With two games left in the regular season, No. 15 Texas A&M has the opportunity to reach the Southeastern Conference title game for the first time since joining the league in 2012.
If the Aggies win their last two games against Auburn and No. 3 Texas, they will finish 7-1 in conference play and secure a spot in the title game.
“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.”
However, a loss would lead to more uncertainty in an already tight race, which could end with as many as six teams having 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 record at 5-1. Texas hosts Kentucky on Saturday before facing Texas A&M on Nov. 30. No. 8 Georgia is in third place at 6-2 after already completing its league games. Tenth-ranked Tennessee is next at 5-2, followed by No. 7 Alabama and No. 9 Ole Miss 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 had a 6-2 record.
The Volunteers have one more conference game 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 defeating the Bulldogs 41-34. Georgia has the tiebreaker over Texas and Tennessee after beating both teams.
If the tie remains after head-to-head results, records against common conference opponents would be used to break it. If necessary, the third tiebreaker would be the records against the highest-placed common conference opponents. Next would be the cumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponents, followed by the total scoring margin against all conference opponents.
If the tie is still unresolved after all those steps, the tied teams will undergo a random draw to determine who will go to the title game.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart is not focused on any of this and doesn’t want to discuss 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 excited to make it to the conference title game, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin has mixed feelings about 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 also noted that playing another game increases the risk of injuries and compared 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.”
