Tennessee football 25-year SEC championship drought

Tennessee isn’t the only big-time college football program that wants to party like it’s 1998.

After the ‘98 college season played out, these were the major conference champions:

Tennessee in the SEC, a winner over Mississippi State in the championship game.

UCLA in the Pac-10.

Texas A&M in the Big 12, an upset championship game winner over Kansas State.

Syracuse in the Big East.

Wisconsin in the Big Ten, co-champions who won the tiebreaker and the Rose Bowl bid.

Florida State and Georgia Tech were co-champions in the ACC.

Oh, for the good ole days. In the 24 seasons since, neither Tennessee, UCLA, Texas A&M nor Syracuse has won another conference championship.

Florida State went on to win more ACC titles – but none since 2014. Wisconsin added more Big Ten titles – but none since 2012.

The moral of this story is it’s difficult, and thus rare, to win a conference title. Unless you’re one of a handful of perennial trophy winners like Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Clemson, Oklahoma and Oregon.

Georgia? The Bulldogs won the SEC in 2022 and 2017. Before that, go back to 2005.

Nebraska? The Cornhuskers are in Tennessee territory. They haven’t been fitted for conference title rings since 1999, back in Big 12 days.Miami? The Hurricanes last hung a banner in 2003, a Big East banner.

Michigan is a two-time reigning Big Ten champion. But the 2021 title broke a drought since 2004.

Penn State has won or shared four titles in 30 seasons since it kicked off realignment fever by joining the Big Ten in 1993. Not great, but not bad compared to some other prestige brands.

Texas A&M, for example, hasn’t even reached the SEC championship game since moving over from the Big 12 in 2012.

Back to Tennessee. The Vols claim 13 SEC titles (or co-titles): There was a three-peat from 1938-40 and another in 1946. Two more came in ’51 and ’56. Doug Dickey won titles in 1967 and ’69.

Then it was a 15-year break until the 1985 Sugar Vols. Titles followed in 1989 and 1990. That’s three in a six-year span, if you’re keeping score. Phillip Fulmer won SEC championship games in 1997 and ’98.

So, Tennessee is in by far its longest drought. There are longer ones. Kentucky’s most recent title came in 1976, Ole Miss’s in 1963. Mississippi State’s only title was in 1941.

Vanderbilt, a charter member since 1933, has never won. Nor have any of the four expansions: Arkansas, South Carolina, Missouri or the aforementioned Aggies.

24 SEC titles won by just 5 schools

Since the Vols’ title in 1998, the league’s 24 titles have been divided among five schools. Alabama has nine titles, LSU five, Georgia four and Auburn and Florida three apiece.

Nationally, 39 Power Five schools have won conference titles since ‘98. Add six more if we count the Big East before it de-emphasized football.

The list of celebrants includes Northwestern, Maryland, Wake Forest, Washington State and even UConn. Pittsburgh has won titles in two leagues, the Big East and ACC.

On the modern landscape, it’s only going to get harder for Tennessee – or for anyone. Bloated super conferences increase the mathematical odds if nothing else.

Can Oklahoma, kingpin of the Big 12, win an SEC title? Can Oregon or Southern Cal slug it out to a championship in the Big Ten? Nebraska hasn’t.

As the 2023 season heats up, Tennessee at a minimum will be fun to watch. And, at best, an SEC championship contender.

But I wouldn’t hang an “SEC Title Or Bust” anchor on these guys. History says you’re likely to be disappointed.

Mike Strange is a former writer for the News Sentinel. He currently writes a weekly sports column for Shopper News.