The SEC will adopt new scheduling policies in 2015. Most of the details regarding the SEC schedule in 2015 were already known, but Tuesday night the conference unveiled each school’s individual schedule and shared more information about the conference’s plans. Among the scheduling news to come out Tuesday night was the announcement the conference will no longer hold conference games in the opening week of the college football season.
Conference games in weeks two and three are still on the schedule for some, which opens up spots on the football schedule later in the season. This allows for non-conference rivalry games where available. Front-loading schedules with conference games opens up the schedule for a final week of the regular season filled with rivalries both in and out of conference play. While that is nice, it also continues to leave room for a week of lackluster football throughout the conference with games against inferior opponents. It offers SEC schools a chance to rest up for the big games in the final week of the season and will continue to leave room for criticism by some.
The SEC also uses a 6-1-1 schedule format in 2015, with six division games, one protected cross-division game and one rotating cross-division game. As usual, the SEC will hold the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. The 2015 game is scheduled for Saturday, December 5, 2015. Starting in 2016, the conference will begin requiring each school to schedule one non-conference game against another power conference opponent from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten or Pac-12. Notre Dame will also satisfy the scheduling requirement, but BYU and other independent schools (Army and potentially UMass -- Navy is joining the American Athletic Conference) will not. For most schools that requirement will be filled with rivalry games against ACC schools (Florida-Florida State, Georgia-Georgia Tech, South Carolina-Clemson, Kentucky-Louisville).
The SEC conference schedule includes two Thursday night games. Kentucky hosts Auburn on October 15. Missouri hosts Mississippi State on November 5.
For full SEC schedules, be sure to bookmark and visit FBSchedules.com. Nobody archives college football schedules better.
Here is a run through the 2015 with some of the highlighted games of note involving SEC teams:
September 3 (Thursday): South Carolina vs. North Carolina (Charlotte)
September 5: Alabama vs. Wisconsin (Arlington)
September 5: Auburn vs. Louisville (Atlanta)
September 5: Texas A&M vs. Arizona State (Houston)
September 12: Mississippi State vs. LSU
September 12: Tennessee vs. Oklahoma
September 19: LSU vs. Auburn
September 26: Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (Arlington)
September 26: Florida vs. Tennessee
October 3: Georgia vs. Alabama
October 10: Tennessee vs. Georgia
October 15 (Thursday): Kentucky vs. Auburn
October 17: Texas A&M vs. Alabama
October 24: Alabama vs. Tennessee
October 31: Florida vs. Georgia (Jacksonville)
November 5 (Thursday): Missouri vs. Mississippi State
November 7: Alabama vs. LSU
November 7: Auburn vs. Texas A&M
November 14: Mississippi State vs. Alabama
November 14: LSU vs. Arkansas
November 14: South Carolina vs. Florida
November 21: Ole Miss vs. LSU
November 28: Auburn vs. Alabama
November 28: Florida vs. Florida State
November 28: Kentucky vs. Louisville
November 28: LSU vs. Texas A&M
November 28: South Carolina vs. Clemson
November 28: Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss
November 28: Georgia Tech vs. Georgia
November 28: LSU vs. Texas A&M