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Once again borrowing a formula from the good folks at ColdHardFootballFacts.com, we've decided to look at how easily SEC teams gave up points in 2008.

It's a statistic called "bendability," as in "bend but don't break."

Here's what the creators say about their Frankensteinian stat: "It is not a measure purely of defensive efficiency.  Instead, with a very simple figure, it takes into consideration many, many team-wide factors, including special teams proficiency, turnover differential, red zone defense and a variety of other factors, and tells you which teams force opponents to work the hardest to score points."

Sounds good.  So here's how the SEC broke down for 2008 (including the bowl stats), from toughest-to-score-on to easiest-to-score-on.



1.  Florida (22.1) -- It's a good thing no one's interested in Charlie Strong for a head coaching job.  All he did was help make UF the toughest team to score on in the SEC.  With nary a senior in his starting line-up.  Gator opponents had to go 22.1 yards for every point they scored.  (That's 154.7 yards for every seven points allowed.)


2.  Alabama (18.4) -- Again, no surprise.  The two best teams in the league were also the toughest to score upon.  The Tide would surrender just one point for every 18.4 yards their opponents gained.


3.  Auburn (17.7) -- Considering how poor the Tigers' offense was, how bad the Tigers' field position was, the fact that AU finished third in this statistic is a real credit to Paul Rhoads and a defense that didn't quit.


4.  Vanderbilt (16.3) -- Vandy might have given up a lot of yards on the year, but they didn't give up a lot of points.


5.  Ole Miss (16.2) -- The Rebels' mid-season turnaround was fueled by the improvement their defense showed down the stretch.  It was good enough to land them in the top half of the league in "bendability."


6.  Tennessee (15.7) -- John Chavis put together a solid effort in his final year in Knoxville.  The Vols' defensive performance, hurt by a terrible UT offense, should give folks at LSU hope for the future.


7.  Kentucky (15.5) -- For each point they scored, UK opponents needed to travel on average just 15-and-a-half yards.


8.  South Carolina (13.9) -- No team was as big of a pushover in their final three games as the Gamecocks.  A defense that had guys thinking about the NFL.  An offense that kept turning the ball over and putting their defense in bad situations.  Just ugly.


9.  LSU (13.5) -- In terms of the biggest surprise of the year, try this one on for size: only three teams were more easy to score on than LSU in 2008.  No one... no one... would have predicted that in August.


10.  Mississippi State (13.3) -- Not only did State not score on returns and turnovers as they had the previous year, but their defense also broke more than it bent.


11.  Georgia (12.7) -- Uh, this is not good.  Teams needed to go just 12.7 yards per point against the Dawgs.  Injuries hurt Willie Martinez' defense, but this stat will hurt Martinez when Georgia fans get hold of it.


12.  Arkansas (12.0) -- The Razorbacks were the easiest team in the SEC to score on in 2008.  You think Bobby Petrino will want to fix that in Year Two?  Hog foes needed to go an average of just 84 yards per seven points.


And, for the record, here are the final stats for the 2008 season.