SEC Football: Biggest takeaways from 2020 schedule release

The SEC football schedules for the 2020 season have officially been released, and there are some big changes coming next season.

The majority of SEC football games are set in stone years in advance. Every team knows they have to play the other teams in their division plus one rival in the other division. Rivalry games are in the last week, and other small things can’t be changed.

However, the new SEC schedule has some big changes that will affect the 2020 season. What did they change, and who will it affect the most?

https://twitter.com/SECNetwork/status/1159166902431866886?s=20

Week 12 cupcakes are gone… kind of

One knock on SEC teams is that they always play easy opponents in Week 12. Well, this is no longer the case for some top contenders. Most of these teams still get a break in November, but it will come a week early. Instead, there will be some big SEC games before Rivalry Week. Auburn has to play LSU, Alabama will play Texas A&M, and Georgia will play Kentucky. The other teams still get their cupcake games in Week 12, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

LSU has a daunting end to the season

LSU might have the toughest schedule in 2019, but they certainly have the toughest end of the season. In their final five games, they will play Mississippi State, Alabama, South Carolina, at Auburn, and at Texas A&M. There is a chance they end the year 1-4 in those games. The big chance is of course having to play Auburn right before their rivalry game. To keep it fair, the Aggies have to travel to Tuscaloosa that week as well.

The Auburn-Georgia game will not be played in November

Every other year, it seemed like Auburn got the short end of the stick, playing two playoff contenders on the road in three weeks. To fix this, the Tigers will now play Georgia in October. You can’t control when your rivals are good, but it at least makes it closer to when Alabama will play Tennessee. Now, playing LSU in November doesn’t do them any favors, but there is only so much you can do with a loaded schedule.

Tough opening months for top teams

There won’t be many more neutral site games for Alabama, but they do have to play USC this year in Texas. USC is on the rise, and some believe that Urban Meyer will be their head coach in 2020. If this happens, watch out for this game.

Georgia and Alabama are on a collision course for Week 3 in Tuscaloosa. Georgia will play Virginia in Week 1. Neither of these games will likely be College Football Playoff previews, but their September games will be a lot tougher than they have been in recent years. This Week Three game will almost definitely put one of these teams in must-win mode for the rest of the year. Both teams will likely be replacing starting quarterbacks among other stars, so this one will be vital.

All in all, it appears that the 2020 season is filled with tough roads to the SEC Championship. Every expected top team has a tougher schedule than they do this year. SEC football is just around the corner, but fans are already excited for 2020.