Can’t Miss TV: The SEC’s most interesting games in Week 12
By Ethan Levine
Published:
Here are the can’t miss games of Week 12 in the SEC:
NO. 1 MISSISSIPPI STATE AT NO. 5 ALABAMA (SATURDAY ON CBS — 3:30 P.M.)
This is the game of the week across all conferences, as two top 5 teams battle for the right to remain in the hunt for an SEC West title and a potential College Football Playoff berth at the end of the year.
Mississippi State is off to its best start in school history at 9-0, and is looking to remain unbeaten with yet another road win over a top 10 team. Alabama, on the other hand, must win to avoid a fatal second loss in 2014, all but ending its run to another national title.
The Tide has been here plenty of times before, especially during the Nick Saban era, while Mississippi State is relatively new to the big national stage. The Bulldogs have been No. 1 for five weeks now, but this is by far their biggest game in school history.
These are two of the best teams in the country, and no other game in Week 12 is as high stakes as this one. The winner will control its destiny to win the division and the conference, likely earning a playoff bid in the process. If Alabama loses, its season is over; if Mississippi State loses, its season immediately goes on life support.
This game is sure to come down to the wire, and with its implications in the SEC and on the national scene in, it’s as “can’t miss” as any game so far this season.
NO. 9 AUBURN AT NO. 15 GEORGIA (SATURDAY ON ESPN — 7:15 P.M.)
Both these teams have two losses and almost no shot at reaching the playoff, but there are still plenty of story lines that should make this showdown one of the best of the weekend.
These teams share in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, and they’re sure to produce another instant classic Saturday night. Need I remind you how last year’s game ended? Auburn’s Hail Mary from Nick Marshall to Ricardo Louis is one of the most iconic plays in SEC history, and Georgia surely hasn’t forgotten how it all went down.
The Bulldogs will also get Todd Gurley back for this game, and the nation will be watching and wondering how he’ll look in his return, especially considering how well Nick Chubb played in his place while he served a four-game suspension.
The Tigers, meanwhile, are coming off a devastating loss to Texas A&M that likely knocked them out of contention for the playoffs. Will Auburn play with purpose or will it play like it just had the wind let out of its sails? We’ll find out Saturday.
These are still two top 15 teams hoping to make the most of what they have left in the regular season. The Bulldogs are no longer in first in the SEC East, but they’re still very much alive to win the division. However, this is their last SEC game of the year, and a loss would all but seal the division for Missouri.
Auburn is out of the hunt to defend its conference title, but it could still reach a New Year’s Six bowl if it wins its remaining games. Neither team envisioned taking three losses this season, but someone will have to come Saturday. Who will it be? Answering that question is why this game is a “can’t miss” classic.
MISSOURI AT NO. 24 TEXAS A&M (SATURDAY ON SEC NETWORK — 7:30 P.M.)
These are two middle-of-the-pack teams in the SEC, but this cross-divisional game still has plenty at stake. A Missouri win would go a long way toward it clinching a second straight SEC East title, something no one envisioned when the Tigers joined the conference in 2012.
If A&M wins, however, it will improve to 8-3 with back to back quality wins following a disastrous midseason run featuring three straight losses and a narrow victory over lowly Louisiana-Monroe. Texas A&M just returned to the rankings this week, and if it hopes to stay for a while it must win on Saturday.
The SEC West has only lost to the East once all season (Georgia’s win over Arkansas), and A&M does not want to be the first ranked team to spoil that run. Likewise, if Missouri could earn a win in Kyle Field, it would go a long way toward justifying itself as the best team in the East.
The Aggies claim one of the most hostile environments in the SEC, yet Mizzou is 3-1 in its last four trips to College Station (dating back to Mizzou and A&M’s days in the Big 12). This might be one of the most even matchups on the SEC slate in Week 12, and with a potential division title on the line its one of the most meaningful games of the weekend, too.
It might not look like it on paper, but this is as much a “can’t miss” game as any other in the SEC.
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
