Football just means more in the SEC – just ask every passionate (more accurately described as delusional) fanbase. Just like every summer and early fall – there’s way too much optimism in the air. 13 out of the 16 teams in the “best conference in football” – who haven’t brought home a championship the last two years – think they actually have a chance at making the SEC title game. It seems as though 3 fanbases; Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Arkansas are self-aware enough to realize this isn’t this year. But somehow even Vanderbilt’s 3 fans have convinced themselves Diego Pavia will lead them to the promised land. The 13 teams have “won” the offseason, but that just can’t be reality.
To be fair, teams like Alabama, Georgia, Texas obviously have reason to be optimistic as they’ve been there and done that. Dare I even say – LSU, A&M, and Ole Miss can realistically be cautiously optimistic. As for the others like Florida, Missouri, Tennessee, and Oklahoma – the only real wins they have most years come in the offseason. Every year is the same with the offseason hype and fantasy land predictions. Every year ends about the same, as reality sets in half way through the year that the majority of these teams do not sit atop the SEC. I purposely didn’t include South Carolina since they’re fanbase doesn’t predict a conference title every summer like others. They also possibly have one of the best quarterbacks in the country as a legit reason to be excited for the upcoming season. Florida could say the same, except for the fact that it is the same talk every offseason that never comes to fruition.
Last year, one team finished with only 1 conference loss, 2 finished with 2 conference losses, and every other fanbase ended the season back in reality.
The overarching point being that mathematically, way more than half of these teams and fanbases are going to be disappointed. Only a couple teams will finish with 1 or 2 losses, another couple will finish with 2 or 3 losses, and everyone else will feel as though their team underachieved, but can that really be the case? NOT EVERYONE IS GOING TO WIN.