SEC 2016 By School Review: Worst to First

[jbcarol]

14. Mizzou

Mizzou could not have had a worse year than in 2015. 2016 was still bad enough to anchor this ranking of the 2016 major mens sports year for SEC schools.

Jan. 13, 2016 -  Missouri basketball, then being investigated by the NCAA for rules violations that occurred under the tenure of former head coach Frank Haith, announced that it would not participate in any postseason play this season.

Jan 26, 2016 - Missouri quarterback Maty Mauk again has been suspended indefinitely ...

March 2016: Mizzou AD Mack Rhoades says he'd like to continue to build men's basketball with Kim Anderson at the helm for a third season.

In a statement Wednesday:

Rhoades said despite only 19 wins over the past two seasons he "look forward to working with Coach Anderson to reestablish the proud and winning tradition of Mizzou Basketball."

May 24, 2016 - Mizzou baseball (9-21) earned an 11-seed in the 12-team SEC baseball tournament at Hoover Met.  They lost the opener to Vandy, 7-0.

August 10, 2016 ... A seven-year contract for new Missouri athletics director Jim Sterk on Tuesday

Nov. 12, 2016: Missouri football hits lowest average attendance since 2002

Attendance dips by 66,000.

Nov 23, 2016 - Former Mizzou athletics tutor said her superiors groomed her for 'academic dishonesty'.

Nov 25, 2016 - Mizzou football wins the Battle Line Rivalry before 51,000 but finishes last in the SEC with no postseason.

Nov. 26, 2016, Mizzou's "unreal" loss to NC Central: "Awful basketball"

"It was unreal how Missouri was just missing lay-ups. It wasn't like they couldn't get an open shot...or North Carolina was doing anything special. Missouri was so fortunate to only be down four at halftim [sic]. It was such awful basketball. They were just coming down, getting open looks...and not making anything. The refs let them play...and that didn't go to their advantage at all. And then on the defensive end...they couldn't get a stop when they needed one."

As 2016 comes to an end:

[Inhogswetrust]

Ouch! The dreaded letter of confidence and support...........................

[jbcarol]

13. Ole Miss

"Your worst day of the year is not supposed to be draft day."  -- John Calipari

2016 Season of disappointment for Rebels

Coming off the heels of a 10-win season and a Sugar Bowl victory, Ole Miss looked set to be a player again in the SEC West and nationally. The Rebels returned one of the best quarterbacks in the country, along with plenty of skill-position talent, but early-season collapses against Florida State, Alabama and Arkansas quickly turned a season of hope into a season of what ifs in Oxford.

The Rebels finished 5-7 this season and it only seemed to pile up with several injuries in key positions, a season-ending loss to rival Mississippi State with bowl eligibility on the line and the cloud of a seemingly never-ending NCAA investigation into the football program.

NCAA can take a bow. Its investigation into the Ole Miss football program now stretches past four years and there appears to be no end in sight

No matter the outcome, the NCAA investigation already has severely damaged Ole Miss.

A hearing date has not even been finalized, crippling the 2017 recruiting class.

It's difficult to believe the investigation hasn't played a role in the Rebels' numerous decommitments.

Barring a positive chain of events, the 2017 class has been decimated, with the 2018 class likely to be negatively impacted as well. At the end of the day, you are essentially looking at a six-year recruiting cycle being hampered, regardless of the loss of scholarships that will result from the actual penalties.

"Silent" would be a proper description of the Ole Miss administration through this process.

Rebels moved to a new arena, The Pavilion at Ole Miss, on January 7, 2016. They finished the season 20–12, 10–8 in SEC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. They lost to Alabama in the second round of the SEC Tournament. Despite having 20 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

https://twitter.com/HKellenbergerCL/status/821123616658096128

Andy Kennedy's teams have a knack for outperforming preseason expectations.

The past five years Ole Miss has finished above its slot in the SEC preseason media poll. The Rebels were picked to finish ninth this season, but the twist is so far they've underwhelmed even those meager expectations.

Ole Miss enters Tuesday night against Tennessee at 1-4 in the conference, which has the Rebels in a four-way tie for 10th in the SEC standings.

Ole Miss Shocked by Tulane, 6-5

Rebels' Baseball Season Ends with a 43-19 Record

OXFORD, Miss. – In a game that included five lead changes, Ole Miss saw its season come to a surprising close at the hands of No. 15 Tulane in Saturday's elimination game in the Oxford Regional. A ninth inning two-run home run off the bat of catcher Jake Rogers secured the 6-5 win for the Green Wave (40-20) over the Rebels (43-19).

"The other teams just played better than we did, got a few more hits, a few more pitches and made a few more plays," said head coach Mike Bianco. "I'm just so proud of this team. I don't think many expected us to be playing in June in Oxford with this team this year. But those guys in the third base dugout did. As a coach I couldn't be any prouder. It's all you can ask, for them to give you everything they can. It's just a wonderful group of kids and they are great representatives of the University and it is just a shame that it ended like this."

The biggest story of the NFL draft's first round on Thursday night was Laremy Tunsil and his now-infamous video

Tunsil, who was once thought of by numerous experts as one of the top picks in the NFL draft, fell precipitously down as teams appeared scared to take a player who could exhibit character concerns down the road. Tunsil was eventually selected at the 13th spot by the Miami Dolphins (Ricky Williams), which was much later than expected.

Using the rookie contract scale as laid out by sports resource site Spotrac—and which are predetermined based on the league's collective bargaining agreement in 2011—the difference in contract value between the Ravens' draft spot and the Dolphins' is around $8 million, dropping from around $20.4 million to $12.4 million.

If you peg Tunsil's possible original landing spot even higher at number three—which around 43% of mock drafts had the player at, according to SB Nation—that loss comes in at around $13 million.

Nkemdiche explains hotel-window fall, says Tunsil of all people was present

INDIANAPOLIS -- Robert Nkemdiche did his best on Friday to explain his bizarre December fall from a hotel room in Atlanta. The fall left him hospitalized and eventually charged with marijuana possession, but his answers during his press conference at the NFL Scouting Combine only left more questions.

Including one for potential No. 1 overall draft pick Laremy Tunsil.

Former Ole Miss linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche was hospitalized after being found unresponsive...

[jbcarol]

12. Vandy

Vandy qualified for a bowl game for the first time since Franklin and won 3 SEC games in the wretched East.  Two of Franklin's recruits finally were convicted for their orchestrated gang rape that they chose to video and provide commentary. 

One of their aces drowned the day before Super Regionals and the dean of SEC coaches headed east.

SHREVEPORT, La. – Some notable quotes following Vanderbilt's 41-17 loss to North Carolina State in the Independence Bowl

"I want a bowl game and double the wins. We're not playing just to get six wins and barely go to a bowl game." – Running back Ralph Webb on his 2017 goals after announcing he will return for his senior season rather than enter the NFL Draft.

"There is a fine line between being aggressive and careless, and I crossed that a few times." – Quarterback Kyle Shurmur, who threw a career-high three interceptions.

"We planted a seed for this group. These seniors' legacy will move us forward, and we will water that seed, plow the ground and make sure we build this program exactly how we see fit." – Mason.

Kevin Stallings, the winningest coach in Commodores history, landed a new job in the ACC as Pitt's basketball coach and a six-year contract

Commodores get a new start, tipping off their first men's basketball coaching search in this century [and ultimately landing Valpo's Bryce Drew].

Stallings coached the Commodores from 1999-2016, as the longest tenured coach in both Vanderbilt history and among the SEC's active coaches. In 17 seasons, he compiled a 332-220 overall record, 138-142 SEC mark and seven of the program's 14 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Stallings replaces Jamie Dixon, who left Pitt last week to take the job at TCU.

Stallings had not made a deep NCAA Tournament run at Vanderbilt in nearly a decade, and he became a victim of his own early success. After Sweet Sixteen runs in 2004 and 2007, his teams suffered an opening loss in four of the next five NCAA Tournament trips. The last one hurt quite a bit, as the Commodores fell 70-50 to Wichita State in a play-in game in Dayton two weeks ago to cap a frustrating season.

2015-16 Vanderbilt squad carried lofty preseason expectations, touted two projected NBA draft picks in Wade Baldwin and Damian Jones, and climbed as high as No. 13 in the USA Today Coaches poll. But inconsistency plagued the team, which barely made the NCAA Tournament field, and Stallings carried the tag of a coach who couldn't capitalize on premier talent.

Stallings once threatened to "[CENSORED] kill Baldwin" into a hot mic.

Vanderbilt (8-10, 2-4 SEC) coach Bryce Drew has not decided whether leading scorer Matthew Fisher-Davis will return to the starting lineup.

Fisher-Davis was called for a technical foul and then tossed his chewing gum in the bench area in last week's 87-75 loss to Tennessee.

Vanderbilt pitcher Donny Everett dies in drowning accident

NCAA held a moment of silence at every college baseball regional game across the country as a tribute to the right-hander, though it didn't have a chance for such a moment at the postponed Vanderbilt game. The Vanderbilt-Xavier game was played at noon Saturday. The loser, Vandy went onto to lose to Washington.

OFFICIAL RELEASE FROM Edward (Lucky) Knott, Public Information Officer for Coffee County Sheriff's Department:

On June 2, 2016 just before 5 p.m. Deputy Charles Taylor, received a call of a subject that had gone under water in Normandy Lake at Fire Lake Bridge on Mt. View Road. Upon Taylor's arrival at 5:05 p.m. another deputy, Brandon Reed obtained information that Donald Edward Everett age 19 of Clarksville had gone under the water and not re-surfaced. Deputy Reed did enter the water in an attempt to locate Everett but was unable to do so. Everett, a baseball player at Vanderbilt University had come to Normandy Lake to fish with 2 teammates and 2 other people. According to all four individuals Everett was on the west side of the bridge with one of his friends when he entered the water and attempted to swim across to the east. They stated that Everett got about halfway across the waterway when he began asking for help. All four individuals stated that they thought Everett was "just joking around"...

Stacey Barchenger: Brandon Vandenburg sentenced to 17 years in Vanderbilt rape case

She wasn't there to see a Nashville judge on Friday sentence former Vanderbilt University football player Brandon Vandenburg to 17 years in prison.

The woman who was raped more than three years ago in Vandenburg's dorm could not go to court again. Not after a prior sentencing in the case, in which another ex-football player got the minimum 15-year prison term.

Instead, Assistant District Attorney General Jan Norman read a statement on her behalf.

"Please do not use my absence as an excuse for leniency, as it in no way diminishes the profound and insidious impact of Mr. Vandenburg on me and my life," Norman read.

"I still ask that he receive the full sentence allowed under the law for orchestrating the sustained 30-minute gang rape against me, a defenseless woman who trusted him.

"The minimum sentence is not enough for what this man did to me."

Two participants were still playing football in 2016, one against the Razorbacks.

[jbcarol]

11. Mississippi State

State football finished sixth in the SEC-WEST, earning postseason practice time via an Egg Bowl win over Ole Miss and a 5-7 record which was given a non-SEC affiliated bowl.

State lost their opener to USA.  Top recruit Jeffrey Simmons was suspended for this game after beating down a female outside his housing complex.

Ben Howland had landed top in-state recruit and Bulldog legacy, Malik Newman but it did not translate to a winning season.  State finished 14-17 overall and 7-11 in the SEC.  With a pipeline of recruits coming in, better days appeared to be ahead as 2016 came to an end.

At 21-9 State baseball had the best record in the SEC-West. STARKVILLE, Miss. -- In a season full of dramatic victories, Mississippi State saw the magic end Saturday night with a heart-breaking 6-5 11-inning loss to Arizona in the Starkville Super Regional at Dudy Noble Field.

A crowd of 13,452 gave the No. 6 national seed Bulldogs a huge lift and congratulated the squad with an ovation after Cesar Salazar ripped the game-winner for Arizona with the bases loaded in the home half of the 11th inning.

MSU dropped a pair of heart-breaking decisions in its second-ever super regional at home. On Friday night, Arizona's Bobby Dalbec threw a five-hit shutout as the Wildcats took a 1-0 victory. Saturday night, Arizona (44-21) erased a 5-1 deficit in the eighth inning to nail down its 17th-ever appearance in the College World Series.

MSU finishes the season at 44-18-1. The Bulldogs won the school's first Southeastern Conference regular-season baseball championship since 1989. MSU earned the school's first-ever national seed and played in a sixth-ever super regional. The squad also became the first in MSU's rich history to win a regional at home by going undefeated.

John Cohen became the school's AD and Andy Cannizaro was named head coach.

[jbcarol]

10. Georgia

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/824359943767736326

Georgia football team is coming off a 7-5 season. Everybody knows that. The men's basketball program is in its usual spot, firmly on the NCAA tournament bubble. Nobody knows what to expect of baseball.

This is not where UGA athletics ever wants to be.

Baseball is a real mystery. The Diamond Dogs haven't logged a winning season under third-year coach Scott Stricklin, but they're coming off their best recruiting class in his tenure and should be better. Suffice it to say, they need to be.

Honestly, it's football and men's basketball that drives [sic] the bus.

Smart had some hiccups in Year One, but he's doing what he was brought in to do. He's recruiting his tail end off.

Bulldogs still look to be a year or two away, but you never know what can happen.

Men's basketball, in its eighth year under Mark Fox, is the program that seems to be at a point of critical mass. This was a big year for the Bulldogs, competing in a mediocre league with a pair of the conference's best upperclassmen...

Georgia fans deserve it. They need something to get really excited about. They certainly haven't had much of a reason to lately.

[jbcarol]

8. Tennessee

https://twitter.com/Strangemike44/status/825135248933527553

Hart arrived on Sept. 5, 2011, succeeding Mike Hamilton and Joan Cronan, respectively, as directors of separate departments for men and women. He will retire in the coming months, whenever new chancellor Dr. Beverly Davenport selects his replacement.

No one disputes that Hart took over a mess. Football, finances and academics were floundering. The already begun merger of men's and women's athletics was bound to create friction.Pat Summitt's illness came out of left field.

While football and the financial reserve have not been restored to SEC-leading status, both are at least solidified. Hart's most important hire, football coach Butch Jones [sic].

Hiring Donnie Tyndall with his soon-to-be-discovered toxic NCAA baggage in 2014 was a time bomb that exploded. Rick Barnes is a solid recovery but having three coaches in three years is not a formula to compete for championships.

The Tyndall episode pales in comparison to the Lady Vol logo fuss and other tangential issues. UT has paid to settle three Title IX-related lawsuits, two to former employees and, last July, another to alleged victims of sexual assaults by male athletes.

"Anytime you get engulfed in controversy, you hate it for everybody,'' Hart said.

Conveniently omitted the big one

University of Tennessee-Knoxville has reached a settlement in a lawsuit about sexual assaults involving student-athletes, ending a dispute that pitted eight young women against the $126 million football program.

UT will pay the plaintiffs $2.48 million, a sum that also includes fees for their attorneys.

School officials also agreed to the appointment of a special independent commission to review the response to sexual assaults at all universities within the UT system. Under the terms of the settlement, the university did not admit to "guilt, negligence or unlawful acts."

Vols fans meltdown after loss to Vanderbilt costs UT potential Sugar Bowl appearance

It seemed as though all Tennessee needed was a win against Vanderbilt to earn a trip to the Sugar Bowl. "Lowly Vanderbilt," right?

The Commodores were anything but a pushover on Saturday night, running up 45 points on the Vols defense and shattering Tennessee's dreams of a trip to New Orleans with a rivalry win in Nashville.

The series history leans in the favor of Tennessee, but the Commodores were the better team on Saturday night. And it infuriated Vols fans.

https://twitter.com/Jon__Reed/status/802726549493575680

UT Athletic Director Dave Hart announced Dave Serrano will return next year to coach a sixth season of baseball at UT.

"Very simply stated, I still believe in Dave Serrano," said Hart.

Hart added that he was fully supportive of Serrano.

Tennessee (29-28) [missed] the NCAA Tournament for an 11th straight season.

2015–16 Basketball Vols were led by first-year head coach Rick Barnes.

Tennessee finished 15-19 and wrapped up the season advancing to the quarterfinal of the SEC Tournament after getting to play on Wednesday.  A highlight was beating Kentucky in Knoxville on ESPN.

The '16-17 team has played the nation's toughest schedule and after taking some lumps is positioned for a shot at the NCAA Tournament.

[jbcarol]

7. LSU

WWLTV: LSU fires head coach Les Miles

Miles and Cam Cameron were fired Sunday, a day after LSU, ranked No. 5 in the preseason top 25, fell to 2-2 with an 18-13 loss at Auburn [after an official reversal on the last play of the game]. It's the worst start to a season since Miles took over in 2005.

Defensive line coach Ed Orgeron will serve as LSU's interim [and eventual head] coach. The decision to oust Cameron and Miles was made Sunday afternoon in a discussion involving LSU athletic director Joe Alleva, LSU president F. King Alexander and other university leaders.

LSU finished 8-4 (5-3 SEC) after losing a buy game due to a natural disaster that was predicted for Florida when Baton Rouge endured real disaster

The team traveled to Green Bay, Wisconsin to lose to Wisconsin at Lambeau Field while giving the B1G false hope. LSU hosted two non–conference games against Jacksonville State and Southern Miss. LSU was scheduled to play South Alabama but it was cancelled after the Florida game was rescheduled amid controversy due to Hurricane Matthew.

Best Wins:  at Arkansas, at A&M

Worst Losses: vFlorida


LSU basketball had landed our nation's number one recruit and eventual top draft pick, Ben Simmons and a kid who escaped the Louisville prostitue scandal.  Bruce Hornsby's son still had the range from 3 and Tim Quarterman returned.

Simmons averaged 19, 12, and 5 with 2 spg.  LSU with 18 wins was of course passed over for an NCAA bid. Simmons immediately signed with Klutch Sports and Coach Johnny Jones pre-emptively announced that the Tigers would forego any post season play [which would include the Vegas 8].

Jones landed on the hot seat for 2016-2017 and December was not promising.


LSU Baseball led the nation in attendance again and went 45-21 (19-11, SEC-W 3rd).

LSU dropped the Baton Rouge Super Regional 2-0 to eventual national champ, Coastal Carolina.


August 2016: Prolonged rainfall in southern parts of the U.S. state of Louisiana resulted in catastrophic flooding that submerged thousands of houses and businesses.

Reports that three times as more rain was dumped on Louisiana than as was experienced by Hurricane Katrina. Many boat-owning residents of Louisiana and Mississippi, together with other volunteers, formed an informal rescue service known as the 'Cajun Navy' and navigated through flooded areas to answer calls for help that they received via social media. They rescued as many as a thousand people and pets and distributed emergency supplies.

LSU had had South Carolina's home game with them moved to Baton Rouge in 2015 due to flooding as LSU packed an equipment truck of supplies to help the Columbia area.

In 2016, South Carolina and several other SEC teams returned the favor.


Mike VI, LSU's live tiger mascot, died at the age of 11 Tuesday after a long battle against a rare cancer.



A bouquet arrived for Mike the Tiger. This time, it came from the Arkansas Razorbacks' Tusk, a live hog who serves as mascot.

"Goodbye old friend," reads a card attached to a vase of purple and gold flowers. "May your hunts be fruitful and prosperous at those great hunting grounds in the beyond."

The card was signed by "Tusk IV and the Arkansas Razorbacks."

[jbcarol]

6. South Carolina

A program that saw its coach retire midway through the 2015 season and lost NFL draftees at wide receiver, tight end and left tackle as well as its top running back was supposed to finish last in the SEC. Instead, they went to the Birmingham Bowl to lose to USF

South Carolina accomplished a lot in its first regular season under Will Muschamp.

While a 6-6 record and a postseason appearance is nothing to look down on, the Gamecocks saved their worst for last. A team that hadn't allowed an FBS opponent more than 28 points all season allowed Clemson to reach 35 by halftime on its way to a 56-7 blowout that could easily have been worse.

The reminder of the talent gap between South Carolina and its championship-bound in-state rival put a damper on an otherwise positive second half of the season.

On Selection Sunday, the South Carolina athletic department received a text congratulating its men's basketball team for making the NCAA tournament —

"Unfortunately, during the selection show a junior men's basketball staff member mistakenly sent a text to a member of the University of South Carolina athletics department staff via an app we used for the first time during the 2016 tournament," NCAA vice president of men's basketball championships Dan Gavitt said in a statement. "The text was supposed to go to all teams, congratulating them for making the tournament. Regrettably, a text meant for another institution went to South Carolina instead.

"While the Gamecocks were given serious consideration, at no time during the selection process was South Carolina voted in to the field. Ultimately, they were one of the last four teams left out of the tournament. I take full responsibility for this clerical error and apologize to Coach (Frank) Martin, his staff and team, and the entire University of South Carolina community."

GaTech eliminated SC in the 2nd round of the NIT



South Carolina series 2-0 to Oklahoma State in the NCAA Tournament super regional series at Founders Park in Columbia

SC was SEC East Division Regular Season champ.

They took an early elimination from the SEC Tournament.

[jbcarol]

5. Auburn

Up from #13 last year, Auburn made the Sugar Bowl where they lost.

In September, many believed Auburn coach Gus Malzahn was about to be fired

In October, Auburn looked like the biggest threat to Alabama

At the end of November, the Tigers finished the regular season somewhere in between

Best moment: There were a couple games in October when Auburn looked unstoppable, but it never would've been possible if not for the touchdown that didn't count in the LSU game. In what was one of the crazier games in college football this season, LSU scored a game-winning touchdown as time expired to beat Auburn. But after reviewing the play, the officials decided the play clock had already run out before the ball was snapped. Jordan-Hare Stadium erupted...

Worst moment: All Auburn had to do was beat Georgia and its chances of winning the SEC and reaching the playoff would have still been intact. Instead, the Tigers played arguably their worst game of the season, at least from an offensive perspective, and their title hopes came to a bitter end two weeks earlier than expected.

Auburn basketball finished 5-13 in the SEC and with Mizzou choosing to sit out, became the lowest seed in the SEC Tournament at #13.  They lost their Wednesday SEC Tourney game by 38 to #12 seed Tennessee after making a heroic Tourney run the year before.

Former Auburn baseball coach Sunny Golloway filed a federal civil lawsuit against Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs, the university's board of trustees and several athletics administrators claiming he was wrongfully terminated and is owed a $1 million buyout

Auburn University also released a response on Tuesday.

"Coach Golloway knowingly and repeatedly broke Auburn and NCAA rules, including an attempt to destroy evidence of his violations. We appreciated his coaching skills, but his actions left us no choice but to dismiss him from his position. He now seems to be using legal action in an attempt to divert attention away from his own misconduct."

Auburn baseball went 8-22 in the SEC (23-33 overall) for sixth in the SEC West. Auburn was one of two schools to not compete in the SEC-T.

Jochen Wiest, an Auburn resident who police say is "not affiliated with Auburn University," was arrested on Sunday on charges of desecration of a venerable object, a Class A misdemeanor in Alabama, which carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and up to a $6,000 fine.

Surveillance footage appears to show a man Auburn police believe to be Wiest, walk up to the oak tree on W. Magnolia Ave. and set fire to some of the toilet paper hanging from it. 

"Wiest was developed as a suspect and immediately taken into custody while still in the area on an unrelated charge of public intoxication," according to a statement released by Auburn police Sunday afternoon. "Further investigation resulted in Wiest being identified as the individual responsible for setting the fire and a warrant was obtained for his arrest. He was arrested while incarcerated in the Lee County jail on the prior charge and his bond was set at $1000."

He would be deported to his native Germany.

[jbcarol]

4. A&M

A&M basketball was SEC regular season co-champion and earned a #1 bid in the SEC Tournament in which they were runner-up.  They were the only SEC team to make the Sweet 16 in 2016. 2017 has not been as solid despite some good recruiting led by recently departed assistant Rick Stansbury.

Sammy Khan, Jr.: A&M had modest outsider expectations at the beginning of the season and those went upward as they kept winning

However, this season ended similarly to the last two, with the Aggies struggling to beat SEC teams down the stretch

A&M's double-overtime win over Tennessee on Oct. 8 was the high point of the Aggies' season. It was a meeting of then-top 10, undefeated teams. Aggies had a 28-7 third quarter lead and were close to putting the game away with less than two minutes remaining but the Vols kept punching back and forced overtime, where A&M eventually pulled out a 45-38 victory.

Aggies' Nov. 5 loss at Mississippi State was a jaw-dropper. Earlier in the week, Texas A&M discovered it was officially in the College Football Playoff hunt, ranked No. 4 in the selection committee's first 2016 rankings. A road trip to play a Bulldogs team that was 3-5 and had its hands full with Samford the week before seemed manageable. Instead, the Aggies came out flat, struggled throughout the day and eventually lost quarterback Trevor Knight to an injury in a 35-28 loss that cast the Aggies as pretenders, not contenders. They didn't win an SEC game the rest of the way.

Play of the year: Knight's 92-yard touchdown pass to Josh Reynolds vs. Arkansas. The Aggies were tied 17-17 with Arkansas late in the third quarter and just thwarted a Razorbacks touchdown attempt with an impressive goal-line stand.

KState defeated A&M (8-5) in the Texas Bowl, 33-28.

A&M Baseball finished one game behind State for second in the SEC West and onto the SEC Baseball Tournament championship.

Aggies had their season come to a close with a 4-1 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs in a rubber match of the College Station Super Regional

[jbcarol]

3. Kentucky

Losing to Indiana in the NCAA Basketball Round of 32 would make this a bad year in the Bluegrass despite being one of SEC schools to make a bowl game and March Madness.  A Saturday in late November turned their collective frowns upside down.

Papa John's: Kentucky knocks off No. 11 Louisville 41-38 on late field goal

It seemed only appropriate that a game that started with a video montage of Muhammad Ali would turn into a prize fight.

The knock-down, drag-out affair that included five lead changes and four ties ended in a 47-yard field goal with 12 seconds to go by Austin MacGinnis. It was the junior kicker's second game-winning field goal this season and it put Kentucky up for good 41-38 on Saturday.

"Best feeling I've had on a football field," MacGinnis said. "To get the win in the home state, there's nothing like it."

There was nothing like the feeling in the locker room either. Coach Mark Stoops said he had trouble getting the team to calm down long enough to address them.

The party continued for more than 30 minutes after the final horn.

If the game was the main event, the undercard was the battle between two quarterbacks, with UK's Stephen Johnson amassing 338 passing yards and three touchdowns to go with eight carries for 83 yards.

[Eventual] Heisman Trophy winnner Lamar Jackson, who had 281 yards passing with two touchdowns (and three picks, including one in the final second into the hands of Mike Edward to seal the win) and 171 yards rushing with two more scores.

The victory snapped a five-game losing streak in the Governor's Cup to the Cardinals (9-3) and was the Cats' first win over a ranked opponent since 2002.

Kentucky (7-5) amassed 581 yards of total offense, including 352 passing. The Cardinals put up 561 yards of offense, but turned the ball over four times, three at crucial times. UK scored 10 points off those miscues.

"They're an explosive bunch, and we knew we needed to get some turnovers," Stoops said.

https://twitter.com/SBNation/status/802613308977201153

The football team came back from this:

Sep 3, 2016 - After a masterful first half that gave UK a 25-point lead ... Kentucky collapses in second half, falls to Southern Miss 44-35 ...

Sep 17, 2016 - Aggies lit up the scoreboard and the Wildcat defense for 35 first half points... New Mexico State Aggies...

2015-16 UK Basketball was the SEC regular season co-champ and SEC Tournament champ after a couple of knock down, drag outs with A&M who went in as the SECT #1 seed.

Then the four seed made an early exit to the school they chose to stop playing after the crowd rushing incident in Bloomington in 2011.

Indiana beating Kentucky hardly can be compared to any of the major upsets we saw in the first round of the NCAA tournament. However, it's just as stunning

Cats had made it to the third weekend in every tournament they've played since 2011, a remarkable exhibit of consistency in today's topsy-turvy college basketball world. This year, Kentucky didn't make it out of the first weekend. It was a quick end to what had been an impressive run. Last year, of course, the 38-0 powerhouse came up short in its bid for immortality, losing in the national semifinal to Wisconsin. The year before, Kentucky was under-seeded as a No. 8, UConn was a deserving No. 7 and the two clashed in the final, with Kevin Ollie's team pulling the stunner.

Calipari team had made the Sweet 16 in every NCAA tournament they've played since 2004.

The 2016-17 team gave the fans an entertaining November and December before being outscored by UCLA in Rupp and UofL in Yum!  A win over ACC leader UNC in Las Vegas is one of the SEC's top wins of the current season.


Kentucky remains the only member of the 14-team SEC to never reach the College World Series.

2016 Kentucky baseball finished 32-25 (15-15 SEC) and lost in their opener of the SECT to Bama ending their season.

The 2017 team has opened 0-4 after Wednesday's loss to Liberty.

[jbcarol]

2. Florida

Despite the crushing defeats on the gridiron, Florida represented the SEC-East in the Conference Title game.  The basketball team did not implode with the departure of Billy Donovan and Mike White's team did well during a December 2016 tour of state of Florida neutral site games while the O-Dome underwent renovation.  The preseason #1 Gator baseball team ended with "a quick, two and barbeque exit in Omaha".  But they were there.

Gators' offense might have limped into and out of Atlanta, but Florida still won the East yet again, and there were six other schools that would have loved to be in the Gators' shoes

Florida upset No. 16 LSU 16-10 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on that goal-line stop as time expired. The win clinched the SEC East for the second straight year for the Gators and it ruined LSU's plans of having an extra home game against Florida after Hurricane Matthew pushed the game out of Gainesville, Florida, and into November. The icing of this orange-and-blue cake is the fact that Florida now gets back-to-back home games against LSU in the next two years.

Losing to Tennessee (to end an 11-game winning streak) and Arkansas by double digits, especially that beat-down at Arkansas, were bad, but this team hit rock bottom with a 31-13 loss at archrival Florida State to conclude the regular season. The Gators had their worst offensive showing of the season, registering just 207 total yards and failing to score an offensive touchdown. A week later, Florida had a net gain of zero rushing yards in the 54-16 loss to Alabama in the SEC title game.

Florida whooped Iowa 30-3 in the Outback Steakhouse Bowl in a game against a school not in the SEC footprint.

Gators men's basketball season came to an end after a five-point loss in D.C. to the George Wasington Colonials in the quarterfinals of the NIT.

While many Gator fans have come to expect Final Four births and national championships, the start of the Mike White era has given promise to Florida fans, after an abrupt departure by Billy Donovan left the program in a state of question and unknown for the future.

UF finished the season with a 21-15 record, good enough for an average eighth place finish in the SEC. Plagued by poor shooting, the Gators' lack of a pure, spot-up three-point shooter had them finish second to last in the SEC with a collective average of 31.2 percent from downtown. From the free-throw line, Florida encountered a similar struggle, finishing among the bottom three teams in the conference in free-throw percentage, with an average of 64.3 percent.

Coming into the season ranked No. 1, a College World Series Championship was always the goal for the Florida Gators baseball team. With four CWS appearances from 2010-2015, and still no championships, Gator faithful had high hopes 2016 would finally be the year.

The best overall season in Florida baseball history ended two and out.

Gators finished the season with a 52-16 record, the best overall record in program history. The 2016 team became the quickest team in Florida history to reach 40 wins, doing so in only 48 games. Florida earned the No. 1 overall seed in the National Tournament and was one of eight teams still playing in late June.

Florida's pitching staff was considered by most to be the best in the country.

[jbcarol]

1. Bama

In a year in which no other SEC football team had fewer than four losses, the team that stood 14-0 on Dec. 31, 2016 gives their school the best season of the year 2016.

Bama started 2016 off right with a 45-40 national championship win over Clemson.

A wire-to-wire run as college football's No. 1-ranked team.

A true freshman quarterback.

An all-time defense.

Alabama's season to this point had it all.

Saturday night in Death Valley. A one-score game in the fourth quarter. A shutout on defense. And then a career-defining play by a true freshman quarterback. Alabama-LSU had it all, but most importantly it had Jalen Hurts scrambling for the game-clinching touchdown in the second half. The 10-0 win was as tense a game as Alabama played to-date.

Eddie Jackson's spectacular season came to a close when he broke his leg against A&M. Even Saban was distraught. "Eddie was a fantastic player for us, a great leader, I think an All-American player as a safety, at least in my book," Saban said upon delivering the news to the media. "We're certainly going to miss him. What a great player. What a great competitor. What a great guy to have in this program in the time he's been here. He's done a fantastic job for us, and I'm just sick for him and his family and hate it."

Bama survived their first round OT being caught with drugs and a gun in Louisiana. But met their rematch against Clemson.

Avery Johnson's first season at Alabama may not stand out in the annals of Crimson Tide basketball history when it's all said and done

Johnson led an under-developed and offensively-challenged group of Anthony Grant leftovers to the brink of an NCAA Tournament berth, only to see the over-achieving bunch fade badly the last few weeks of the season

Avery Johnson has laid the foundation for his rebuild of the Alabama basketball program. An over-achieving first season gave a glimpse of what is to come for Tide fans, and this program should finally be headed back in the right direction.

Bama baseball had plenty of ups and downs this season, finishing 32-26 overall

Despite a 15-15 SEC record, the Tide became only the second team in league history not to make the NCAA record with a .500 conference record, joining the 2014 Missouri Tigers

The end of the season lead to coach Mitch Gaspard resigning after seven seasons

The uneven season for the Crimson Tide ended after being eliminated from the SEC Tournament, following a 4-1 loss to regular season champ, Mississippi State, and a 5-4 loss to the top ranked team in the country, the Florida Gators.

'Bama was in the final eight of the tournament with seven teams that are ranked in the top 10 in the country (and all seven hosted regionals).

The opening of the brand new Sewell-Thomas stadium was a major highlight of the season. After a season away, playing the 2015 season in the Hoover Met, everyone was excited to return to Tuscaloosa and their jewel of a new stadium.