SEC adopts plan to play conference-only schedule in 2020

SEC football is reportedly going conference-only for the 2020 season.

SEC football will be conference-only for the upcoming 2020 campaign.

According to Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated, the “SEC presidents have adopted a plan to play a 10-game, conference-only schedule this fall…League approved kickoff date is Sept. 26. Particulars on the schedule (the two additional games & locations) are unclear for now. SEC title game Dec. 19.”

This was widely expected after the ACC announced its intentions to go conference-only with a plus-one caveat baked in yesterday. Notre Dame football will be joining the ACC as a full-time member in 2020. While that was expected, what wasn’t was the plus-one caveat of it being a requirement to play the non-conference game in the home state of the team in question.

While it left open the possibly of four in-state rivalry games between four SEC and ACC schools, it has been put to bed with the SEC reportedly going conference-only. We will not be getting Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate (Georgia-Georgia Tech), the Palmetto Bowl (Clemson-South Carolina), the Governor’s Cup (Kentucky-Louisville) and the Sunshine Showdown (Florida-Florida State) this year.

How will SEC football go about adding two games to each team’s slate?

While it was hinted at on Wednesday, we now know we’re getting a 10-game, conference only SEC season, if we’re going to have football at all in this part of the country. As Dellenger wrote, the SEC has member institutions across 11 states, including hot spots for the coronavirus in Florida and Texas. Going conference-only is the SEC’s best route to stop the spread of the virus in 2020.

What is interesting about a 10-game SEC football season is where will the other games come from? The ACC was in a peculiar spot by adding Notre Dame in as a 15th member for this season. With Notre Dame being included in their plans, the ACC temporarily abolished divisions and the teams with the two best conference records will meet in Charlotte for the conference title bout.

Since the SEC will only have 14 teams in it this year, they could keep their existing eight conference-game slate intact with six divisional games with one cross-divisional, and then add two more games out of the opposite division to give them four apiece over there. Will it be based on open dates or will the entire thing be reshuffled in the SEC as it was in the ACC? Who knows?

With the SEC going conference-only, four annual in-state rivalries with the ACC are done in 2020.

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