Road Wins May be the Deciding Factor in the SEC

The SEC is off to an historic start to the 2024-2025 season, but in-conference road wins may end up being the deciding factor on who could be the conference champion.

Jan 7, 2025; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden gestures toward the crowd against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images / Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- The No. 8 Florida Gators sent shockwaves across the nation Tuesday night with a historic 30-point upset win over No. 1 Tennessee at home, giving the program its first win over an AP No. 1-ranked team in history and making it the most-lopsided lost for a top-ranked team since 1968.

As much of a testament as the win is to Todd Golden and his team, which is now off to a 14-1 start two games into conference play, it's also a testament to the difficulty of playing on the road in the SEC this season.

Even Golden admitted as much after Tuesday's win, noting that the Gators' next game will be at Arkansas on Saturday.

"We'll enjoy it tonight. We'll start prepping for Arkansas tomorrow, and we got to find a way to get to 2-1 in this league because any road win in this league is going to feel like gold," he said.

DOWN GOES NO. 1#Gators rebound after a loss to Kentucky with DOMINATING 73-43 win over No. 1 Tennessee.

Florida moves to 14-1 on the season pic.twitter.com/jcTMYNCuDi

— Cam Parker (@camparker25) January 8, 2025

The Gators' win over Tennessee wasn't the only major upset within the conference on Tuesday night with the ranked favorite falling on the road.

No. 6 Kentucky, who themselves had just beaten the Gators with a 106-100 win inside Rupp Arena, suffered a 13-point loss on the road to unranked Georgia. Meanwhile, No. 2 Auburn nearly suffered an upset on the road to unranked Texas with a close 87-82 win in which the Longhorns scored 55 points in the second half.

These upsets and the near upset in Austin are early proof of the conference's ability to simply match up with each other on any given night. It's also confirmation that the league's historic start to the 2024-2025 season is no fluke.

Entering conference play, which began last Saturday with all 16 teams in action, the conference-wide record of 157-20 (.887) is the best start in SEC history. Additionally, all teams in the SEC entered league play with at least 10 wins, which included undefeated starts for Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee and Oklahoma.

All four of these programs suffered their first losses in conference road openers.

"We know the league's good," Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said after Tuesday's loss to the Gators. "It's historic what happened with our league in the non-league. And I think our teams have gotten better throughout. I mean, I think there's outstanding coaches and players in the league. I don't think there's any gimmes, you know, I don't think there's any gimmes at home. I don't think there's any gimmes on the road. I just think that this league, we built it to that. Something we should all be proud of."

Through 13 total conference games, with three more being played on Wednesday night, road teams are 3-10 with the home teams winning by an average of 13.46 points. Of the 10 wins by home teams, five have been by at least 20 points and two have been by at least 30 points.

There was also little doubt of the crowd's impact during Florida's 73-43 win. Despite the University of Florida still being on winter break, over 11,000 fans packed inside of Exactech Arena with many, mostly students, being turned away at the door.

"I mean, it's a incredible homecourt advantage, you know, I think our fans have been fantastic supporting us," Golden said. "You know, as amazing as it was tonight, you know, when you sell out a game like Stetson a couple weeks ago on a weekend of a break with no students around on Sunday, I think it was, I was like, 'Man, like, alright, these fans really have our back.' They've done a great job supporting us all year, and we knew what tonight was going to be."

Alijah Martin with a turnaround 3 has the shot clock expired while the crowd chants “Overrated” at No. 1 Tennessee #Gators pic.twitter.com/UMtauqeBmW

— Cam Parker (@camparker25) January 8, 2025

Success on the road also correlates to regular season conference titles. Since the 2019-2020 season, the SEC's regular season champion has won at least six of its nine in-conference road games.

The season is still far from over. Barnes said as much while also explaining, "If we don't get better, we're not going to be any better." After Barnes' media session, Golden emphasized the team's upcoming road matchup against the Razorbacks saying Tuesday's win won't feel as good if they don't defeat Arkansas.

But if the league continues to beat each other up, this season could end up being the outlier due to the home teams' early dominance, and one road win could be the difference maker between a team being a contender or a pretender.

Gators Remaining 2025 Schedule

Date (Time)	Opponent	Location	TV
Jan. 11 (4 p.m.)	@ Arkansas	Fayetteville, Ar.	ESPN
Jan. 14 (9 p.m.)	Missouri	Gainesville, Fla.	ESPNU
Jan. 18 (2 or 4 p.m.)	Texas	Gainesville, Fla.	ESPN or ESPN 2
Jan. 22 (7 p.m.)	@ South Carolina	Columbia, Sc.	SEC Network
Jan. 25 (3:30 p.m.)	Georgia	Gainesville, Fla.	SEC Network
Feb. 1 (Noon or 2 p.m.)	@ Tennessee	Knoxville, Tenn.	ESPN or ESPN 2
Feb. 4 (7 p.m.)	Vanderbilt	Gainesville, Fla.	SEC Network
Feb. 8 (4 p.m.)	@ Auburn	Auburn, Ala.	ESPN or ESPN 2
Feb. 11 (7 p.m.)	@ Mississippi State	Starkville, Miss.	ESPN 2 or ESPNU
Feb. 15 (8:30 p.m.)	South Carolina	Gainesville, Fla.	SEC Network
Feb. 18 (7 p.m.)	Oklahoma	Gainesville, Fla.	ESPN 2
Feb. 22 (6 p.m.)	@ LSU	Baton Rouge, La.	SEC Network
Feb. 25 (7 p.m.)	@ Georgia	Athens, Ga.	SEC Network
March 1 (8:30 p.m.)	Texas A&M	Gainesville, Fla.	SEC Network
March 5 (7 p.m.)	@ Alabama	Tuscaloosa, Ala.	ESPN or ESPN 2
March 8 (6 p.m.)	Ole Miss	Gainesville, Fla.	SEC Network