Alabama Football: Winners and losers of SEC schedule release
By Dakota Cox
Alabama football was among the SEC schedule winners.
We got breaking news on Friday from the SEC. The conference has finally announced the two extra opponents on each SEC schedule. Alabama football will be playing Kentucky and Missouri in addition to their eight other SEC games.
This news was bound to rock the boat. Every selection process was going to have a little bit of bias, and the decision may alter who wins a national championship. With only 10 games being played, the margin for error in every conference is razor thin. With teams like Clemson having a cake walk to an undefeated season, it is incredibly important that at least one SEC teams goes 9-1 to remain in contention for the College Football Playoff.
Now that the teams are finalized, we can finally dive into realistic expectations for everyone. Let’s start with a basic topic. These are the winners and losers of the new SEC schedule release. As we’re trying to be more optimistic, let’s start with the winners.
Winners
Alabama Crimson Tide
Some Alabama football fans are upset that we aren’t playing Florida, but this is an overwhelming win for the Tide. Alabama already had one of the most challenging schedules in the country. Adding Missouri and Kentucky makes their path to an undefeated season a little more manageable. They can also find time to rest as they prepare for the blue-bloods on their schedule.
Florida Gators
This is a similar situation. Neither Alabama nor Florida wanted to have this game. Let’s save this matchup for a potential SEC Championship game. Either team could easily win this game, but it would significantly hurt the SEC’s odds to have a powerhouse make it through the regular season unscathed. In the end, that’s why they went with a more balanced schedule.
LSU Tigers
LSU possibly got the best-case scenario for their 2020 schedule. Their typical run through the SEC West and Florida will be a challenge, but they did not get any challenging game added. They will be playing two of the worst SEC East teams in Vanderbilt and Missouri.