Here’s a complete look at Auburn football’s history against current members of the Southern Conference ahead of their Sept. 3 matchup with Mercer.
Auburn Football is set to kick off the 2022 campaign at Jordan-Hare Stadium against the Mercer Bears on Sept. 3 at 6 p.m. CDT.
Auburn has a lengthy history with Mercer that began when both schools were members of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The first-ever meeting took place in 1896 when the Tigers traveled to Macon, Georgia, and defeated the Bears 46-0. These two teams would go on to face each other nine times between 1897 and 1916.
Auburn would depart from the SIAC in 1921 but would play Mercer one last time in 1922, defeating the Bears 50-6 in Auburn. The Bears would disband their football program 20 seasons later and would reinstate it in 2014.
In 2017, Auburn and Mercer met on the football field for the first time in 95 years and would go on to play the closest game in the series. In Auburn’s 24-10 win over Mercer, quarterback [autotag]Jarrett Stidham[/autotag] passed for 364 yards, but it was [autotag]Kam Pettway[/autotag] who carried the load for Auburn by rushing for 133 yards and scoring three touchdowns.
Auburn holds a 12-0 all-time record over Mercer, but how have they stacked up historically against teams in Mercer’s league? Here’s a breakdown of Auburn’s history against current members of the Southern Conference:
How a 30-team SEC would resemble college football’s past.
The Southern Conference was formed in 1921.
Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Washington & Lee were founding Southern Conference members.
Florida, LSU, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tulane and Vanderbilt joined the Southern Conference in 1922.
Other current Power Five schools that joined the Southern Conference were Duke (1928), Wake Forest (1936) and West Virginia (1950).
In 1932, 13 schools of the Southern Conference, located west and south of the Appalachian Mountains, departed to form the Southeastern Conference.
Southern Conference schools Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Sewanee, Tennessee, Tulane, and Vanderbilt departed and became the founding institutions of the newly formed SEC.
Following UCLA and USC leaving the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten, Vols Wire looks at current Power Five schools that could join the SEC to resemble the Southern Conference of the past.
Below are schools that could form a 30-team SEC in a super conference. The 30-team SEC would be a combination of former Southern Conference members, current SEC schools, future SEC teams in Oklahoma and Texas, and teams that are ideal additions.
A look at how the SEC was formed by leaving a 23-team super conference.
Tennessee competed in the Southern Conference from 1921-32.
The Southern Conference, a super conference, consisted of 23 schools: Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Duke, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, LSU, Maryland, Mississippi State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Ole Miss, Sewanee, South Carolina, Tennessee, Tulane, Vanderbilt, Virginia, VMI, VPI and Washington and Lee.
In 1932, 13 schools of the Southern Conference departed and formed their own conference.
13 members of the Southern Conference located west and south of the Appalachian Mountains departed to form the Southeastern Conference. Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Sewanee, Tennessee, Tulane, and Vanderbilt were the founding institutions of the newly formed Southeastern Conference.
Separation to form the new conference was in part of having more of a focus on better athletic administration with fewer teams from the 23 schools of the Southern Conference. The Southern Conference also planned on increasing eligibility requirements.
The Southeastern Conference was formed in Knoxville, Tennessee at the Andrew Johnson Hotel on Dec. 8-9, 1932, during the annual Southern Conference banquet.
The Andrew Johnson Hotel in Knoxville where the SEC was formed in December 1932. Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols WireKnoxville News-Sentinel – December 10, 1932Knoxville News-Sentinel – December 10, 1932
Dr. John J. Tigert, president of the University of Florida, spoke for the 13 institutions and formally presented resignations at the meeting in Knoxville.
Dr. Frank L. McVey, president of the University of Kentucky, was named president of the SEC, J.F. Broussard of LSU was elected vice president and A.H. Armstrong of Georgia Tech was named secretary.
Knoxville News-Sentinel – December 7, 1932The Daily News-Journal – December 17, 1932
Tennessee head coach Robert Neyland returned to Knoxville in time to attend the conference meetings at the Andrew Johnson Hotel following his mother’s death in Greenville, Texas.
Neyland also turned down an offer to become Fordham’s head coach. He was approached by Fordham officials while attending the Army-Notre Dame game at Yankee Stadium, Nov. 26, 1932. Fordham was looking to replace Hall of Fame head coach Frank Cavanaugh following his final season.
The Army-Notre Dame game was two days following Tennessee defeating Kentucky, 26-0, played on a Thursday. The Vols then finished the 1932 unbeaten season by defeating Florida in Jacksonville on Dec. 3, days before the conference meetings in Knoxville.
Knoxville News-Sentinel – November 25, 1932
Rules for showcasing athletics was at the forefront of the meetings. Due to the Great Depression, game attendance for many schools began to decline and many institutions and conferences established bans on radio broadcasts in order to have more people attend games. That was not an issue for the newly formed SEC as the conference would lift a broadcasting ban on football games along with awarding sites for athletic championships. Atlanta was named host city for the SEC’s basketball tournament, while tennis and boxing were awarded to New Orleans. The annual writer’s meeting was awarded to Baton Rouge.
Reinstating Vanderbilt’s Julian Foster was also a topic of discussion after being ruled ineligible by the Southern Conference for the 1932 football season. Foster was deemed ineligible after violating a summer baseball rule that did not allow playing in more than three games per week.
Knoxville News-Sentinel – December 10, 1932Inside the Andrew Johnson Hotel in Knoxville where the SEC was formed. Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols WireThe Andrew Johnson Hotel in Knoxville where the SEC was formed. Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Hopefully, he has better luck in new surroundings.
For a variety of reasons, [autotag]Elijah Morgan[/autotag] never found his footing at Notre Dame. By the end of his junior season, he wasn’t even around the team. With little hope for his future in South Bend, he announced in April that he was entering the transfer portal. Now, he knows where he’s going to play, and he announced such:
I am beyond blessed to announce that I have committed to the Citadel and @CitadelHoops! I greatly appreciate everyone that has helped me get to this point. It takes a village. Let’s get to work! pic.twitter.com/Ei5cZvnvuO
Morgan will try to deliver a boost to a Bulldogs program that desperately needs one. The Citadel never has qualified for the NCAA Tournament, and 11 of its past 12 seasons have been losing ones. In fact, the Bulldogs went 0-18 in Southern Conference play during the 2019-20 season.
The Irish have won both games between the programs. First was a 72-53 triumph in 1997, followed by a 74-50 victory in 2006. While the Irish obviously have a better record and a brighter future, Morgan pretty much had nothing to do with it. Sometimes, you have to do what’s best for you, and that’s exactly Morgan did.
We wish Morgan well with the rest of his collegiate career.
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The Southern Conference is playing a 2021 spring football season due to not competing in the fall because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Southern Conference is playing a 2021 spring football season due to not competing in the fall because of the coronavirus pandemic.
East Tennessee State kicked off its spring season Saturday with a 24-17 victory over Samford.
After falling behind 14-0 entering the second quarter, ETSU outscored Samford 24-3 for the remainder of the contest.
Randy Sanders. Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Randy Sanders is in his third season as head coach for ETSU. He won the Southern Conference championship in his first season as the Buccaneers’ head coach during the 2018 campaign.
Sanders played quarterback at Tennessee (1984-88) and was a longtime assistant coach for the Vols (1989-2005).
Previewing Monday’s Southern Conference final between East Tennessee State and Wofford, with college basketball betting odds, picks and bets
The Wofford Terriers (19-15) battle the East Tennessee State Buccaneers (29-4) in the Southern Conference title game Monday at 7 p.m. ET at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, NC. We analyze the Wofford-East Tennessee State odds and betting lines, while providing college basketball betting tips and advice on this matchup.
East Tennessee State vs. Wofford: Three things you need to know
The 7-seeded Terriers of Wofford have been here before, but they’re heavy underdogs this time around against the top-seeded Buccaneers of ETSU. The Bucs were 16-2 in conference play during the regular season, while the Terriers went 8-10.
ETSU swept the two regular-season meetings, but both games were close. On New Year’s Day, the Bucs topped the Terriers 49-48 in Johnson City, and 60-54 in Spartanburg Feb. 26 in the most recent battle.
The Buccaneers ranked 27th in the country with 63.1 points per game allowed, while the Terriers ranked just 158th in scoring offense at 71.7 PPG.
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East Tennessee State vs. Wofford: Odds, betting lines and picks
East Tennessee State (-278) is our pick to win this Southern Conference final, but there’s no value in the chalky odds. PASS and look to the spread for better value.
WOFFORD +6.5 (-115) has been here before, and won’t be intimidated. The Terriers have posted a 3-0 straight up/2-0-1 ATS mark in the SoCon tourney so far, and have one more game to finish off another improbable run to the Big Dance. They finished the regular season losing their final seven games, and they ended 2-6 ATS in the final eight. Yet, here they are.
East Tennessee -6.5 (-106) has been a tremendous team for many years. You might remember Keith ‘Mister’ Jennings from 1987-91. The Buccaneers have been a thorn in plenty of teams’ sides in the past, and one made it to the Elite Eight (1968). This is a proud team who will go dancing, but Wofford won’t go without a fight.
The UNDER 133.5 (-110) cashed in each of the two regular-season battles, and another defensive game should be on tap here. While Wofford hit the Over in the first three SoCon tournament games, this one will go well Under.
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