Believe it or not, the Kentucky Wildcats are still the only team in the SEC East that has managed to beat a team in the SEC West.
As crazy as it sounds, Kentucky’s last-second win over Mississippi State is the East’s only win over the West.
Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports breaks down the league’s imbalance in his Forde-Yard Dash feature this week.
Here’s an excerpt:
SEC (9). The West is 9-1 against the East this season, with Kentucky striking the only blow for its bedraggled division by beating 3-5 Mississippi State at home on a last-second field goal. Florida, which leads the East for the moment, lost by three touchdowns to an Arkansas team that is tied for fifth in the West. Georgia, still in the running to win the East, lost by 31 to Mississippi, which is last in the West. Tennessee was bludgeoned by Alabama and beaten by Texas A&M. And so forth.
This adds to a chronic imbalance in the league. The West has won the last seven SEC championships, taking those title games by an average margin of 23.4 points. It can be argued that this simply is a cyclical turn, and historians will point out that the SEC East won six straight championships from 1993-98. But there is no sign at present of another Steve Spurrier in the East, and maybe not even another Phil Fulmer. Times are tough in that division.
