Florida, Georgia and Alabama have faced the easiest conference slates since the SEC went to an eight-game schedule 21 years ago, according to an analysis by AL.com. Perhaps not coincidentally, those three teams have combined for 23 of the 42 division titles handed out over that period. Vanderbilt, Auburn and Arkansas have had the toughest schedules over that time.
Alabama and Georgia have played the fewest games against the conference's six traditional powerhouses: Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennesse, LSU and Auburn. As the report points out, Florida and Georgia get two games each season against perennial cellar-dwellers Kentucky and Vanderbilt by virtue of playing in the SEC East, lowering their schedule percentage considerably.
The report comes during an offseason full of SEC scheduling stories. Earlier, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops questioned the depth of the SEC, drawing a curt response from Alabama coach Nick Saban. Steve Spurrier, quoted in the AL.com report, has also been critical of the fairness of SEC scheduling after the conference's 2012 division winners, Georgia and Alabama, failed to play any of the opposite division's top three teams in the regular season.
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