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College football’s longest active conference title droughts

By Zach Bigalke

Dec 27, 2016; San Diego , CA, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers safety Damarius Travis (7) celebrates in the first quarter against the Washington State Cougars during the 2016 Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 27, 2016; San Diego , CA, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers safety Damarius Travis (7) celebrates in the first quarter against the Washington State Cougars during the 2016 Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 26, 2016; Shreveport, LA, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Kyle Shurmur (14) is sacked during the second half against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Independence Stadium. North Carolina State Wolfpack defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores 41-17. Mandatory Credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 26, 2016; Shreveport, LA, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Kyle Shurmur (14) is sacked during the second half against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Independence Stadium. North Carolina State Wolfpack defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores 41-17. Mandatory Credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports /

SEC

Longest Drought: Vanderbilt Commodores (Last title: 1923)

The SEC’s slew of national titles during the BCS era was concentrated in the hands of a few schools. Since expanding to 12 teams and hosting its first conference championship game in 1992, the SEC has been rather exclusive at the top. Alabama and Florida have each won seven of those 25 titles. LSU, Auburn, Tennessee, and Georgia are the only other teams to win a championship over that period.

That means a half-dozen fan bases have been suffering for quite some time. One, though, stands out as the only charter member of the SEC to have never won the conference. Vanderbilt left the Southern Conference in 1932 to help form the SEC. They had been a Southern Conference powerhouse under Dan McGugin, winning 11 conference championships between 1904 and 1923.

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They were still a contender after 1923, but never could quite break through in either their old or new league. Vanderbilt came close to winning the SEC in 1935, finishing a half-game behind LSU. The Commodores went 5-0-0 in 1943, but the SEC did not play league schedules during World War II. Since the resumption of SEC play in 1946, Vanderbilt has finished above .500 in league games just four times.

Honorable Mentions

  • Mississippi State Bulldogs: Mississippi State debuted atop the inaugural College Football Playoff standings in October 2014. It was the closest the Bulldogs would come to winning the conference since they lost to Tennessee in the 1998 SEC championship game. As of now, Mississippi State still has won just one conference title in its history, earned by the 1941 team that went 8-1-1.
  • Ole Miss Rebels: The Rebels have spent more than five decades pining for another conference championship. Ole Miss nearly played for the SEC championship in 2003, but a 17-14 loss at home to LSU served as the tiebreaker to determine who faced Georgia that year. On only one occasion prior to the 1992 expansion did Ole Miss finish second in the league standings.
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