Sports | NCAA football In Football, the South Rises Again Nothing tops college football in the South By Katherine Thompson Posted Dec 5, 2008 7:03 PM CST Copied On Saturday, the two winningest active coaches in the SEC, Steve Spurrier of South Carolina and Phillip Fulmer of Tennessee, will be playing for fourth place in their division. (AP Photo/Wade Payne, File) With Alabama and Florida getting set to play for what is likely to be a national championship berth tomorrow, the Wall Street Journal looks into what has been giving the juggernaut Southeastern Conference its recent momentum. It's not just great coaching—although that helps—but a combination of culture, politics, and growing wealth in the region. In the South, where football is king, two-thirds of governors and senators are SEC alumni. This gives the teams some high-powered advocates, helping secure lofty coaching salaries and keeping local media scrutiny in check. And despite the low average incomes of the SEC states, their schools have some of the best fundraising in the nation. Read These Next Sinclair, Nexstar end Jimmy Kimmel blackouts. Tim Allen struggled for 6 decades on this, until he heard Erika Kirk. James Comey says go ahead, bring on his trial. Trump is pushing for capital punishment in DC. Report an error