The 2015 Southeastern Conference football season represented the 83rd season of SEC football taking place during the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season began on September 3 with South Carolina defeating North Carolina on ESPN. This was the fourth season for the SEC under realignment that took place in 2012 adding Texas A&M and Missouri from the Big 12 Conference. The SEC is a Power Five conference under the College Football Playoff format along with the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big 12 Conference, the Big Ten Conference, and the Pac-12 Conference.
The SEC consists of 14 members: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt; and is split up into the East and West divisions, with the champion of each division meeting in Atlanta to compete for the SEC Championship on December 5. Alabama began the season as defending SEC champions as they defeated Missouri in the previous year's championship game. Alabama would then go on to participate in the first ever College Football Playoff as the number one overall seed, and would lose their semi-final match to eventual National Champion Ohio State by a score of 42–35.
The SEC entered the 2015 season with high expectations, including a record 10 teams ranked in the preseason AP Poll. Great finishes and bowl wins for teams like Tennessee and Arkansas at the conclusion of 2014, in addition to traditional favorites Alabama, Georgia, LSU, and Florida, led many to predict a huge year for the SEC. However, the regular season featured early non-conference upsets including Toledo over Arkansas and Memphis over Ole Miss, and down years from Auburn, Missouri, and South Carolina. Alabama was crowned SEC champions after defeating Florida in the SEC Championship Game, and earned their second consecutive appearance in the College Football Playoff. As the number two overall seed, the Tide defeated Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl 38–0, and capped off the season with a 45–40 victory in the National Championship Game over Clemson. The victory secured Alabama's fourth national championship in seven years, and the eighth national championship for the SEC in ten seasons.
Preseason
Recruiting classes + National rankings Team ESPN Rivals Scout 24/7 Total signeesAlabama #1 #2 #2 #1 24Arkansas #22 #25 #22 #23 24Auburn #7 #6 #3 #9 27Florida #20 #23 #29 #21 20Georgia #8 #7 #5 #10 29Kentucky #43 #35 #44 #40 23LSU #10 #8 #12 #5 25Ole Miss #19 #21 #16 #17 22Mississippi State #16 #16 #18 #18 28Missouri #18 #27 #26 #25 23South Carolina #21 #19 #20 #19 31Tennessee #5 #5 #4 #4 27Texas A&M #12 #10 #10 #12 25Vanderbilt #44 #47 #72 #46 18
SEC Media Days
Media Polls The SEC Media Days concluded with its annual preseason media polls. In a surprising result, the media voted Auburn the team most likely to win the SEC championship, while Alabama was selected to win their division, the SEC West. Below are the results of the media poll with total points received next to each school and first-place votes in parentheses.
SEC Champion Voting Auburn – 96 Alabama – 80 Georgia – 28 LSU – 9 Ole Miss – 3 Arkansas – 3 Texas A&M – 2 Mississippi State – 1 Florida – 1
West Alabama – 1,405 (92) Auburn – 1,362 (108) LSU – 870 (10) Arkansas – 821 (6) Ole Miss – 732 (3) Texas A&M – 628 (4) Mississippi State – 482 (2)
East Georgia – 1,498 (166) Tennessee – 1,231 (36) Missouri – 1,196 (20) South Carolina – 830 (1) Florida – 768 (1) Kentucky – 534 (1) Vanderbilt – 243 (0)
References:
Preseason All-SEC: Media + First Team Offense Position Player Class Team QB Dak Prescott SR Mississippi State RB Nick Chubb SO Georgia RB Leonard Fournette SO LSU WR Laquon Treadwell JR Ole Miss WR D'haquille Williams SR Auburn TE Evan Engram JR Ole Miss OL Cam Robinson SO Alabama OL Laremy Tunsil JR Ole Miss OL Vadal Alexander SR LSU OL John Theus SR Georgia C Ryan Kelly SR Alabama
+ First Team Defense Position Player Class Team DL Robert Nkemdiche JR Ole Miss DL A'Shawn Robinson JR Alabama DL Myles Garrett SO Texas A&M DL Carl Lawson SO Auburn LB Reggie Ragland SR Alabama LB Jordan Jenkins SR Georgia LB Curt Maggitt SR Tennessee DB Vernon Hargreaves III JR Florida DB Cyrus Jones SR Alabama DB Jonathan Jones SR Auburn DB Jalen Mills SR LSU
+ First Team Special Teams Position Player Class Team P J. K. Scott SO Alabama K Marshall Morgan SR Georgia RS Speedy Noil SO Texas A&M AP Pharoh Cooper JR South Carolina
Preseason All-SEC: Coaches + First Team Offense Position Player Class Team QB Dak Prescott SR Mississippi State RB Nick Chubb SO Georgia RB Leonard Fournette SO LSU WR Laquon Treadwell JR Ole Miss WR Pharoh Cooper JR South Carolina TE Evan Engram JR Ole Miss OL Cam Robinson SO Alabama OL Laremy Tunsil JR Ole Miss OL Vadal Alexander SR LSU OL John Theus SR Georgia C Mike Matthews SR Texas A&M AP Pharoh Cooper JR South Carolina
+ First Team Defense Position Player Class Team DL Robert Nkemdiche JR Ole Miss DL A'Shawn Robinson JR Alabama DL Myles Garrett SO Texas A&M DL Chris Jones JR Mississippi State LB Reggie Ragland SR Alabama LB Jordan Jenkins SR Georgia LB Curt Maggitt SR Tennessee DB Vernon Hargreaves III JR Florida DB Cyrus Jones SR Alabama DB Jonathan Jones SR Auburn DB Jalen Mills SR LSU
+ First Team Special Teams Position Player Class Team P J. K. Scott SO Alabama K Marshall Morgan SR Georgia RS Pharoh Cooper JR South Carolina
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Head coaches
Only one SEC team changed head coaches for the 2015 season. Jim McElwain was hired to replace Will Muschamp at Florida. Muschamp's four-year tenure was filled with highs and lows, but he announced his resignation at the end of the season compiling a 28–22 record as the head coach, 17–15 in the SEC. Muschamp agreed to become the defensive coordinator for Auburn following his resignation. McElwain takes over the Gators after leading Colorado State to a 22–16 record in three seasons, turning the program into one of the best offensive teams in the country. McElwain had previously served as Alabama's offensive coordinator under Nick Saban from 2008 to 2011, winning two national titles.
On October 12, halfway through the season with a 2–4 record (0–4 in SEC play), South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier unexpectedly resigned. Concerning his resignation Spurrier said, "My answer has always been the same: If it starts going south, starts going bad, then I need to get out. ... It's time for me to get out of the way and give somebody else a go at it." Spurrier was in his 11th season as head coach of the Gamecocks compiling a record of 86–49, the most wins in school history. After the resignation, offensive coordinator Shawn Elliott took over head coaching duties.
Another coaching change took place during the season when on November 14, Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel announced that he would be resigning from his position at the conclusion of the season. Pinkel said he was resigning for health reasons, citing his diagnoses with lymphoma earlier in May. The announcement came during a tumultuous time in Columbia as the university and community were also dealing with race relation issues which lead to the school's president and chancellor also resigning. Upon completing his 15th season at Missouri, Pinkel will finish his coaching career with the most wins, games coached, and bowl victories in program history.
Two days after the regular season ended, the University of Georgia made the decision to fire 15th year head coach, Mark Richt. Richt finished his head coaching career at Georgia with a record of 145–51, the second-most wins in school history, 2 SEC championships, and a record of 9–5 in bowl games. Richt was replaced by long-time Alabama defensive coordinator, Kirby Smart, a Georgia alumnae and former player. It is Smart's first head coaching job. Only 3 days after leaving Georgia, Richt was announced as the new head coach for the Miami Hurricanes, where he also is a former alumnae and player.
Note: The stats shown are before the beginning of the season. Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school SEC recordAlabama Nick Saban 9 177–59–1 86–17 50–11Arkansas Bret Bielema 3 78–39 10–15 2–14Auburn Gus Malzahn 3 29–10 20–7 11–5Florida Jim McElwain 1 22–16 0–0 0–0Georgia Mark Richt 15 136–48 136–48 78–34Kentucky Mark Stoops 3 7–17 7–17 2–14LSU Les Miles 11 131–50 103–29 56–24Ole Miss Hugh Freeze 4 54–22 24–15 11–13Mississippi State Dan Mullen 7 46–31 46–31 22–26Missouri Gary Pinkel 15 186–103–3 113–66 16–8South Carolina Steve Spurrier 11 226–85–2 84–45 44–36Tennessee Butch Jones 3 62–40 12–13 5–11Texas A&M Kevin Sumlin 4 63–28 28–11 13–11Vanderbilt Derek Mason 2 3–9 3–9 0–8
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Rankings + Legend Increase in ranking Decrease in ranking Not ranked previous week RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
Pre Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 FinalAlabama AP 3 2 2 12 13 8 10 8 7 (1) 7 (1) 3 (2) 3 (4) 2 (6) 2 (8) 2 (9) 1 (61)C 3 (1) 2 (1) 2 (1) 12 13 10 9 8 7 7 4 (3) 3 (4) 2 (5) 2 (8) 2 (5) 1 (56)CFP Not released 4 2 2 2 2 2 Arkansas AP 18 18 RV RV RV RV RVC 20 18 RV RV RV RV RVCFP Not released Auburn AP 6 6 18 RV C 7 7 15 25 RV CFP Not released Florida AP RV RV RV RV 25 11 8 13 11 11 11 8 10 18 19 25C RV RV RV RV 23 12 11 14 12 12 10 8 9 15 18 25CFP Not released 10 11 8 12 18 19 Georgia AP 9 10 7 7 8 19 RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RVC 9 9 8 6 6 16 RV 25 23 RV RV RV RV 25 24CFP Not released Kentucky AP RV C RV RV RV RV RV CFP Not released LSU AP 14 14 13 8 (1) 9 7 6 5 (1) 4 (5) 4 (5) 9 17 RV 23 22 16C 13 15 14 9 8 5 (1) 5 (1) 5 (1) 4 (1) 4 (1) 9 17 RV 23 21 17CFP Not released 2 9 15 21 20 Mississippi State AP RV 25 RV RV 21 RV RV RV 25 24 20 RV 23 RV RV RVC RV RV RV RV 22 RV RV RV RV 25 20 25 22 RV RV RVCFP Not released 20 17 21 Missouri AP 24 21 22 25 RV C 23 21 20 23 RV RV CFP Not released Ole Miss AP 17 17 15 3 (11) 3 (10) 14 13 24 19 19 RV 25 19 16 16 10C 15 14 11 5 5 (1) 13 12 23 21 19 RV 25 19 17 15 9CFP Not released 18 22 18 13 12 South Carolina AP C RV RV RV CFP Not released Tennessee AP 25 23 RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 22C 25 23 RV RV RV RV RV RV 23CFP Not released 25 23 Texas A&M AP RV 16 17 14 14 9 (1) 9 (1) 15 RV 25 RV RV RV C RV 19 18 15 15 11 10 16 RV 24 RV RV RV RV RV CFP Not released 19 Vanderbilt AP C CFP Not released
Regular season Index to colors and formattingNon-conference matchup; SEC member wonNon-conference matchup; SEC member lostConference matchup All times Eastern time. SEC teams in bold.
Rankings reflect those of the AP poll for that week until week 10 when CFP rankings are used.
Week One