Hugh Freeze took Ole Miss to its second consecutive New Year’s Six bowl and, for the second straight year, was the only team in the SEC to beat Alabama.
A year after being ranked No. 1, Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen went 9-4 with a team that was picked to finish last in the SEC West.
In his third season at Tennessee, Butch Jones won nine games and the Vols’ four losses (Alabama, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida) were by a grand total of 17 points. After the first five games Tennessee was 2-3 but Jones got the Vols out of the ditch and finished strong.