The SEC has decided on the direction its football season will take. If there is a college football season, that is.
Following a meeting of the league’s presidents and chancellors, the SEC announced Thursday that it will go with a 10-game, conference-only schedule for the 2020 college football season. Originally scheduled to start the weekend of Sept. 5, the SEC has now pushed back the season’s kick-off back to Sept. 26. Additionally, the conference championship game will be played Dec. 19.
John Talty of al.com was the first to report the development. In confirming the report, the SEC added that each team will have two bye weekends during the regular season: one mid-season (different dates for different schools) as well as a league-wide bye the weekend of Dec. 12. That, of course, is the weekend prior to the league title game.
“This new plan for a football schedule is consistent with the educational goals of our universities to allow for the safe and orderly return to campus of their student populations and to provide a healthy learning environment during these unique circumstances presented by the COVID-19 virus,” commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “This new schedule supports the safety measures that are being taken by each of our institutions to ensure the health of our campus communities.”
It had been expected that the SEC would follow the ACC’s lead and add a plus-one to the schedule, a non-conference matchup that was previously on the schedule. Instead, the move means games such as LSU-Texas, South Carolina-Clemson, Florida-Florida State and Georgia-Georgia Tech are officially off the schedule for the 2020 season.
The 14-member SEC will play its six division rivals as well as the regularly-scheduled pair of crossover games. The additional crossover games that will fill out the 10-game conference slate will be announced at a later date.
The Big Ten and Pac-12 as previously announced that those leagues would be going to a conference-only schedule. That leaves the Big 12 as the only Power Five to have not signaled its scheduling intentions.
Below are all of the non-conference games for each SEC school that will be canceled:
- Alabama -- USC, Georgia State, Kent State, UT-Martin
- Arkansas -- Nevada, Notre Dame, Charleston Southern, Louisiana-Monroe
- Auburn -- Alcorn State, North Carolina, Southern Miss, UMass
- Florida -- Eastern Washington, South Alabama, New Mexico State, Florida State
- Georgia -- Virginia, East Tennessee State, Louisiana-Monroe, Georgia Tech
- Kentucky -- Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Eastern Illinois, Louisville
- LSU -- UTSA, Texas, Rice, Nicholls State
- Mississippi State -- New Mexico, NC State, Tulane, Alabama A&M
- Missouri -- Central Arkansas, Eastern Michigan, BYU, Louisiana
- Ole Miss -- Baylor, Southeast Missouri State, UConn, Georgia Southern
- South Carolina -- Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, Wofford, Clemson
- Tennessee -- Charlotte, Oklahoma, Furman, Troy
- Texas A&M -- Abiline Christian, North Texas, Colorado, Fresno State
- Vanderbilt -- Mercer, Kansas State, Colorado State, Louisiana Tech