Kirby Smart (9-3) .750 (8-2 vs. top ten teams)
Bobby Dodd (8-3) .722. (3-1)
Dan Mullen (7-3) .700. (1-1)
Nick Saban (19-9) .679. (16-7)
Les Miles (8-4) .667 (2-1)
Mark Richt (9-5) .643 (1-0)
Johnny Majors (7-4) .636 (2-1)
Bear Bryant (15-11-2) .571 (9-7)
John Vaught (10-8) .556 (4-5)
Steve Spurrier (11-9) .550 (3-4)
Charles McClendon (7-6) .538 (3-2)
Phil Fulmer (8-7) .533 (2-2)
Vince Dooley (8-10-2) .450 (3-4)
Shug Jordan (5-7) .417 (0-2)
-Kirby is at the top of this list and that's with 10 of his 12 bowl opponents in the top 10. Very impressive. The lone non top ten loss was to Texas in the 2018 season.
- Dodd deserves some credit. During his years in the SEC bowls weren't easy to get invited to. You had to do more than just win half of your games. And while only about a third of his were top ten matches, he fared well when he got the chance.
- Mullen obviously built his bowl record vs. not so good teams in mediocre bowls.
- Saban's the GOAT for a reason.
-Richt's only top ten win was vs. Hawaii. It was just really hard with the bowl structure to get a top ten opponent if you didn't get a big 6 bowl invite.
- If the Bear were closer to Saban in big bowl games, he'd probably still be considered the GOAT.
- Evil Genius was not that great in the big games at the end.
- Fulmer also was similar to Richt for as many top ten finishes as he had. Didn't really get a lot of great matchups in the bowls. The Citrus/Cap One did seem to give better matchups in the nineties than in the 2000s.
- Five of Coach Dooley's 7 matchups had a national title on the line, but only one where both teams were playing for it (UGA vs. Penn St. in 1982). Pitt beat UGA for the title in 1976, but the Dawgs likely could have only denied Pitt and Tony Dorsett with a win. Georgia was no. 5. Number 2 Michigan was playing 3 USC in the Rose Bowl. Notre Dame could only deny UGA in 1980 as they came into the game with a loss and a tie. Georgia would not have won had they beaten Pitt in 1981 as Clemson was undefeated, and had beaten UGA. But Clemson and UGA's bowl games were being played simultaneously (thus UGA played most of that game thinking they still had a shot) and had Clemson lost and UGA won, the Dawgs would've been repeat title winners. Clemson won so the loss doesn't sting quite as bad. Texas would've won the title in 1983 with an undefeated season, but the Dawgs denied them and Miami got their first national title later that night to start their eighties dynasty.
- I'm starting to think Ralph Jordan is the most overrated coach in SEC history. Auburn didn't play a bowl game in his lone 1957 national championship season because they were on probation for playing high school kids on their team from seasons before. This would not have affected their vote as champs since the major polls selected their champion before the bowls. But it did help him avoid playing a top ten team that year. That national championship was also his lone SEC championship in 25 years of coaching Auburn.
Just some extra:
Coach Donnan is the only coach with a perfect bowl record (4-0) in the SEC who coached in 4 bowl games or more.
However, if we take that down to three bowl games or more, these guys show up all at 3-0:
Gerry Dinardo
Jimbo Fisher
Butch Jones
Gene Chizik (One of those was a title, so probably should be at the top of the list)
Ray Perkins
Sam Pittman
Brian Kelly
Bobby Dodd (8-3) .722. (3-1)
Dan Mullen (7-3) .700. (1-1)
Nick Saban (19-9) .679. (16-7)
Les Miles (8-4) .667 (2-1)
Mark Richt (9-5) .643 (1-0)
Johnny Majors (7-4) .636 (2-1)
Bear Bryant (15-11-2) .571 (9-7)
John Vaught (10-8) .556 (4-5)
Steve Spurrier (11-9) .550 (3-4)
Charles McClendon (7-6) .538 (3-2)
Phil Fulmer (8-7) .533 (2-2)
Vince Dooley (8-10-2) .450 (3-4)
Shug Jordan (5-7) .417 (0-2)
-Kirby is at the top of this list and that's with 10 of his 12 bowl opponents in the top 10. Very impressive. The lone non top ten loss was to Texas in the 2018 season.
- Dodd deserves some credit. During his years in the SEC bowls weren't easy to get invited to. You had to do more than just win half of your games. And while only about a third of his were top ten matches, he fared well when he got the chance.
- Mullen obviously built his bowl record vs. not so good teams in mediocre bowls.
- Saban's the GOAT for a reason.
-Richt's only top ten win was vs. Hawaii. It was just really hard with the bowl structure to get a top ten opponent if you didn't get a big 6 bowl invite.
- If the Bear were closer to Saban in big bowl games, he'd probably still be considered the GOAT.
- Evil Genius was not that great in the big games at the end.
- Fulmer also was similar to Richt for as many top ten finishes as he had. Didn't really get a lot of great matchups in the bowls. The Citrus/Cap One did seem to give better matchups in the nineties than in the 2000s.
- Five of Coach Dooley's 7 matchups had a national title on the line, but only one where both teams were playing for it (UGA vs. Penn St. in 1982). Pitt beat UGA for the title in 1976, but the Dawgs likely could have only denied Pitt and Tony Dorsett with a win. Georgia was no. 5. Number 2 Michigan was playing 3 USC in the Rose Bowl. Notre Dame could only deny UGA in 1980 as they came into the game with a loss and a tie. Georgia would not have won had they beaten Pitt in 1981 as Clemson was undefeated, and had beaten UGA. But Clemson and UGA's bowl games were being played simultaneously (thus UGA played most of that game thinking they still had a shot) and had Clemson lost and UGA won, the Dawgs would've been repeat title winners. Clemson won so the loss doesn't sting quite as bad. Texas would've won the title in 1983 with an undefeated season, but the Dawgs denied them and Miami got their first national title later that night to start their eighties dynasty.
- I'm starting to think Ralph Jordan is the most overrated coach in SEC history. Auburn didn't play a bowl game in his lone 1957 national championship season because they were on probation for playing high school kids on their team from seasons before. This would not have affected their vote as champs since the major polls selected their champion before the bowls. But it did help him avoid playing a top ten team that year. That national championship was also his lone SEC championship in 25 years of coaching Auburn.
Just some extra:
Coach Donnan is the only coach with a perfect bowl record (4-0) in the SEC who coached in 4 bowl games or more.
However, if we take that down to three bowl games or more, these guys show up all at 3-0:
Gerry Dinardo
Jimbo Fisher
Butch Jones
Gene Chizik (One of those was a title, so probably should be at the top of the list)
Ray Perkins
Sam Pittman
Brian Kelly
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