VS. 
What makes Nutt better than Cut? Most people would say, "Easy. Two trips to the ATL, asshole."
Well, Let's just talk about the things these coaches can control. Trips to Atlanta involve many outside factors.
In 2002 Houston's Hawgs went to Atlanta on the virtue of a 5-3 SEC season. Lucky for the Hawgs, one of their regular season beatdown losses came at the hands of a probation laden Alabama squad who was conveniently ineligible for the Championship game. Bama ended up 6-2 in the SEC that season, but Houston's Hawgs "earned" their way in as West Runner-ups. They subsequently got their asses handed to them by Georgia (27 point win), and to show the real caliber of this squad, the Hawgs then went on to get owned by Minnesota in the ever-so-prestigious Music City Bowl.
When was the last time an "SEC WEST Champion" played in the Music City Bowl?
Cutcliffe got his ass kicked in the Music City Bowl as well, but it was after a 4-4 SEC season.
In 2006 Nutt went 7-1 in the SEC, while losing to LSU at home toward the end of the season. In 2003 Cutcliffe went 7-1 in the SEC, while losing to LSU at home toward the end of the season. Scary. The only difference was another outside factor. In 2003, LSU was a better squad than they were in 2006. So, while Cutcliffe stayed home, Houston gets to travel to Atlanta for another double digit loss.
Other Factors...
SEC Record
Nutt: 43-37 (.5375 over 10 seasons)
Cut: 25-23 (.5208 over 6 seasons)
Bowl Games
Nutt: 8 bowls in 10 years
Cut: 4 bowl games in 6 years
Bowl Wins
Nutt: 2 bowl Wins (Indy, Cotton)
Cut: 3 bowl Wins (2 Indy, Cotton)
10 Win Seasons
Nutt: 1 in 10 years (2006)
Cut: 1 in 6 years (2003)
BCS Appearances
Nutt: 0 (10 years)
Cut: 0 (6 years)
All this to say, I didn't exactly argue with the Cutcliffe firing. (He wasn't building on his moderate success, mostly attributed to the genius QB play of Eli Manning)
So, honestly...what makes Houston Nutt a better coach for Ole Miss than David Cutcliffe?
[info from CollegeFootballDataWarehouse]
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