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16 hours ago
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ATLANTA – For the last few weeks teams across the country have been trying to convince SEC officials to change their scheduling from eight games to nine.
The simple answer for that – “Well, I don't think there is anybody that would trade their nine games and want to come play our eight games,” Ole Miss Head Coach Lane Kiffin said.
According to ESPN, the SEC has the highest strength of schedule out of any conference with all 16 members inside the top 20, with the Florida Gators holding the toughest schedule and the Missouri Tigers the easiest, respectively.
Tennessee Volunteers Head Coach enjoys the rivalries that the eight-game conference schedule is able to bring stating, “I think the rivalries, the special games, different for each fan base, are a huge part of what fan bases look forward to and those experiences that they know they're going to have, whether it be a home game, road game, or neutral site game. I think those are special things that make college football a part of what college football is.”
This year, Missouri and Kansas will get to match up for the first time since the Tigers joined the SEC, and continued rivalry matches between Georgia and Georgia Tech and South Carolina and Clemson are able to remain.
With the extra non-conference game, the SEC is able to schedule these rivalry matches that excite fans more than a mid-season game against a team that they have nothing against.
Even with teams and other conferences calling the SEC weak for not playing these games, the conference doesn’t shy away from tough opponents, rather it invites them with Head Coach Steve Sarkisian saying, “We'll be the most traveled team in the SEC this year, which is a great challenge for us. We're looking forward to it.”
This season Texas will visit The Shoe to take on Ohio State in a College Football Playoff rematch. Along with that out of conference game, the Gators will host Miami and LSU will travel to Clemson.
There’s a lot going on outside of conference play this season, and just as much going on inside. Even with just eight conference games, the SEC is sure to jam-pack action each week.
MORE SEC Media Days News:
SEC Media Days: Day 3 live-blog, Alabama, Mississippi State, Florida and Oklahoma
Kalen DeBoer shares thoughts on Texas Head coach Steve Sarkisian
Texas coach introduced at SEC Media Days with playing of rival school's fight song
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