Worst SEC Nonconference Losses Since BCS #12 - #9

If we’re going to brag about the best, then we also have to look at the games that made us ask WTF happened. These games made us screen the brother-in-law calling to ask, “Hey guy, where’s you guys’ SEC speed, huh guy?” Every now and then, we realize that these other conferences have scholarships and football programs too, even if they will never have the ladies we do. Our coaches need to learn from these mistakes and never force us to go through these moments again. Just as with the “Best” list, no year in and year out rivalries were considered.

(12) November 6, 2004, Notre Dame 17, Tennessee 13 – We don’t get to play the almighty Irish very often, but when we do it should be a woodshed beating every time. Losing to Notre Dame should be a finable offense by the league office and should require apology letters to be sent to the other 11 teams that were just as disgraced by the performance. Remember, this is the team that slips through the backdoor of BCS games and gets to keep all $11 million, only to get blown out, and all because four guys with a cool nickname were pretty good ten years before the Great Depression.

What’s worse was 2004 was a lousy year for Notre Dame and a good year for Tennessee. The Vols’ only other losses were to undefeated Auburn, and they gave the Tigers a pretty good scare the second time around in Atlanta. They destroyed A&M in the Cotton Bowl. Notre Dame, on the other hand, went 6-6 including losses to BYU, Pitt, and of course whoever they played in whatever bowl game they didn’t deserve to play in. Don’t know what happened in the game and don’t want to know. But please, let’s all remember what a dishonorable game this was and not let it happen again. Ever.

(11) September 6, 2003, Memphis 44, Ole Miss 24 – No, even though Memphis had DeAngelo Williams, they still were not a good team that year. Besides, was DeAngelo more valuable than Eli? Ole Miss deserved a poor game for scheduling the game in Memphis rather than forcing the Tigers to make the 60-minute drive to Oxford.

Ole Miss was coming off another mediocre year, but had hopes to make Eli’s last year end somewhere other than Shreveport. When the Rebel defense faded late and receivers dropped open TD passes, it looked like Shreveport would be a lofty goal. After Ole Miss lost to Texas Tech three weeks later, Shreveport was starting to look unattainable. Fortunately for them, and unfortunately for the rest of the league, Eli led the team to a 7-1 SEC record. They even came dangerously close to derailing LSU’s BCS title run in late November.

(10) January 1, 2008, Missouri 38, Arkansas 7, Cotton Bowl – Every SEC fan saw Missouri and Kansas storm through their Big 12 North schedules in 2007 and thought, “Man, I wish we could play them.” (Except for Ole Miss, of course, who lost to Missouri in both 2006 and 2007.) There was a well-deserved outcry of system failure when Missouri actually reached #1 in the BCS after beating Kansas in the weakest #2 and #3 game in history. Thankfully, OU pounded Missouri in the Big 12 Championship Game and sent them to the Cotton Bowl to be further exposed against any SEC team.

Arkansas’ play was unpredictable the whole year. D-Mac and crew were shut down completely against Auburn and Tennessee, but enjoyed a sweet farewell present for Nutt with the 3-OT shocker in Baton Rouge. Even on the Hogs worst day, they planned on D-Mac and Felix running wild all over Missouri’s defense, which was average at best compared to those they faced in league play. Maybe the circus that went on after Nutt was fired/resigned was too much, because the Hogs looked simply awful in Dallas that morning. Some 5’5” running back broke every bowl rushing record against the Hogs and the worst defensive scheme ever seen (How many other SEC teams choose to stop the pass first and the run second?). Louis Campbell was in administration before the 2006 season, and then was interim defensive coordinator for the Cotton Bowl. Other excuses could also involve the rest of coaching staff who, like Campbell, followed Nutt to Oxford the next day. Any way you slice it, Missouri and Kansas both rolled in their bowl games and justified their seasons, all to the chagrin of SEC fans.

(9) September 17, 2005, USC 70, Arkansas 17 – Arkansas had already lost to Vandy, so it was pretty clear the SEC wasn’t sending one of its best and brightest out to LA that night. There were only two good things about the game that night. First, the Hogs tied the game at 7-7 with about 10 minutes left in the first quarter. Second, the late start time meant that part of the country was in bed by kickoff, and only the gluttons for punishment were still awake when it became a 70-17 final.

Leinart, Bush, and Co. scored like it was a Playstation game. When USC was up 28-7 at the end of the first quarter, its time of possession was only 1:32. The Hogs had (as opposed to "controlled") the ball 90% of the time, and still had no chance. There are LA junior high football teams that couldn’t have done a worse job defensively than the Hogs that night. Hogs fans cried for Nutt’s firing (once again), but most held to the idea that USC had the best team in college football, ever. The kick in the head came when unbeatable USC ended up losing in the Rose Bowl, to Texas of all teams.