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SEC football games are rough matchups to begin with, but every team in the conference has that one game that it dreads the most this season. Here’s our take on those extra-grinding gridiron games:
Alabama: Nov. 28 at Auburn
The Iron Bowl usually is a colossal matchup, but this year’s might be bigger and better than last year’s 55-44 win by the Crimson Tide. By the time we get to the annual regular-season finale for both teams, Auburn QB Jeremy Johnson will have nearly a full season of snaps under his belt, and you can bet that Will Muschamp will be chomping at the bit to shut down Lane Kiffin and his old buddy Nick Saban. Let’s kick this thing off now!
Arkansas: Oct. 10 at Alabama
Every trip to Tuscaloosa is a test, and this year’s visit by Bret Bielema’s squad is no exception. The Razorbacks probably are still ruing the game they gave away last year, when they should have beaten the Crimson Tide at home but instead lost a one-point heartbreaker. The Hogs also have back-to-back road trips to Mississippi (Nov. 7) and LSU (Nov. 14) this season, but if they can’t beat Bama in October, those November games might not mean as much.
Auburn: Oct. 24 at Arkansas
Before Gus Malzahn’s squad even gets to the Iron Bowl, it faces this gauntlet of games: at Arkansas (Oct. 24), home against Ole Miss (Halloween), at Texas A&M (Nov. 7), home against Georgia (Nov. 14). The Tigers open their SEC slate at LSU on Sept. 19, but that’s too early to be their toughest conference battle. Something tells us that Auburn’s matchup with the Hogs will be its hardest, especially with QB Brandon Allen and RBs Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins all returning for Arkansas.
Florida: Oct. 17 at LSU
Welcome back to the SEC, new Gators coach Jim McIlwain! Will Muschamp’s replacement is totally familiar with the conference from his days as an Alabama assistant, but his team will be tested. The Gators start SEC play on Sept. 19 at Kentucky, but then have to play host to Tennessee (Sept. 26), Mississippi (Oct. 3) and Missouri (Oct. 10) before closing out this scary stretch vs. LSU at Death Valley. By the time Florida gets to Baton Rouge, the Gators might be gasping for air.
Georgia: Oct. 10 at Tennessee
A Nov. 14 trip to Auburn looks like the Bulldogs’ most challenging game of the month, but the first two weeks of October are scarier for Mark Richt’s crew. Georgia hosts Alabama on Oct. 3, which might soften the Bulldogs up before they travel to Knoxville, where you can bet Joshua Dobbs and his Vols teammates will be waiting to pounce.
Kentucky: Nov. 7 at Georgia.
The Wildcats’ Oct. 15 contest versus Auburn is apparently their toughest SEC home game of the season because it’s against the Tigers and it’s a Thursday night game. But Kentucky will have 10 days off before facing with Jeremy Johnson and Co. Something tells us that Nick Chubb, who rushed just 13 times for 170 yards and a touchdown in Georgia’s 63-31 walloping in last year’s contest, could be even more dangerous this season.
LSU: Nov. 21 at Ole Miss.
In the Tigers’ most difficult stretch of the season, they head to Tuscaloosa (Nov. 7) and play host to Arkansas the following week before going to Oxford, where the Rebels will be ready for Leonard Fournette. Both teams might be shaky at QB, but Mississippi’s run defense will be the difference, and the Tigers will be playing without longtime defensive coordinator John Chavis.
Mississippi State: Nov. 21 at Arkansas
Not only do the Bulldogs have to face LSU at home on Sept. 12, they go to Auburn (Sept. 26) and Texas A&M (Oct. 3) in back-to-back weeks. But their quartet of contests that closes out their regular season is among the toughest in the country – at Missouri, vs. Alabama, at the Razorbacks and home to Ole Miss. And we get the sense that the Hogs might run them ragged before they take on the Rebels.
Missouri: Nov. 28 at Arkansas
This nomination is very easy, but the Tigers’ jaunt to Fayetteville definitely won’t be. Mizzou will pay for very winnable road games at Kentucky (Sept. 26) and Vanderbilt (Oct. 24) by having to go up against the Razorbacks. If the Tigers lose to the Hogs, it may ruin their chances for a third straight SEC East title.
Ole Miss: Sept. 19 at Alabama
Mississippi won’t have a lot going for it going into this game. The Crimson Tide will have revenge on its mind after the Rebels’ upset of Alabama last year. Plus this season’s matchup is in Tuscaloosa, where it’s tough to beat a Nick Saban-led team once let alone two years in a row. Plus, opening games against UT-Martin and Fresno State probably won’t prepare the Rebels for Alabama.
South Carolina: Oct. 31 at Texas A&M
It could be a scary Halloween for the Gamecocks, which were crushed by the Aggies at home in their opener a year ago. And that game was against a quarterback in Kenny Hill who has transferred TCU. This season, South Carolina has to deal with Kyle Field, the 12th Man and sophomore quarterback Kyle Allen, who might be more dangerous than Hill. And, oh yeah, the Gamecocks will face a Chavis-led defense as well.
Tennessee: Oct. 24 at Alabama
For a change, this game falls on the fourth Saturday in October, as opposed to the third, but that matters little to the Volunteers. If Tennessee wants to make the leap that some prognosticators think it will, it has to find a way to beat Bama. Other SEC teams have done it recently – Texas A&M and Malzahn’s Auburn squad come to mind. The Vols visit Missouri this season as well, but their tussle in Tuscaloosa will be a true barometer of how far Butch Jones’ team has come.
Texas A&M: Oct. 24 at Ole Miss
The Aggies’ regular-season finale at LSU on Nov. 28 looms as a daunting game, but the Tigers never seem to properly address their quarterback depth, and this year seems to be no different. Like the Tigers, the Rebels have question marks at that spot as well, but Hugh Freeze’s squad appears to have enough players back on defense to scuttle whatever game plan Texas A&M tries to use.
Vanderbilt: Sept. 12 vs. Georgia
The Bulldogs apparently have not yet decided on a quarterback, but that shouldn’t be a problem for them against the Commodores. What could be a major problem for Vandy is stopping Nick Chubb, who gained 89 yards in just 10 touches for Georgia in its 44-17 victory in last year’s matchup. This will be the perfect test to see if Derek Mason’s defense has made any kind of improvement.
Stan Chrapowicki is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, Alabama and Auburn.
