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Ole Miss owns the easiest road in the West to the SEC Championship Game
By John Brasier
Published:
Ole Miss has the “easy road” to the SEC West’s berth in the conference championship game.
Yes, the Rebels do have one conference loss, putting them behind LSU and Texas A&M early in the division race.
But they earned the pole position by winning at Alabama, a feat that LSU will be hard-pressed to match on Nov. 7. Texas A&M, the remaining team among the four leading contenders, will play host to the Crimson Tide on Saturday.
Actually, the Rebels’ schedule is far from easy, but it’s the best in the West. Ole Miss plays fellow contenders A&M (Oct. 24) and LSU (Nov. 21) at home with Arkansas (Nov. 7) in between.
The Rebels’ only remaining conference road games are against Auburn (Oct. 31) and Mississippi State (Nov. 28) in the regular-season finale while Alabama, LSU and A&M must each go on the road at least once against the other top three contenders.
Plus, the Rebels have good timing. They play host to A&M the week after the Aggies play Alabama. They play LSU after a bye week, giving them extra time to heal and prepare while the Tigers butt heads with Arkansas.
Another advantage for Ole Miss — the edge in tiebreakers. The Rebels own the head-to-head tiebreaker against Alabama and would hold an advantage in most multi-team ties settled either by head-to-head records or division record because they beat the Tide and their loss was to Florida, an East team.
Not that the Rebels should be considered the favorites to win the East. Every team left on their schedule is capable of beating them. Memphis, ranked No. 22 in the coaches’ poll, is only a 10 1/2-point underdog Saturday at home against the Rebels.
Unbeaten LSU has a tough remaining schedule, beginning with Florida on Saturday. After playing Western Kentucky and taking a bye week, the Tigers finish at Alabama, at home against Arkansas, at Ole Miss and at home against A&M.
The next two games are crucial for A&M. After playing host to Alabama, the unbeaten Aggies go to Ole Miss. Then comes a stretch of home games against South Carolina, Auburn and Western Carolina followed by a trip to Vanderbilt. They finish with the possible showdown at LSU.
You can’t count out Alabama, which hasn’t lost two conference games in a season since 2010. If the Tide can beat the Aggies and get past LSU on the road on Nov. 7, it should go to Auburn with only one loss, needing only a single Ole Miss loss along the way to roll into Atlanta with an Iron Bowl victory.
GAMES LEFT BETWEEN TOP WEST DIVISION CONTENDERS
LSU (5-0, 3-0 SEC) — at Alabama (Nov. 7), at Ole Miss (Nov. 21), Texas A&M (Nov. 28)
Texas A&M (5-0, 2-0) — Alabama (Oct. 17), at Ole Miss (Oct. 24), at LSU (Nov. 28)
Ole Miss (5-1, 2-1) — Texas A&M (Oct. 24), LSU (Nov. 21)
Alabama (5-1, 2-1) — at Texas A&M (Oct. 17), LSU (Nov. 7)
