eight, accomplished from 1987 through 1994. Kentucky starts the 2023 season with a home game against Ball State on Sept. 2.

LSU: The Tigers have started the past three seasons with losses — 44-34 to Mississippi State in 2020, 38-27 to UCLA in 2021 and 24-23 to Florida State in 2022. LSU hasn’t started four consecutive seasons with a loss since going to 0-1 annually from 1991 through 1995. Georgia inflicted the first loss, with Texas A&M dealing out the next four.

The Tigers start the 2023 season against Florida State in Orlando, Florida, on Sept. 3. In the SEC era, LSU has a 6-2 record when opening the season somewhere other than Baton Rouge or its opponent’s home field. The losses came 16-14 to Wisconsin in 2016 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and to Florida State last season at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

LSU’s longest winning streak in season-opening games as an SEC member is 13, accomplished from 2003 through 2015.

MISSISSIPPI STATE: The Bulldogs carry a six-game winning streak in season-opening contests into this year’s first game against Southeastern Louisiana in Starkville on Sept. 2. Mississippi State’s record streak for victories in season-opening games is 15 from 1933 through 1948. (Mississippi State did not field a team in 1943.) The Bulldogs’ most recent loss in an opening game is a 21-20 setback against South Alabama in 2016.

The most victories without a loss or tie in season-opening games for an SEC coach are nine, achieved by Allyn McKeen at Mississippi State from 1939 through 1948. McKeen’s teams defeated Samford, Florida (twice), Union, Jackson Field, Louisiana-Lafayette, Chattanooga (twice) and Tennessee. The most games without a loss in season-openers for an SEC coach are 13, achieved by Alabama’s Frank Thomas, who had an 11-0-2 record from 1933 through 1946. Current Alabama coach Nick Saban has won all 16 of his season-opening games with the Crimson Tide, but he had a 4-1 record in those contests at LSU.

MISSOURI: The Tigers started the 2022 season by beating Louisiana Tech 52-24 for their second straight 1-0 record. Missouri’s school-record winning streak in season-opening games is 12, established from 1902 through 1913. The Tigers have an 8-3 record in season-opening games since joining the SEC.

Missouri kicks off this season with a home game against South Dakota on Sept. 2. The Tigers have won 11 in a row when starting the season with a home non-conference game, dating from a 20-13 loss to Bowling Green in 2001.

OLE MISS: The Rebels started the 2022 season by beating Troy 28-10 for their second straight 1-0 record. Ole Miss’ longest opening-game winning streak as an SEC member is 16 from 1947 through 1962, and the Rebels went 20 straight openers without losing. Ole Miss started every season from 1947 through 1962 with a victory, tied Memphis 0-0 to start the 1963 season, then won its next three openers.

The Rebels will kick off 2023 against Mercer in Oxford on Sept. 2.

The record for most victories in season-opening games by an SEC coach belongs to Johnny Vaught, who had a 23-1-1 record at Ole Miss, and Paul “Bear” Bryant, who had a 23-9-1 record at Kentucky and Alabama.

SOUTH CAROLINA: The Gamecocks started the 2022 season by beating Georgia State 35-14 for their second straight 1-0 record. South Carolina’s longest opening-game winning streak as an SEC member is 14 from 2000 through 2013. South Carolina’s school record is 19 in a row, set in the season-openers between 1920 and 1938.

The Gamecocks kick off the 2023 season against North Carolina on Sept. 2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. This will be South Carolina’s fifth opener in Charlotte since 2011, when the Gamecocks defeated East Carolina 56-37. Since then, South Carolina defeated North Carolina 17-13 in 2015 and North Carolina State 35-28 in 2017 and lost to North Carolina 24-20 in 2019 in season-opening games in Charlotte.

TENNESSEE: The Volunteers have started the past three seasons with victories. Tennessee’s longest opening-game winning streak as an SEC member is 12 from 1995 through 2006.

Tennessee starts 2023 against Virginia on Sept. 2 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Volunteers have a 10-3-1 record when starting the season with a neutral-site game. Two of the losses came to Auburn in Birmingham. The other came in Tennessee’s most recent neutral-site opener – a 40-14 setback against West Virginia in 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

TEXAS A&M: The Aggies carry a five-game winning streak in season-opening contests into this year’s first game against New Mexico in College Station on Sept. 2. The school-record streak for season-opening victories is 21 from 1901 through 1921. Texas A&M has an 9-2 record in season-opening games since joining the SEC.

The Aggies have won nine in a row when starting the season with a non-conference home game, dating from an 18-14 loss to Arkansas State in 2008.

VANDERBILT: The Commodores won last year’s opener 63-10 over Hawaii after they had lost the 2021 opener 23-3 to East Tennessee State for their third straight 0-1 start.

Vanderbilt’s longest opening-game winning streak as an SEC member is six from 1970 through 1975. The Commodores beat Chattanooga every season during that streak.

Vanderbilt starts the 2023 season with a home game against Hawaii on Saturday.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.