Nick Saban won all 17 of his season-opening games as Alabama’s coach, pushing the Crimson Tide’s streak of seasons with a 1-0 record to 22 years. The success lifted Alabama to the top of the SEC for season-opening victories with 105.
But just as Saban has turned over the Alabama program to Kalen DeBoer for the 2024 season, the SEC also has a change at the top when it comes to the most season-opening victories. New league member Texas has won 108 season-opening games – three more than the Crimson Tide.
For the rest of the SEC’s current membership, Arkansas and Auburn have 102 season-opening victories apiece, Georgia and Oklahoma 100 each, Ole Miss and Tennessee 95 apiece, LSU and Texas A&M 92 each, Kentucky has 91, Mississippi State 89, Florida 88, Missouri and South Carolina have 86 each and Vanderbilt has 82.
Texas joins Oklahoma in pushing SEC membership to 16 teams for the first time in the conference’s 92nd season, which kicks off at 6:30 p.m. CDT Thursday when Arkansas plays Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The rest of the league’s teams also will start their seasons against non-conference opponents this weekend.
The SEC has started four seasons with its teams sweeping their opening games -- 1951, 1973, 1974 and 1997. Last year, the league went 11-3 in Game 1.
The most season-opening losses for the SEC in one year is seven in 2016 and 2020. The seven losses could not have been avoided in 2020 because the SEC’s opening weekend consisted of seven conference games.
A team-by-team look at the SEC in season-openers:
ALABAMA: The Crimson Tide carries a 22-game winning streak in season-opening contests into this year’s first game against Western Kentucky on Saturday. The 22-game streak is the second-longest in SEC history, but it is not the school record. Alabama opened its season with a victory 30 straight times from 1904 through 1934. (Alabama did not field a team in 1918.) Only the final two of those victories came as an SEC member. The Crimson Tide’s most recent loss in a season-opening game came 20-17 to UCLA on Sept. 1, 2001.
Alabama’s season-opening winning streak ranks second in NCAA FBS currently. Ohio State has started its past 24 seasons with a victory. The Buckeyes begin their 2024 season against Akron on Saturday. Ohio State’s most recent season-opening setback came 23-12 to Miami (Fla.) in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in 1999.
Alabama has won eight in a row when opening the season in Tuscaloosa, where the Crimson Tide will play the Hilltoppers. The 2001 loss to UCLA is Alabama’s only setback when starting the season in Tuscaloosa during the SEC era. The Tide has an 18-1-1 record in those games, with the tie coming 7-7 against Howard (now Samford) in 1935.
Kalen DeBoer will begin his tenure as Alabama’s coach against Western Kentucky. Of the 10 Alabama coaches who have made their debut with the Crimson Tide in a season-opening game during the SEC era, six won their first outing.
ARKANSAS: The Razorbacks started the 2023 season by beating Western Carolina 56-13 for their third straight 1-0 record. Arkansas’ longest opening-game winning streak as an SEC member is nine, accomplished from 1997 through 2005. Arkansas joined the league in 1992, so its school record of 17 straight achieved from 1933 through 1949 did not come as an SEC member but as a member of the Southwest Conference.
Arkansas opens the season against visiting Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Thursday night. The Razorbacks have won 15 consecutive season-opening games when playing non-conference opponents.
Since a 50-14 home setback against Southern Cal to kick off 2006, Arkansas is 15-0 in openers against non-conference opponents and 0-2 in openers against SEC rivals, losing 45-21 at Auburn in 2014 and 37-10 to Georgia at home in 2020. During the 15-game streak, the Razorbacks have beaten Troy, Louisiana-Lafayette, UTEP, Louisiana Tech, Rice, Cincinnati and nine NCAA FCS opponents.
AUBURN: The Tigers carry a seven-game winning streak in season-opening contests into this year’s first game against Alabama A&M in Auburn on Saturday. Auburn’s longest streak as an SEC member is 11, when it won every season-opener from 1935 through 1946. (Auburn did not field a team in 1943.)
Auburn’s most recent loss in a season-opening game is a 19-13 home setback against Clemson on Sept. 3, 2016. During the SEC era, Auburn has a 41-7 record when opening the season with a home game.
Auburn has won 19 in a row when opening the season against an opponent that’s not currently in a Power 4 conference, dating to a 31-20 loss to Memphis on Sept. 13, 1975.
FLORIDA: The Gators opened the 2023 season with a 24-11 loss to Utah in Salt Lake City. Florida will be back at home to open the 2024 season against Miami (Fla.) on Saturday.
Florida’s SEC-record 27-game winning streak in season-opening games ended with a 33-17 loss to Michigan in Arlington, Texas, in 2017. Until the loss to Michigan, Florida hadn’t had an 0-1 record since a 24-19 setback against Ole Miss on Sept. 9, 1989. All the victories came in Gainesville, and the teams that Florida beat in the streak were Arkansas State, Ball State, Bowling Green, Charleston Southern, The Citadel, Eastern Michigan (twice), Florida Atlantic, Hawaii, Houston, Kentucky, Louisiana-Lafayette, Marshall, Massachusetts, Miami (Ohio), New Mexico State (twice), Oklahoma State, San Jose State (twice), Southern Miss (twice), Toledo, UAB, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan and Wyoming.
Since the 1989 loss to Ole Miss, Florida has won 30 in a row when starting the season in Gainesville. When starting the season in Gainesville against a non-conference opponent, the Gators have won 50 in a row, dating from a 16-14 loss to Stetson on Sept. 24, 1938.
During the 50-game winning streak, Florida has a 10-13 record when opening the season outside of Gainesville against a non-conference opponent.
GEORGIA: The Bulldogs carry a 10-game winning streak in season-opening contests into this year’s first game against Clemson in Atlanta on Saturday. Georgia’s longest winning streak in season-opening games is 12, accomplished from 1997 through 2008. Georgia’s most recent loss in a season-opening game is a 38-35 setback against Clemson on Aug. 31, 2013.
In the past half-century, Georgia has had three previous neutral-site openers. The Bulldogs lost to Boise State 35-21 in Atlanta in 2011 and defeated Clemson 10-3 in Charlotte in 2021 and Oregon 49-3 in Atlanta in 2022.
KENTUCKY: The Wildcats started the 2023 season by beating Ball State 44-14 for their third straight 1-0 record. Kentucky’s longest winning streak in season-opening games as an SEC member is eight, accomplished from 1987 through 1994.
Kentucky starts the 2024 season with a home game against Southern Miss on Saturday. The previous visit by the Golden Eagles for a season-opening game in Lexington resulted in a 44-35 loss for the Wildcats in 2016.
LSU: The Tigers have started the past four seasons with losses. LSU was beaten 44-34 in 2020 by Mississippi State, 38-27 in 2021 by UCLA and 24-23 in 2022 and 45-24 in 2023 by Florida State. LSU hasn’t started five consecutive seasons with a loss since going to 0-1 annually from 1991 through 1995. Georgia inflicted the first loss, with Texas A&M dealing out the next four.
The Tigers start the 2024 season against Southern Cal in Las Vegas on Sunday. During the SEC era, LSU has a 6-3 record when opening the season somewhere other than Baton Rouge or its opponent’s home field. The losses came to Wisconsin at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 2016, and to Florida State at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans in 2022 and Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, in 2023. LSU will square off against USC at Allegiant Stadium, the home of the Las Vegas Raiders.
LSU’s longest winning streak in season-opening games as an SEC member is 13, accomplished from 2003 through 2015.
MISSISSIPPI STATE: The Bulldogs carry a seven-game winning streak in season-opening contests into this year’s first game against Eastern Kentucky in Starkville on Saturday. Mississippi State’s record streak for victories in season-opening games is 15 from 1933 through 1948. (Mississippi State did not field a team in 1943.) The Bulldogs’ most recent loss in an opening game is a 21-20 setback against South Alabama in 2016.
The most victories without a loss or tie in season-opening games for an SEC coach are nine, achieved by Allyn McKeen at Mississippi State from 1939 through 1948. McKeen’s teams defeated Howard (now Samford), Florida (twice), Union, Jackson Field, Louisiana-Lafayette, Chattanooga (twice) and Tennessee. The most games without a loss in season-openers for an SEC coach are 13, achieved by Alabama’s Frank Thomas, who had an 11-0-2 record from 1933 through 1946.
Jeff Lebby will begin his tenure as Mississippi State’s coach on Saturday. Lebby will be the 20th head coach to make his debut with the Bulldogs in a season-opening game in the SEC era. His predecessors compiled a 12-6-1 record in their openers, with the past seven starting their tenures with a victory. The most recent MSU coach to fall in his opener was Emory Bellard, whose Bulldogs lost to Memphis 14-13 on Sept. 8, 1979.
