2016 Southeastern Conference football season


The 2016 Southeastern Conference football season was the 84th season of SEC football and took place during the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season began on September 1 with Tennessee defeating Appalachian State on the SEC Network. This is the fifth season for the SEC under realignment that took place in 2012 adding Texas A&M and Missouri from the Big 12 Conference. The SEC is a Power Five conference under the College Football Playoff format along with the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big 12 Conference, the Big Ten Conference, and the Pac-12 Conference.
The SEC consists of 14 members: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt; and is split up into the Western and Eastern divisions, with the champion of each division meeting in Atlanta to compete for the SEC Championship on December 3.
Alabama enters the season as defending SEC champions as they defeated Florida in the previous year's championship game. The Tide would then go on to defeat the Washington Huskies in the Peach Bowl, but lost to Clemson 35-31 on January 9, 2017 in the National Championship Game.

Preseason

Recruiting classes

SEC Media Days

The SEC conducted its annual media days at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham – The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama between July 11 and July 14. The event commenced with a speech by commissioner Greg Sankey, and all 14 teams sent their head coaches and three selected players to speak with members of the media. The event along with all speakers and interviews were broadcast live on the SEC Network and streamed live on ESPN.com. On Monday, the teams and representatives in respective order were as follows: Auburn, Florida, and Vanderbilt. On Tuesday: Georgia, Mississippi State, Tennessee, and Texas A&M. On Wednesday: Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Missouri. On Thursday: South Carolina, Ole Miss, and LSU.

Media Polls

The SEC Media Days concluded with its annual preseason media polls. Since 1992, the credentialed media has gotten the preseason champion correct just five times. Only eight times has the preseason pick even made it to the SEC title game. Below are the results of the media poll with total points received next to each school and first-place votes in parentheses.
SEC Champion Voting
West Division
East Division
References:

Preseason All-SEC: Media

PositionPlayerClassTeam
DLJonathan AllenSRAlabama
DLMyles GarrettJRTexas A&M
DLCarl LawsonJRAuburn
DLDerek BarnettJRTennessee
LBReuben FosterSRAlabama
LBKendell BeckwithSRLSU
LBJalen Reeves-MaybinSRTennessee
DBEddie JacksonSRAlabama
DBTeez TaborJRFlorida
DBTre'Davious WhiteSRLSU
DBCameron SuttonSRTennessee

PositionPlayerClassTeam
PJK ScottJRAlabama
KDaniel CarlsonJRAuburn
RSChristian KirkSOTexas A&M
APChristian KirkSOTexas A&M

Indicates tie
References:

Head Coaches

Three SEC teams hired new head coaches for the 2016 season. All three were in the Eastern Division, and all three were replacing coaches who had spent at least 11 seasons at their respective schools. Former Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart was hired to replace long-time coach Mark Richt at Georgia, who left for the same position at Miami. Missouri promoted defensive coordinator Barry Odom to head coach to replace long-time coach Gary Pinkel who resigned at the end of the season. Former Florida head coach Will Muschamp was hired to replace long-time head coach Steve Spurrier at South Carolina, who resigned halfway through the season. Muschamp had spent the previous season as defensive coordinator at Auburn.
After losing to Auburn in dramatic fashion and falling to 2–2 for the first time since 2001, LSU fired head coach Les Miles and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron on September 25, 2016. During his 11+ seasons as head coach, Miles led the Tigers through one of the most successful periods in school history during which they averaged nearly 10 wins per season, won the 2008 BCS Championship and appeared in the 2011 Championship Game, won 2 SEC titles, appeared in the post-season each year with 7 bowl victories, signed 9 top 10 recruiting classes, and had 69 players drafted by the NFL. Defensive line coach Ed Orgeron was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season, and on November 26 after compiling a 5–2 record, Orgeron was named permanent head coach.
Note: All stats shown are before the beginning of the season.
TeamHead coachYears at schoolOverall recordRecord at schoolSEC record
AlabamaNick Saban10191–60–1100–1857–12
ArkansasBret Bielema486–4418–207–17
AuburnGus Malzahn436–1627–1313–11
FloridaJim McElwain232–2010–47–1
GeorgiaKirby Smart10–00–00–0
KentuckyMark Stoops412–2412–244–20
LSULes Miles12139–53112–3261–27
Ole MissHugh Freeze564–2534–1817–15
Mississippi StateDan Mullen855–3555–3526–30
MissouriBarry Odom10–00–00–0
South CarolinaWill Muschamp128–210–00–0
TennesseeButch Jones471–4421–1710–14
Texas A&MKevin Sumlin571–3336–1617–15
VanderbiltDerek Mason37–177–172–14

References:

Rankings

Regular season

All times Eastern time. SEC teams in bold.
Rankings reflect those of the AP poll for that week until week 10 when CFP rankings are used.

Week One

Players of the Week

Week Two

Players of the Week

Week Three

Players of the Week

Week Four

Players of the Week

Week Five

Players of the Week

Week Six

Players of the Week

Week Seven

Players of the Week

Week Eight

Players of the Week

Week Nine

Players of the Week

Week Ten

Players of the Week

Week Eleven

Players of the Week

Week Twelve

Players of the Week

Week Thirteen

Players of the Week

SEC Championship Game

References:

SEC vs other Conferences

SEC vs Power Conference matchups

This is a list of the power conference teams the SEC plays in non-conference :
DateVisitorHomeSiteSignificanceScore
September 3#20 USC#1 AlabamaAT&T Stadium • Arlington, TexasAdvocare ClassicW 52–6
September 3#2 ClemsonAuburnJordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, AlabamaAuburn–Clemson football rivalryL 13–19
September 3#22 North Carolina#18 GeorgiaGeorgia Dome • AtlantaChick-fil-A Kickoff GameW 33–24
September 3#5 LSUWisconsinLambeau Field • Green Bay, WisconsinLambeau Field College ClassicL 14–16
September 3MissouriWest VirginiaMountaineer Field • Morgantown, West VirginiaL 11–26
September 3#16 UCLATexas A&MKyle Field • College Station, TexasW 31–24 OT
September 5#11 Ole Miss#4 Florida StateCamping World Stadium • Orlando, FloridaCamping World KickoffL 34–45
September 10Arkansas#15 TCUAmon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, TexasW 41–38 2OT
September 10Virginia Tech#17 TennesseeBristol Motor Speedway • Bristol, TennesseeBattle at BristolW 45–24
September 17VanderbiltGeorgia TechBobby Dodd Stadium • AtlantaL 7–38
October 14Mississippi StateBYULaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, UtahL 21–28 2OT
November 26#13 Florida#15 Florida StateDoak Campbell Stadium • Tallahassee, FloridaFlorida–Florida State football rivalryL 13–31
November 26Georgia TechGeorgiaSanford Stadium • Athens, GeorgiaClean, Old-Fashioned HateL 27–28
November 26Kentucky#11 LouisvillePapa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KentuckyGovernor's CupW 41–38
November 26South Carolina#4 ClemsonMemorial Stadium • Clemson, South CarolinaBattle of the Palmetto StateL 7–56

The SEC recognizes independents Army, BYU and Notre Dame as power five teams for scheduling purposes.

Records against non-conference opponents

Regular Season
Power 5 ConferencesRecord
ACC3–6
Big Ten0–1
Big 121–1
Independents 0–1
Pac-122–0
Power 5 Total6–9
-
Other FBS ConferencesRecord
American2–0
C-USA7–2
Independents 3–0
MAC3–0
Sun Belt8–1
Other FBS Total23–3
-
FCS OpponentsRecord
Football Championship Subdivision13–0
-
Total Non-Conference Record42–12

Post Season
Power 5 ConferencesRecord
ACC1–4
Big Ten2–0
Big 121–2
Pac-121–0
Power 5 Total5–6
-
Other FBS ConferencesRecord
American0–1
MAC1–0
Other FBS Total1–1
-
Total Bowl Record6–7

Bowl games

DateTimeBowl GameSiteTVSEC TeamOpponentResult
January 9, 20178:30 PMCFP National ChampionshipRaymond James Stadium • Tampa, FloridaESPN#1 Alabama#2 ClemsonL 31–35
January 2, 20178:30 PMSugar Bowl Mercedes-Benz Superdome • New OrleansESPN#14 Auburn#7 OklahomaL 19–35
January 2, 20171:00 PMOutback BowlRaymond James Stadium • Tampa, FloridaABC#17 FloridaIowaW 30–3
December 31, 20163:00 PMPeach Bowl Georgia Dome • AtlantaESPN#1 Alabama#4 WashingtonW 24–7
December 31, 201611:00 AMTaxSlayer BowlEverBank Field • Jacksonville, FloridaESPNKentuckyGeorgia TechL 18–33
December 31, 201611:00 AMCitrus BowlCitrus Bowl • Orlando, FloridaABC#20 LSU#13 LouisvilleW 29–9
December 30, 20163:30 PMMusic City BowlNissan Stadium • Nashville, TennesseeESPN#21 TennesseeNebraskaW 38–24
December 30, 201612:00 PMLiberty BowlLiberty Bowl • Memphis, TennesseeESPNGeorgiaTCUW 31–23
December 29, 20165:30 PMBelk BowlBank of America Stadium • Charlotte, North CarolinaESPNArkansas#22 Virginia TechL 24–35
December 29, 20162:00 PMBirmingham BowlLegion Field • Birmingham, AlabamaESPNSouth CarolinaSouth FloridaL 39–46
December 28, 20169:00 PMTexas BowlNRG Stadium • Houston, TexasESPNTexas A&MKansas StateL 28–33
December 26, 20165:00 PMIndependence BowlIndependence Stadium • Shreveport, LouisianaESPN2VanderbiltNC StateL 17–41
December 26, 201611:00 AMSt. Petersburg BowlTropicana Field • St. Petersburg, FloridaESPNMississippi StateMiami W 17–16

Awards & Honors

SEC Football Awards

Reference:

All-SEC Teams

Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.
Reference:
Indicates tie

National Award Finalists

Winners in bold
Reference:

All-Americans

References:

Home game attendance

Game played at Arkansas' secondary home stadium War Memorial Stadium, capacity: 54,120.
Attendance for neutral site games:
– Current NCAA record for largest attendance to a collegiate football game.
Reference: