The Top Southern Conference Football Programs for the Last Three Years

This is the sixth post in our 24-part Super Squad Series, recognizing the best programs in every single Division I FBS & FCS Conference over the last three years, as well as the upperclassmen & staff who’ve anchored them.

Congratulations to the Wofford Terriers for having the best football program in the Southern Conference for the last three years!

Special Honors to the 48 student athletes who were on the roster each of these three seasons, 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20:

Miller Mosley, Joe Newman, Ulysses Strawter, Blake Morgan, Corey Cooper, Darron Paschal, Mason Alstatt, George Gbesee, Dimitri Redwood, Donavan Anderson, Omari Johnson, Andy Riazzi, Ryan Lovelace, Kent Phelps, Evan Suggs, Brandon Brown, Luke Carter, Dawson Henis, Jireh Wilson, DT Wilson, Shaun Moore, Robbie Armstrong, Joe Beckett, John Beckley, Andrew Duckworth, Thad Mangum, Ryan Titus, Chad Gardner, Blake Jeresaty, Austin Lufkin, Ronnie Brooks, Michael Ralph, Zak Kurz, Liam Ronan, Josh Burger, Anthony Craig, Zach Epting, Justus Basinger, Elliott Campbell, Dorian Lindsey, Jason Hill, Jim Welsh, Nyle Grove, Garrison Moore, Brater Gerber, Nick Karas, Josh Contee, Mikel Horton

Before getting deeper into our winners’ accolades, we’ll count down the conference runners-up, from worst-to-first:

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9th

VMI Keydets, #248

1.7 Super Squad Rating

Maybe the Virginia Military Institute has had better things to do the last three years than play effective football? With only one total win in these first two years, the Keydets did turn up in 2019 to have a near-.500 season. Hopefully this inspires some better outcomes for VMI down the road.

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8th

Western Carolina Catamounts, #206

2.6 Super Squad Rating

Jumping waaayyyy up 42 positions from a clear-last, the competition gets a little tighter. Next sits Western Carolina, who actually managed a winning 7-5 season in 2017. The seasons since would show that this was mostly-thanks to exiting-talent, as the Catamounts have had just three wins each season since.

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7th

East Tennessee State Buccaneers, #195

2.9 Super Squad Rating

ETSU has had the most-dramatic first-to-last year-over-year change that we’ve covered thus far. They went from three-way sharing the Southern Conference title with Wofford and Furman in 2018, to coming in last-place with one conference win in 2019. Hopefully 2019 was just a fluke year for the Buccaneers.

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6th

Chattanooga Mocs, #178

3.2 Super Squad Rating

Unlike the Buccaneers behind them, Chattanooga’s three seasons are much more a story of consistency than Highs and Lows. Never ranking better than #156 or worse than #187 overall, the Mocs managed two .500+ seasons and an overall Southern Conference record of 12-12.

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5th

Mercer Bears, #163

3.6 Super Squad Rating

While one-worse than Chattanooga behind them in both the overall and conference ‘Wins’ column and similar in PF-PA scoring-ratios, the Bears managed this spot with slightly-tougher scheduling than the Mocs over the three years, most-notably in 2018 when their average opponent (#142) was 6 positions stronger than Chattanooga’s average opponent (#148).

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4th

The Citadel Bulldogs, #155

3.9 Super Squad Rating

Of our three middle-of-the-pack Southern Conference teams, The Citadel had the best overall record and power rating. And unlike Chattanooga and Mercer with similar strengths of schedule, the Bulldogs had a decidedly-better PF-PA ratio, especially overall in 2019. With six losses each season and no titles over the three years, this squad is ultimately very mediocre.

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3rd

Samford Bulldogs, #134

4.5 Super Squad Rating

While a clear pick above The Citadel, with overall and conference records above .500, Samford is a team that declined in performance over this period. The Bulldogs were Hierank’s top overall Southern Conference squad in 2017, and have dropped since to finish Hierank’s fifth-best team in the conference in 2019.

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2nd

Furman Paladins, #102

5.4 Super Squad Rating

Even though they didn’t bring home our first-ever Southern Conference Super Squad title, the Paladins scored better overall than any of the winners we’ve awarded to-date. Furman went 6-2 every year in the conference, three-way shared a title in 2018, and is the first on this list with three winning seasons, all earning them this runner-up spot.

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WINNER

Wofford Terriers, #92

6.0 Super Squad Rating

Of our winners so far, we’ve had four 2x Conference champions and one winner with a good overall-record but zero conference titles.

Finally in week 6 of our series, the Wofford Terriers are our first 3x conference champion Super Squad. The Terriers were a clear choice with not only their three titles, but also being the only team in the conference with a 9 win or 10 win season, having both.

With steady dominance over the 2017-19 seasons, Wofford’s chances at a Super Squad repeat next year don’t look so bad. Congratulations to the Terrier coaches, staff, administrators, all players, and especially the 48 young men present on the roster all three years that contributed to this title!

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