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The spread is so hard to stop in November.
It meant something completely different before COVID-19. They were simpler times.
The spread of infractions revolutionized the SEC starting with Urban Meyer and Gus Malzahn, and the schemes have now mutated as so many different defensive gurus like Will Muschamp, Kirby Smart and Jeremy Pruitt just can’t keep up. Sorry, guys, but the truth hurts.
This season’s spread attack is of course off the pitch, and all the coaches are helpless against it. Halloween on college campuses seems like the super spreader everyone feared, so now four games are called off this weekend due to positive coronavirus tests and subsequent contact tracing. The SEC rushed into this mess knowing full well it was coming, so let’s not act in surprise.
Yet it is a shock to the league system, which relies on these football matches to generate revenue in order to save its sports departments. And now Nick Saban asks why players have to be quarantined for so long. A man of vision, Saban can see this season moving away.
Alabama and Auburn are again inactive for the second week in a row. Still on the SEC Week 8 schedule… for now: South Carolina at Ole Miss (6.30pm), Arkansas in Florida (6pm) and Kentucky at Vanderbilt (11am).
Alabama’s big weekend game is now Sunday when Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa faces Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (3:05 p.m. ET).
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We wish for chaos in college football every year when the calendar clicks November, but it’s chaos nobody wants. Can the season be completed as originally planned? It doesn’t seem likely at this point, but we can still hope.
Get right to the finish line, crown a champion, and collect the TV checks, baby. Two teams in the college football qualifiers would obviously be a bonus. (No pressure, however, Texas A&M).
Christmas is of course canceled for the teams selected for the CFP. You can’t risk an epidemic for all that money just so players can see their families.
From there, don your masks and cleanse your souls of all expectations for a “fair and balanced” end to this season. The way COVID-19 is now spreading across the country, the path to December 19 and the SEC title game in Atlanta could get even more complicated next week.
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The easy scenario for SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey is for Alabama, Florida and Texas A&M to hold the table and play enough games to impress the college football playoff committee. Alabama knocked out Texas A&M earlier this year, but Texas A&M upset the Gators and have played outstanding football ever since. The Aggies and quarterback Kellen Mond crushed South Carolina 48-3 last week.
From a planning standpoint, the common denominator between Florida, Alabama, and Texas A&M is LSU. Each of those teams have to face the Tigers before the end of the season, but that’s currently a problem. Reigning National Champion LSU has now postponed games against No.1 Alabama and No.6 Florida, and with no more open dates, it’s unclear how that will be resolved.
For now, LSU is due to play in Florida on December 12 as makeup, but SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey may need to adjust a few things to make it all work. As of this weekend, here are the remaining schedules for Alabama, Florida and Texas A&M, the three SEC teams still in play for the college football playoffs.
ALABAMA
against Kentucky next week.
vs Auburn November 28
in Arkansas on December 5
FLORIDA
vs. Arkansas on Sat.
at Vanderbilt next week.
vs. Kentucky November 28
in Tennessee on December 5
vs LSU on December 12 (makeup).
TEXAS A&M
vs Ole Miss next week.
vs LSU November 28.
in Auburn on December 5th.
in Tennessee on December 12 (makeup).
Right now, Florida could enter the SEC Championship after playing one more game than Alabama and no time off. How is that fair? Things get really weird, though, if Alabama has any other games postponed or, you know, Auburn passes the table until December 12. Here is Auburn’s remaining two-game losing streak.
AUBURN
vs Tennessee next week.
in Alabama on November 12.
vs. Texas A&M on December 5.
to the State of Mississippi on December 12.
If Auburn ends the season with a win over Alabama and the same number of wins as the Crimson Tide, it would create a five-alarm fire for the SEC, no matter how Sankey conceives of the tiebreaker. How’s that for the chaos? Auburn could go undefeated in the SEC West, but get stuck at home with nothing to show.
Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He’s on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.
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