Alabama vs. LSU, once the most consequential game on college football’s calendar, won’t be played annually.
Florida vs. Tennessee dominated the 1990s, but it’s taking a back seat in this schedule.
Arkansas gives up some rivalries but will reignite series with Texas.
The SEC is cutting some key rivalries? Say it ain’t so!
Conference expansion, paired with the elimination of divisions, came at a price. That price? Not seeing Alabama-LSU played annually. Some rivalries will recede from the annual docket, like that bitter clash that once was so pivotal in the SEC West.
The SEC’s rivalries are set, at least for the next four years. The nine-game conference schedule will preserve premier rivalries, but there are some notable omissions. Neither Alabama-LSU nor Florida-Tennessee will be retained annually. Instead, they’ll be played twice in the next four years.
On this edition of ‘SEC Football Unfiltered,’ a podcast from the USA TODAY Sports Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams sound off on the SEC’s assignment of annual opponents.
Each SEC team has been assigned three rivals it will face annually. Its other six opponents on the nine-game conference schedule will rotate. Those rotational opponents will be played twice in a four-year span.
Is it a big deal that these SEC rivalries won’t stay annual matchups?
Georgia vs. Tennessee
Adams: Big deal. These are bordering states. They recruit many of the same players. The campuses are separated by fewer than 250 miles. This series became an annual affair in 1992 with the dawn of divisional play. It delivers great games.
Toppmeyer: Not a big deal. This is a good matchup. It’s not a heated rivalry. Each team has multiple more important rivals.
Arkansas vs. Texas A&M
Adams: Not a big deal. This rivalry went dormant for almost two decades after Arkansas joined the SEC, and the Aggies have owned the series for more than a decade. Playing Texas is a bigger deal to Arkansas.
Toppmeyer: Not a big deal. These teams were old Southwest Conference rivals, but their much bigger rivalry is with Texas, which both will play.
Arkansas vs. Mississippi
Adams: Not a big deal. These teams twice met in the Sugar Bowl when they played in different conferences. It’s a good series, not a mandatory one.
Toppmeyer: Not a big deal. This is just the type of rivalry we can live with being played only twice in a four-year span.
Florida vs. LSU
Adams: Moderate deal. Each team has bigger rivalries, but this is a heated series that’s evenly matched and delivers memorable games.
Toppmeyer: Moderate deal. This game evokes strong emotions from the players, who detest the opposing side. There’s been no shortage of drama, either, from the Hurricane Matthew controversy to the Tim Tebow cell phone number leak to the Marco Wilson shoe toss.
Alabama vs. LSU
Adams: Big deal. Alabama surpassed Ole Miss as the bigger rival for LSU many years ago. This has been such a huge game for decades.
Toppmeyer: Big deal. Seriously, Alabama and LSU aren’t going to play every year? C’mon. There were several seasons in which Alabama-LSU ranked as the most consequential game in the entire college football season.
Florida vs. Tennessee
Adams: Big deal. Divisions elevated this game into a consequential, heated rivalry pitting Phillip Fulmer vs. Steve Spurrier and Peyton Manning vs. Danny Wuerffel. Even with divisions gone and the rivalry not at its peak, this is a rivarly worth keeping.
Toppmeyer: Big deal. It’s true, this rivarly isn’t what it used to be, but I’ve covered games in this series when neither team was that good, and you wouldn’t have known that based on the environment in either Neyland Stadium or The Swamp. Toss out the records, because these fan bases simply do not like each other, making for a great rivalry.
SEC teams that got off easy with their rivalry assignments
∎ Tennessee (Alabama, Kentucky, Vanderbilt)
∎ Florida (Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina)
∎ LSU (Arkansas, Ole Miss, Texas A&M)
SEC teams that got tough rivalry draws
∎ Arkansas (LSU, Missouri, Texas)
∎ Ole Miss (LSU, Mississippi State, Oklahoma)
∎ Texas A&M (LSU, Missouri, Texas)
Week 5 picks against the spread!
Toppmeyer’s five-pack of picks (picks in bold):
∎ Notre Dame at Arkansas (-6.5)
∎ Utah State at Vanderbilt (-21.5)
∎ Auburnat Texas A&M (-6.5)
∎ Alabama at Georgia (-2.5)
∎ Florida State (-6.5) at Virginia
Season record: 11-9 (2-3 last week)
Adams’ five-pack of picks (picks in bold):
∎ LSU at Ole Miss (-2.5)
∎ Tennessee (-7.5) at Mississippi State
∎ Auburn at Texas A&M (-6.5)
∎ Alabama at Georgia (-2.5)
∎ UCLA at Northwestern (-6.5)
Season record: 10-10 (3-2 last week)
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Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. John Adams is the senior sports columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel. Subscribe to the SEC Football Unfiltered podcast, and check out the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.