SEC MEDIA DAY NEWS

SEC’S MOVE TO 9-GAME CONFERENCE SCHEDULES PAUSES SOME RIVALRIES AND AWAKENS OTHERS

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — It used to be the biggest rivalry game of the week, the month — maybe the entire season.

In 2026, Florida and Tennessee will be complete strangers.

Their once-a-year matchup that, back in the day, featured Steve Spurrier, Peyton Manning, Phil Fulmer and snark that sometimes even outweighed the stakes — “You can’t spell Citrus without ‘U-T’” — is absent from the schedule for the first time in 37 seasons.

Alabama-LSU — that’s gone too, for the first time since 1963.

The Gators and LSU — they’ll miss each other for the first time since 1970.

Such is the price of progress in the Southeastern Conference, which has grown from 10 teams in the old days to 16 now.

The league is introducing a nine-game league slate this season in an attempt to boost strength of schedule for what is now a playoff system that has a committee awarding seven at-large spots in the 12-team field.

“When you look at our schedule, no one has created the kind of weekly competition that exists in the Southeastern Conference,” commissioner Greg Sankey said.

The divisions that once made Florida-Tennessee such a big deal — winner had an inside track for the East, a spot in the conference title game and maybe the national championship — are gone, another product of expansion.

Under the new system, in place through 2029, each school will play three “annual” foes. Some of the SEC’s most ancient rivalries, like Alabama-Auburn, Florida-Georgia and Auburn-Georgia, were preserved.

Others are now less-permanent affairs. Another oldie but goodie that’s missing this year, Georgia vs. Tennessee, first played in 1899 and became an annual event in 1992. The Volunteers got the best of the Bulldogs early, but Georgia has won nine in a row and 14 of the last 16 — a run that prompted a question to Georgia coach Kirby Smart on Tuesday about feeling like he has “one less win” on the schedule.

“You said that; not me,” Smart responded. “I got a lot of respect for Josh (Heupel) and their staff. I mean, they’re a tough prep. I’m glad other teams get an opportunity to do that, and then we get some new teams to play.”

Some new teams, yes. Some old rivalries will return, too.

For instance, Arkansas-Texas, a must-see game on the old Southwestern Conference schedule that produced the Game of the Century, attended by President Nixon in 1969, is an annual affair again. Two years ago, Missouri renewed acquaintance with Oklahoma, reupping a rivalry that meant a lot in the Big Eight for a time in the 1970s. And Texas-Texas A&M, the “Lone Star Shootout” and a game held every year between 1915 and 2011, will now be played annually.

Asked about rivalries being renewed and others that, in another effect of realignment, are changing dates — Missouri’s season-ending tradition against Arkansas has been moved to Week 8 — Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz said: “I don’t worry about that. I know each and every game in the SEC is extremely difficult.”

The SEC also mandated its teams play a 10th game against a Power Four opponent, which led Kansas and Missouri to renew their so-called “Border War” and created other early season matchups like Oklahoma-Michigan, Clemson-LSU, Ohio State-Texas, Auburn-Baylor, Arkansas-Utah and Arizona State-Texas.

SEC coaches believed moving to a nine-game league schedule would coincide with College Football Playoff expansion, which didn’t happen.

Now, they have tougher schedules, no increased access to the 12-team playoff and a few less rivalries.

“That’s what our conference looks like,” Oklahoma coach Brett Venables said. “Each and every week, you’re not going to sneak up on anybody.”

A brief look at the Tennessee-Florida series

The Tennessee-Florida rivalry decided the SEC East a dozen times between 1993 and 2009. Spurrier got under Fulmer’s skin with his “Citrus Bowl” comments. Manning, despite all his accolades, went 0-4 against the Gators. The importance of the rivalry diminished beginning in 2011, with both schools falling behind Georgia in the East.

A brief look at the Florida-LSU series

The Florida-LSU matchup has been filled with chaos, controversy and close games. Among the most memorable one: LSU upset No. 1 Florida in 1997, stormed the field and tore down goal posts; the top-ranked Tigers won another close one a decade later by converting five fourth-down plays; in 2020, unranked LSU stunned the sixth-ranked Gators in Gainesville on Cade York’s 57-yard field goal through heavy fog after cornerback Marco Wilson inexplicably threw an opponent’s shoe and kept alive the game-winning drive.

A brief look at the LSU-Alabama series

Alabama and LSU played 12 times between 2008 and 2021 with one of them ranked first or second. It often had Western Division and national title implications. Few matchups outweigh the 2011 showdown in which top-ranked LSU knocked off No. 2 Alabama 9-6 in overtime. The Crimson Tide won the rematch in New Orleans two months later for the national championship.

Could current rivalries be affected beyond 2029?

The SEC has been adamant that each team’s annual opponents will be revisited and potentially realigned to maintain competitive balance before the 2030 season. Of course, by then, there’s no telling what the SEC or college football will look like.

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SEC NOTEBOOK: KIRBY SMART WANTS GEORGIA ‘BIGGER’ IN BIGGEST MOMENTS

Georgia’s recent results would satisfy almost any program.

Kirby Smart, however, is not interested in measuring the Bulldogs solely by their consecutive SEC championships.

Georgia has followed both titles with losses in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, leaving Smart focused on producing better performances once the stakes rise beyond the conference championship  game.

“We’ve got to find a way to, whether we win the SEC or not, to get into that playoff and play better and play bigger in bigger moments,” Smart told ESPN Tuesday at SEC Media Days in Tampa, Fla.

Smart also said Georgia has not played its best football when it was needed most. The Bulldogs lost 23-10 to Notre Dame in the playoffs two seasons ago before falling 39-34 against Ole Miss last year.

To reinforce his message, Smart analyzed the 2025 NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder and the selflessness that enabled individual players to succeed within defined roles. He aims for Georgia to find similar success while continuing to adapt rather than relying on the approach that led to previous championships.

“We study successful programs all the time. If you’re not studying how other people are doing it and you’re just fixated on your own team and your own roster, I think you’re missing out,” Smart said. “We’re always trying to grow in our program. We don’t want to stay the same.”

–Golesh gets started with Auburn rebuild

Alex Golesh understands that rebuilding Auburn will eventually be measured in victories, championships and appearances on college football’s national stage.

For now, the Tigers’ first-year coach is focused on shaping what the program should be like before counting wins in his first season.

“I don’t really have any goals, other than laying a foundation for what Auburn football is going to be for years to come,” Golesh said. “If we can leave year one and we have a foundation that’s built on our identity I would tell you it’s a successful year one.”

That foundation will be built on the identity Golesh established during three seasons at South Florida: physical and mentally tough, detail-oriented and increasingly driven by the players rather than the coaching staff.

“That’s what Auburn football was built on, physical and mental toughness,” Golesh said. “The ability to be the most violent football team on the field every Saturday. Violent. I think that’s something you can watch and see.”

Golesh is Auburn’s fourth head coach since 2019 and inherits a program that has endured six consecutive seasons without winning more than six  games. The Tigers’ last double-digit-win season came in 2017, when they reached the SEC championship game.

Quarterback Byrum Brown is among 13 South Florida transfers who followed Golesh to Auburn. Brown passed for 3,158 yards and 28 touchdowns last season while adding 1,008 yards and 14 scores on the ground, giving the Tigers an experienced operator for Golesh’s fast-paced offense.

Golesh acknowledged the urgency surrounding the job but believes the current roster is talented enough to compete immediately. Auburn opens the season Sept. 5 against Baylor in Atlanta.

–Vanderbilt refuses to call 10 wins an arrival

Vanderbilt is dealing with an unfamiliar offseason problem: ensuring unprecedented success does not breed complacency.

The Commodores recorded the first 10-win season in program history last fall, finishing 10-3 after winning six SEC games. They must now replace quarterback Diego Pavia, the Heisman Trophy runner-up and central figure in their rise.

Head coach Clark Lea still believes the program has evolved in ways that go beyond just one quarterback or a single breakthrough season.

“Progress is not the destination. Last season was not an arrival,” Lea said. “It was simply another step in the climb.”

Lea added that the current roster inherited an expectation to win that his earlier Vanderbilt teams did not have.

“With that inheritance comes standard over excuses, responsibility over entitlement, commitment over convenience,” Lea said. “That inheritance gives us a foundation, but our story still must be earned because this team has yet to win a game. That’s the gift of every season. A new beginning, a blank canvas

The Commodores will continue emphasizing a physical running  game, though the carries previously handled by Pavia will be distributed more heavily among their running backs. Lea said Vanderbilt cannot duplicate Pavia’s unique impact, but expects new leaders to emerge from players who previously worked outside the spotlight.

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REPORT: GEORGIA RB DANTE DOWDELL INJURED IN ACCIDENT

Georgia running back Dante Dowdell was admitted to an Atlanta hospital with serious injuries following an all-terrain vehicle accident, ESPN reported Tuesday.

Bulldogs head football coach Kirby Smart confirmed to ESPN that Dowdell was injured in the accident near his home in Mississippi.

Dowdell was set to join his fourth program in four seasons after he played as a freshman at Oregon before transfers to Nebraska for the 2024 season and Kentucky last season.

In 30 college  games over three seasons, Dowdell has rushed for 1,264 yards on 272 carries with 16 touchdowns. His best season came with Nebraska when he ran for 614 yards on 143 carries with 12 TDs.

Smart said there is no timetable for a potential return, and no certainty that Dowdell will be able to recover in time to play this season.

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