SEC OUTLOOK
Chase for spots in SEC championship game still up for grabs with 2 games left
Nov 20, 2024, 3:56 pm
It's a tight race! Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
With two games left in the regular season, No. 15 Texas A&M has a chance to reach the Southeastern Conference title game for the first time since joining the league in 2012.
If the Aggies win their remaining games against Auburn and No. 3 Texas they will be 7-1 in conference play and be guaranteed a shot.
“This is everything that you want, right? We haven’t been in this position as a program ever,” first-year Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said. “There’s been no time ever where Texas A&M has been in the SEC, in the last two games controlled their own destiny to go to Atlanta. And so that’s what you work for. It’s the opportunity that you’ve trained for.”
But a loss would create more chaos in an already tight race that could end with as many as six teams with a 6-2 record in the first season the league has played without divisions since 1991.
“It’s interesting because this is my first year being in the SEC without divisions … I’m just kind of thinking what would that look like now? It makes it very entertaining,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “I think college football is at an all-time high, popularity wise, people watching us. They want to know what’s going on. It’s not just our conference, it’s a lot of other conferences. I think it’s a good thing.”
The Aggies are currently tied with the Longhorns for the SEC’s best mark at 5-1. Texas hosts Kentucky on Saturday before the showdown with Texas A&M on Nov. 30. No. 8 Georgia is in third place at 6-2 after already wrapping up league play. Tenth-ranked Tennessee is next at 5-2 and No. 7 Alabama and No. 9 Ole Miss are next at 4-2.
Tennessee last played in the SEC title game in 2007 with a 6-2 league record and lost 21-14 to LSU who also came in with a 6-2 record.
The Volunteers have one conference game remaining against Vanderbilt on Nov. 30. Alabama plays Oklahoma and Auburn and Ole Miss faces Florida and Mississippi State.
Alabama holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Georgia after getting a 41-34 win over the Bulldogs. Georgia has the tiebreaker over Texas and Tennessee after beating both teams.
If it is still tied after factoring in the head-to-head competition, then records against all common conference opponents would be used to break the tie. The third level to break ties would be the records against the highest placed common conference opponents.
Next would be cumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponents followed by the relative total scoring margin against all conference opponents.
If things still aren’t sorted out after all that then the tied teams would be subject to a random draw to pick who will go to the title game.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart isn’t thinking about any of that and doesn’t even want to talk about what needs to happen for his team to reach the title game.
“I don’t think that’s a hypothetical, the focus is on UMass. I mean, it really is,” he said. “So, why would I put energy or time into trying to figure out what the best pathway is, including the SEC championship, when I’m worried about UMass? I just don’t think it’s a quality conversation.”
While the Aggies would be thrilled to earn a spot in the conference title game, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin isn’t so keen on qualifying for the game now that the College Football Playoff has expanded from four to 12 teams.
“The conference championship could have a big impact both ways for people,” he said. “I’ve talked to other coaches, so I’ll just give you the feeling from some other coaches that they don’t want to be in it. The reward to get a bye versus the risk to get knocked out completely, that’s a really big risk just to get a bye.”
Kiffin added that playing another game also increases the risk of injuries and then likened playing in it to gambling.
“I’m not a big gambler but that’s kind of like one of those Vegas poker table things, like that’s all in,” he said. “And you’re going all in in the best conference in football, so you’ve got to play somebody great, too. Very different than a lot of these other conferences.”
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Houston’s Azeez Al-Shaair took to X on Monday morning to apologize to Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence after his violent blow to the quarterback’s facemask led to him being carted off the field with a concussion.
Back in the starting lineup after missing two games with a sprained left shoulder, Lawrence scrambled left on a second-and-7 play in the second quarter of Houston’s 23-20 win on Sunday. He initiated a slide before Al-Shaair raised his forearm and unleashed on the defenseless quarterback.
In the long post, Al-Shaair, who was ejected for the hit, first said he didn’t see Lawrence sliding until “it was too late” and that it happened “in the blink of an eye” before saying he was sorry for the hit.
“To Trevor I genuinely apologize to you for what ended up happening,” Al-Shaair wrote. “Before the game we spoke and I told you how great it was to see you back out on the field and wished you well. I would never want to see any player hurt because of a hit I put on them, especially one that was ruled ‘late’ or ‘unnecessary.’”
Lawrence clenched both fists after the hit — movements consistent with what’s referred to as the “fencing response,” which can be common after a traumatic brain injury. He was on the ground for several minutes as teammates came to his defense and mobbed Al-Shaair.
Al-Shaair was ejected for “an illegal hit on the quarterback, unnecessary, to the neck and head area,” referee Land Clark said in a pool report Sunday. Jaguars rookie cornerback Jarrian Jones also was ejected for throwing a punch during the melee.
As Al-Shaair was leaving the field, fans started screaming at him. Jaguars veteran guard Brandon Scherff joined in, prompting another altercation with Al-Shaair. Texans teammate Will Anderson grabbed Al-Shaair and was escorting him off the field when a fan threw a water bottle and hit Anderson in the helmet. The fan was later ejected.
Later in the post on X, Al-Shaair said he understood why Jacksonville's players came to the defense of Lawrence in the brawl following the hit.
“I can understand you having his back and defending him in a situation like that,” Al-Shaair wrote.
Then he complained about reporters and others for their commentary about him in the wake of the hit.
“To the rest of the people who I’ve been called every single name in the book from (to) reporters with their hands ready for a story to find their villain, to racist and Islamophobic fans and people, you don’t know heart nor my character which I don’t need to prove to any of you,” he wrote. “God knows my intentions and anyone who has ever been a teammate or friend of mine knows my heart.”
Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said Sunday it was a play that ”really has no business being in our league,” and Houston coach DeMeco Ryans said “that’s not what we’re coaching.”
Last week, Al-Shaair was flagged and later fined $11,255 for a late hit out of bounds on Titans running back Tony Pollard.
He was fined earlier this year after he punched Bears running back Roschon Johnson on the sideline in Week 2. That occurred during a scuffle that started after his hard shot on quarterback Caleb Williams near the sideline wasn’t flagged.
Al-Shaair, a sixth-year pro, will certainly receive a fine for the hit on Lawrence and could also be suspended.
At the beginning of his post on X, Al-Shaair said he’s always played the game hard and that he would never intentionally try to harm anyone.
“My goal is to hit you as hard as I can and then pray you’re still able to get up and play the next play,” he wrote. “And when the game is over go home to your family unharmed because it’s not personal, it’s just competition! We both are trying to do the same thing which is provide for our families!”