Unique SEC matchups may vanish in league-game format
Unique matchups for the SEC could vanish with only a league-game format BY DAVID PASCHALL
The Big Ten’s decision Thursday afternoon to play a league-only schedule this football season did not directly affect the Southeastern Conference, as there were no matchups scheduled between the two 14-team collections.
When the Pac-12 followed suit Friday night, however, things were forever changed, as Alabama’s opener against Southern California and Texas A&M’s third game against Colorado were abruptly wiped from their respective schedules. Power Five conferences may now be on pause, with the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big 12 and the SEC opting for more of a wait-and-see approach amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Things certainly have been trending in a fourth-and-long direction.
“We are running out of time to correct and get things right,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey told ESPN on Saturday, “and as a society we owe it to each other to be as healthy as we can be. I am going to focus on preparing to play the season as scheduled but acknowledge the circumstances around coronavirus are going to guide us in that decision-making.”
Should the SEC not have any nonconference games against Power Five opponents, here is what each league member would be without this season:
ALABAMA
The Sept. 5 showdown against USC at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, was the marquee pairing of college football’s first full weekend. The Crimson Tide were to receive a $6 million guarantee.
ARKANSAS
The Razorbacks have a Sept. 12 date against Notre Dame in South Bend. Arkansas is among the four SEC teams yet to suit up against the Irish, with
Auburn, Kentucky and Mississippi State comprising the other three.
AUBURN
A Sept. 12 encounter against North Carolina in Atlanta would showcase two promising sophomore quarterbacks — Sam Howell and Bo Nix — but this could be among three Chickfil-A Kickoff Games to get scratched, along with Florida State-West Virginia on Sept. 5, and Georgia-Virginia on Sept. 7.
FLORIDA
The Florida-Florida State rivalry has been held annually since 1958, with the Gators holding a 36-26-2 series lead. The Gators have quickly stabilized under Dan Mullen while capitalizing on the recent chaos in Tallahassee, winning the past two meetings by a combined 81-31.
GEORGIA
The last year without a Georgia-Georgia Tech football game was 1924. The Bulldogs are 16-3 in the rivalry under the coaching regimes of Mark Richt and Kirby Smart and are coming off last year’s 52-7 cruising, which was Georgia’s biggest win ever in this series.
KENTUCKY
The Wildcats and Louisville coexisted in the Bluegrass State from 1925 to 1993 without playing one another, but they’ve produced plenty of memorable games in the past quarter century. The series was deadlocked 15-15 two years ago, but Kentucky has won 56-10 and 45-13 since.
LSU
Texas was one of just three teams to play the national champion Tigers within a touchdown last season — LSU won 45-38 in Austin — with Auburn and Alabama being the other two. The Longhorns are scheduled to visit Baton Rouge on Sept. 12.
OLE MISS
The Rebels are supposed to open the Lane Kiffin era on Sept. 5 against Baylor in Houston. Oddsmakers are pegging this as a pick ‘em contest, even though the Bears are coming off a Sugar Bowl appearance.
MISSISSIPPI STATE
The Mike Leach era in Starkville is scheduled to begin Sept. 5 against visiting New Mexico, with the Bulldogs travelling to North Carolina State the following week. MSU and NCSU have split six previous meetings.
MISSOURI
An Oct. 10 trip to Provo, Utah, would mark the first BYU-Mizzou game since 2015 in Kansas City. That contest almost wasn’t played, as Tigers players boycotted over the treatment of black students at their university, which ultimately aided in the ousting of school president Tim Wolfe.
SOUTH CAROLINA
The Gamecocks have played state-rival Clemson every year since 1909, making it the nation’s second-longest continuous series among FBS programs behind Minnesota-Wisconsin (1906).
TENNESSEE
The Volunteers have a scheduled trip to Oklahoma on Sept. 12, which would be the first encounter between those two since Oklahoma’s 31-24 double-overtime triumph inside Neyland Stadium in 2015. Tennessee has an opening date with Charlotte, which is guided by former Boyd-Buchanan quarterback Will Healy.
TEXAS A&M
The Aggies were supposed to host Colorado on Sept. 19. That would have been the first matchup of these former Big 12 programs since 2009.
VANDERBILT
The Commodores have a trip planned to Kansas State on Sept. 19. Vanderbilt has won the two previous series meetings in 1984 and 2017, with the Wildcats having traveled to Nashville three years ago ranked No. 18 in the country before suffering a 14-7 setback.