A recent post here on Garnet And Black Attack brought to my attention a certain idiotic article from one Paul Finebaum. You can read the article for yourself, but the main assertion of the piece is that Arkansas and South Carolina "have been a drag on the SEC." Perhaps the casual fan may fall for such hyperbole, but we here at GABA know better.

While it's true that Arkansas and South Carolina aren't national powers like Texas or Florida State, both schools are assets to the depth and quality of SEC athletics. GABA's own Gamecock Man summarized this best here, but I thought I'd take a look at the NACDA Director's Cup standings (formerly known as the Sears Cup) for statistical backing. According to Wikipedia, the points system for the Director's Cup is "based on order of finish in various National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sponsored championships or, in the case of Division I Football, media-based polls"

The results I found are staggering. Not only are South Carolina and Arkansas *not* near the bottom of the rankings for the SEC, but in many cases they finished *ahead* of Finebaum's beloved Alabama in the past 10 years. Seven times, in fact, for the Razorbacks, and another 6 times ahead of the Tide for the Gamecocks. Moreover, Alabama has never finished higher than 21st, which the Gamecocks have beaten by finishing 11th ('01-02) & 18th ('02-03).

Furthermore, as the USC Athletic Department website notes for the '01-'02 school year,
"If you take what are considered to be the four major revenue-producing sports in NCAA 1-A athletics – football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and baseball – and tally up points that those four sports accumulated in the 2001-02 Sears Director’s Cup standings, the University of South Carolina would rank third in the nation and would lead all Southeastern Conference schools with 197 points. In the final Sears Director’s Cup all-sports rankings for the 2001-02 season, South Carolina registered an all-time program best with an 11th place finish. "

Other interesting tidbits:
-Florida finished 1st in the SEC 8 times; Georgia finished 1st twice
-Florida, Georgia, LSU, & Tennessee finished as the 1st-4th finishers in the SEC 7 times in 10 years.
-Florida, Georgia, LSU, Tennesse, and Auburn were the 1st-5th finishers in the SEC 5 times over 10 years.

The following is a ranking of the 10-year and 5-year average placement of SEC schools in the national standings, as well as the placement of all 12 SEC schools in the past 10 years. The standings are taken from '99-'00 through '08-'09, as the '09-'10 final standings aren't complete yet.

Overall (Ten Year Avg.):
1. Florida (5.6)
2. Georgia (9.9)
3. LSU (15.3)
4. Tennessee (16.2)
5. Auburn (21.2)
6. Arkansas (29.5)
7. South Carolina (31.6)
8. Alabama (33.3)
9. Kentucky (42.1)
10. Vanderbilt (65.6)
11. Ole Miss (69.0)
12. Mississippi State (79.0***)
*** The PDF for the ‘05-06 Directors Cup rankings that is available online cuts off at 100, so Mississippi State’s average does not include this awful score and is dvided by 9 instead. If given at least a 100th place, their average goes to at least 81.1

Overall (Five Year Average):
1. Florida (5.4)
2. Georgia (11.2)
3. Tennessee (13.6)
4. LSU (15.4)
5. Auburn (21.4)
6. Arkansas (28.0)
7. Alabama (31.4)
8. Kentucky (36.6)
9. South Carolina (39.2)
10. Vanderbilt (58.8)
11. Ole Miss (63.8)
12. Mississippi State (98.25***)

***The PDF for the ‘05-06 Directors Cup rankings that is available online cuts off at 100, so Mississippi State’s average does not include this awful score and is dvided by 4 instead. If given at least a 100th place, their average goes to at least 98.6

2008-09:
3. Florida
9. LSU
18. Georgia
23. Tennessee
25. Arkansas
26. Auburn
30. Alabama
34. Kentucky
39. South Carolina
60. Ole Miss
67. Vanderbilt
100. Mississippi State

2007-08:
6. Florida
8. LSU
10. Georgia
16. Tennessee
20. Auburn
24. Arkansas
25. Alabama
36. Kentucky
48. South Carolina
59. Vanderbilt
68. Ole Miss
109. Mississippi State

2006-07:
6. Florida
7. Tennessee
12. Georgia
17. LSU
19. Auburn
31. Arkansas
32. South Carolina
33. Vanderbilt
43. Alabama
45. Kentucky
49. Ole Miss
120. Mississippi State

2005-06:
5. Florida
9. Georgia
14. Tennessee
20. LSU
21. Alabama
25. Auburn
28. Arkansas
33. Kentucky
43. South Carolina
64. Vanderbilt
75. Ole Miss
NR. Mississippi State*
*PDF of Rankings online only lists top 100.

2004-05:
6. Florida
7. Georgia
8. Tennessee
17. Auburn
23. LSU
32. Arkansas
34. South Carolina
35. Kentucky
38. Alabama
64. Mississippi State
67. Ole Miss
71. Vanderbilt

2003-04:
5. Georgia
6. Florida
11. LSU
14. Tennessee
23. Auburn
27. Arkansas
28. Vanderbilt
34. South Carolina
41. Alabama
45. Kentucky
64. Ole Miss
67. Mississippi State

2002-03:
7. Florida
12. Auburn
15. Georgia
18. South Carolina
23. LSU
27. Tennessee
29. Alabama
31. Arkansas
50. Kentucky
54. Vanderbilt
57. Mississippi State
96. Ole Miss

2001-02:
3. Florida
8. Georgia
10. LSU
11. South Carolina
12. Tennessee
19. Auburn
32. Alabama
35. Arkansas
36. Kentucky
63. Mississippi State
80. Vanderbilt
94. Ole Miss

2000-01:
3. Georgia
7. Florida
21. Tennessee
22. LSU
25. South Carolina
28. Auburn
36. Arkansas
37. Kentucky
46. Alabama
55. Ole Miss
68. Vanderbilt
80. Mississippi State

1999-00:
7. Florida
10. LSU
12. Georgia
20. Tennessee
23. Auburn
26. Arkansas
28. Alabama
32. South Carolina
51. Mississippi State
62. Ole Miss
70. Kentucky
132. Vanerbilt