Among SEC football programs, season goals have a range starting at beating a biggest rival, to bowl eligibility to a division and conference championship. For a few SEC football programs that range stretches further to a CFB Playoff berth and a national championship.
It is a broad range of expectations. Most expectations carry only a passing resemblance to reality. The fan bases of several SEC football schools claim elite status in the world of college football. In reality, there are very few college football “blue bloods.”
Stewart Mandel has been tracking Program Pecking Order for fifteen seasons.