College football fans often discuss the controversial issue of which is the best college football conference. The SEC vs Big Ten debate is particularly fierce.
In any such debate, defining the terms of debate is essential. For instance, are we talking about the best conference on the gridiron today? Or, are we talking about historically?
Fortunately, readers of SECSportsfan.com have the ammunition to win the "best college football conference" debate regardless of how it's framed.
The reason is that SEC football is so strong that it wins both the current and the historical debate.
The above Southeastern Conference (SEC) Football link will take you to places on this site that thoroughly document the current strength of SEC football. There are also links on that page to literally dozens of other pages discussing various aspects of SEC football history.
But, this is the page that compares the all-time football records of the major college football conferences. We do it by listing the number of teams each conference has in the Top 25 All-Time College Football Wins and in the Top 50 All-Time College Football Wins. The SEC leads in both categories. The numbers are based on "current conference affiliation."
Top 25 | Top 50 | |
---|---|---|
SEC | 6 | 8 |
Big Ten | 3 | 6 |
Big 12 | 5 | 5 |
ACC | 2 | 7 |
Pac-10 | 3 | 5 |
Big East | 1 | 4 |
*The above stats were obtained from the Sports Link Network.
OK, let's give Michigan fans their due. The Wolverines have been playing football longer than anyone (129 years) and they have the most all-time wins (869) and highest winning percentage (.744). But, there are only two other Big Ten teams in the Top-25 (Ohio State and Penn State).
For additional stats supporting the Big Ten see Big Ten Has All-Time Best Stats Too. You'll see we made some changes in our stats based on that Big Ten fan's input. (But the end result still has the SEC at #1.)
The SEC has six teams in the top-25 all-time and 8 in the Top 50. It is this depth that gives the SEC the most wins and makes it the Top All-Time College Football Conference Record conference.
To read more about the comparison of the football conferences, check out
If you are an SEC fan, you may wonder exactly how the SEC teams stack up in all-time wins and losses. Here you go.
Years | Wins | Losses | Ties | Win % | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alabama | 112 | 787 | 314 | 43 | .707 |
Tennessee | 110 | 771 | 320 | 53 | .697 |
Georgia | 113 | 713 | 381 | 54 | .645 |
LSU | 113 | 692 | 378 | 47 | .641 |
Auburn | 114 | 676 | 388 | 47 | .630 |
Arkansas | 113 | 646 | 435 | 40 | .594 |
Florida | 100 | 628 | 372 | 40 | .623 |
Mississippi | 112 | 597 | 460 | 35 | .563 |
Kentucky | 116 | 553 | 546 | 44 | .503 |
Vanderbilt | 117 | 547 | 541 | 50 | .503 |
South Carolina | 113 | 521 | 523 | 44 | .499 |
Mississippi State | 107 | 481 | 519 | 39 | .482 |
All of the above statistics were obtained from Sports Link Network. They are accurate through the 2007-2008 football season.
Thanks to Tex Noel from 1st-N-Goal, attached is a great (and very unique) spreadsheet that lists the all-time records of each Division I college football team and also organizes them by conference. It is current through the 2007 - 2008 season. Check it out: All-Time College Football Win-Loss Record.
And, Bo Carter brings us an UPDATED spreadsheet (through the 2010 regular season) that lists the All Time SEC vs Everyone Record. And, naturally proves the SEC is #1 overall.
The SEC has continued it's dominance -- with the best non-conference record last season as well.
Conference | W-L | Pct. | 2009 |
ACC | 34-23 | .596 | 33-22 |
Big East | 28-18 | .609 | 36-10 |
Big Ten | 38-13 | .745 | 36-15 |
Big 12 | 43-13 | .768 | 39-17 |
Conference USA | 22-32 | .407 | 21-33 |
MAC | 17-39 | .304 | 17-40 |
Mountain West | 21-20 | .512 | 25-16 |
Pac-10 | 23-12 | .657 | 23-14 |
SEC | 46-12 | .793 | 48-10 |
Sun Belt | 6-33 | .154 | 9-29 |
Western Athletic | 23-19 | .548 | 21-22 |
Our current conference forecast can be read at 2010 College Football Conference Comparison.
We'd love to hear your comments and/or opinions. If you submit them here, other visitors can read them, rate them and comment on them. An e-mail address is not required.
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list of big ten schools with vs. sec results
Ohio St. 7-10
Mich 20-5
Mich St. 5-6
Indiana 26-21
Illinois 2-6
Minnesota 5-3
Wisconsin 4-8
Penn St. 16-6
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Iowa 4-3
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look the sec other than …
Keep thinking your the best when u keep padding your stats Not rated yet
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South Carolina does not have a winning record Not rated yet
Yes, the NCAA's list says they do, but according to South Carolina's media guide they are 521-523-44.
The Cream floats to the top. Not rated yet
Its better to be in the top "10" than the top "25". The midwest have four teams in the top ten ( UM. OSU, PSU & ND) the SEC two. The Big Ten have two …
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