LSU Now A “King”, UT Just A “Baron” According To SI.com Writer

July 12th, 2012 11:28 AM║ Posted By: John Pennington ║ Permalink ║ Schools: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
Tags: SI, Stewart Mandel

Five years ago, Stewart Mandel of SI.com classified the nation’s BCS football programs as kings, barons, knights, and peasants. In the five years that have passed, a number of SEC schools have risen or fallen in his view. In terms of the top strata, one SEC school achieved kingly status, while another fell from that rank in the last half-decade:

“Ten years ago, LSU was coming off its first outright SEC championship in 15 years, having upset Phillip Fulmer’s second-ranked Tennessee squad. Four months after this column ran, the Tigers knocked off the Vols in Atlanta again en route to their second BCS championship in five years. While LSU solidified itself as a bona fide national power, Tennessee fired Fulmer a year later and sank further into a decade-long bout of mediocrity.”

It’s an interesting take, even though it’s just one man’s opinion. (Bet he’ll be getting a lot of nasty emails today from folks all over the country.) Not to steal his thunder — we encourage you to read his post in full — but here’s how he ranked the teams of the SEC five years ago and how he ranks them today:

SEC School	2007 Rank	2012 Rank
Alabama	King	King
Arkansas	Knight	Knight
Auburn	Baron	Baron
Florida	King	King
Georgia	Baron	Baron
Kentucky	Peasant	Peasant
LSU	Baron	King
Miss. State	Peasant	Peasant
Missouri	Knight	Knight
Ole Miss	Knight	Knight
S. Carolina	Knight	Knight
Tennessee	King	Baron
Texas A&M	Baron	Baron
Vanderbilt	Peasant	Peasant

For those wondering how Ole Miss can still rank ahead of Mississippi State or why South Carolina failed to move up, Mandel reminds his readers that he’s not ranking winning percentages, but: “… a certain cachet or aura. It’s the way a program is perceived by the public.”

With that as a guide, I would think it would be very difficult for schools to rise and fall at all in terms of national clout and perception. Recognition is built up over time, not just five-year periods. That’s why the winningest programs in college football history always seem to hit the deck for a while… only to rise again. See: Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, Southern Cal, Michigan, etc. And, yes, as one of the top 10 winningest football schools in history, it’s likely Tennessee will rise again, too. Eventually.

So while Mandel’s exercise is interesting — we linked to it, didn’t we? — it seems that five years might be too little time for a school to truly change its image in one direction or another.

But like Mandel, I’m just giving you one man’s opinion.

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5 comments

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MiloMoon

I have no issues with the demotion. UT has lost it's shine over the past decade. We had trouble hiring and keeping coaches. Were not on the top of the list for most of the top recruits, and had generally stopped performing or acting like a top ten program. That said, I think it is just a temporary demotion. His - 100 football fans in North Dakota - argument would still be the same today as it was 5 years ago, and it will be five years from now. However saying that Tennessee is not one of the shining stars in college football is not hating, but truthful. We were also down in the late 70's and early 80's. Cycles happen, and hopefully we hit rock bottom last year and are on our way back up.

JamieThornton

@MiloMoon you're right about everything going in cycles. The SEC east use to be the power division. Now you have Bama, LSU, Arkansas, and Auburn in the west, who are all top ten programs. It's just how these things work.

JamieThornton

@MiloMoon I think the problem for UT is the coach. None of the players respect him. Even seniors last season that these guys stopped playing at the end of the season. It's a very dangerous situation when you have that going on. It makes me wonder if UT can get it turned around, without a new coach in Knoxville.

MU Chris

Knight? That's "Coach Knight or Mr. Knight" to you!

JeremyNabors

Historically, Ole Miss is a much more successful program than MSU or even S. Carolina. Not hard to explain at all. That being said, I don't see how UT could be a "Baron."

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