The opening week of the SEC’s 92nd season features 16 non-conference games. Arkansas and Missouri already kicked the campaign on Thursday night, with the Razorbacks defeating Arkansas-Pine Bluff 70-0 and the Tigers defeating Murray State 51-0. Here are 10 stats from SEC Football by the Numbers, along with the schedule, TV and betting lines, to get ready for the rest of Week 1:
2 Consecutive season-opening games for Kentucky have featured a kickoff-return touchdown by Wildcats WR Barion Brown. In the first game of the 2022 season, Brown returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown in Kentucky’s 37-13 victory over Miami (Ohio). In the first game of the 2023 season, Brown returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown in the Wildcats’ 44-14 win over Ball State. Kentucky kicks off the 2024 season against Southern Miss on Saturday. Brown is among the eight players in SEC history who have returned four kickoffs for touchdowns during their careers. No player has more than four.
3 SEC programs have a perfect record in August. In the eighth month, Alabama is 9-0, Florida 8-0 and LSU 6-0. Tennessee has not lost a game in August either, but a 31-31 tie against Colorado in the 1990 Pigskin Classic spoils the Volunteers’ 8-0-1 record in August. The SEC’s other August records include 5-2 for Arkansas, 7-2 for Auburn, 7-2 for Georgia, 4-3 for Kentucky, 4-6 for Mississippi State, 5-2 for Missouri, 6-1 for Oklahoma, 8-1 for Ole Miss, 6-3 for South Carolina, 7-1 for Texas, 7-4 for Texas A&M and 4-7 for Vanderbilt.
3 Consecutive SEC opponents for Clemson when the Tigers kick off their season against Georgia on Saturday. Clemson closed the 2023 campaign by defeating South Carolina 16-7 in the regular-season finale and Kentucky 38-35 in the Gator Bowl. Clemson has a 59-102-5 record against SEC opponents, although current coach Dabo Swinney is 21-13 against the SEC. The Tigers played three consecutive SEC opponents in the final two games of 2007 and the first game of 2008 and the final two games of 2012 and the first game of 2013, too, but Clemson did not sweep the games in either instance. Four other SEC teams face opponents from Power 4 conferences to kick off the 2024 season. Notre Dame has a 36-18 record against SEC opponents heading into its visit to Texas A&M on Saturday. Southern Cal has a 14-11-1 record against SEC opponents entering its game against LSU on Sunday in Las Vegas. Miami (Fla.) has a 60-86-1 record against SEC opponents heading into its game at Florida on Saturday. Virginia Tech has an 18-37-1 record against SEC opponents entering its game at Vanderbilt on Saturday.
10 Consecutive Vanderbilt games have included at least 30 points for the Commodores’ opponent, the longest such streak in SEC history by three games. Vanderbilt lost to Wake Forest 36-20, UNLV 40-37, Kentucky 45-28, Missouri 38-21, Florida 38-14, Georgia 37-20, Ole Miss 33-7, Auburn 31-15, South Carolina 47-6 and Tennessee 48-24 since its most recent victory – a 47-13 win over Alabama A&M on Sept. 2, 2023. Eight of the 18 losing streaks by SEC teams that have lasted at least 10 games have been endured by Vanderbilt.
24 Consecutive non-conference regular-season games have been won by Georgia and 20 consecutive non-conference regular-season games have been won by Kentucky – the two longest such streaks in the nation. Georgia’s most recent loss in a non-conference regular-season game is a 28-27 setback against Georgia Tech on Nov. 26, 2016. Kentucky’s most recent loss in a non-conference regular-season game is a 44-17 setback against Louisville on Nov. 25, 2017. On Saturday, Georgia plays Clemson and Kentucky plays Southern Miss.
34 Years since the No. 1 team in The Associated Press preseason poll lost its first game of the season. Georgia holds the top spot in this season’s preseason poll and kicks off its 2024 campaign against Clemson on Saturday. The most recent No. 1 team in the preseason poll to lose its opener was Miami (Fla.), which fell to No. 16 BYU 28-21 in 1990. The top team in the AP preseason poll has compiled a 68-5-1 record in its season-opener. The other No. 1 losers were Nebraska 20-17 to UCLA in 1972, Michigan 21-14 to Wisconsin in 1981, Auburn 20-18 to No. 10 Miami (Fla.) in 1984 and Florida State 31-0 to No. 6 Miami (Fla.) in 1988. In 1976, No. 1 Nebraska started the season with a 6-6 tie against LSU.
39 Consecutive regular-season games have been won by Georgia, the longest streak in SEC history. The Bulldogs haven’t lost in the regular season since a 44-28 setback against Florida on Nov. 7, 2020. Georgia broke the league record of 33 consecutive regular-season games won by Tennessee between a 13-7 loss to Vanderbilt on Nov. 13, 1937, and a 19-0 loss to Duke on Oct. 4, 1941. Georgia has lost twice since its regular-season winning streak started, but those defeats were inflicted in the SEC Championship Game by Alabama in 2021 and 2023.
50 Consecutive victories for Florida when the Gators start the season with a home game against a non-conference opponent. Florida will kick off the 2024 season with a home game against Miami (Fla.) on Saturday. Florida’s most recent loss in that circumstance is a 16-14 setback against Stetson on Sept. 24, 1938. The Gators have won 29 in a row when starting the season in Gainesville since falling to SEC rival Ole Miss 24-19 on Sept. 9, 1989. Florida also has won its first home game in the 34 seasons since the loss to Ole Miss.
141 Games have been played by Alabama since the Crimson Tide most recently lost two in a row, the nation’s longest streak without consecutive losses. Alabama fell to Auburn 34-28 and to Oklahoma 45-31 in the Sugar Bowl to end the 2013 season. Alabama has lost 14 games since the back-to-back losses, including its most recent outing – a 27-20 setback against Michigan in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. The Crimson Tide opens its 2024 season against Western Kentucky on Saturday.
799 Victories in Auburn football history. A win on Saturday night against Alabama A&M would make the Tigers the 13th NCAA FBS program with 800 victories. The other schools with at least 800 victories include Michigan, Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Texas, Oklahoma, Penn State, Nebraska, Tennessee, Southern Cal, Georgia and LSU. The NCAA record book credits Auburn with an all-time record of 799-471-47.
