Throughout the week, ESPN’s SEC blog has been naming every SEC’s team must-win game for 2016. Since the articles were posted in alphabetical order of the teams, the series concluded Friday afternoon with the naming of Vanderbilt’s must-win game.
Most of the teams had the usual “must-win” picks; however, there were a couple surprises. ESPN picked Alabama’s must-win game as Tennessee and not LSU. Several analysts, most notably ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, have predicted Alabama and Tennessee will meet again in the SEC Championship Game. If either the Gators or Bulldogs hope to make it to the Georgia Dome, they’re going to need to win in Jacksonville in the border war affectionately known as The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
The only non-conference “must-win” game was named for South Carolina. The website said the Gamecocks have to beat East Carolina.
The biggest non-surprise on the list is Tennessee’s game against Florida. Will the Vols break the 11-game losing streak this season? For Butch Jones, he may have to. The Vols will be the favorite and the game will be played in Neyland Stadium.
Here’s what the ESPN bloggers see as the must-win game for all 14 SEC teams:
Alabama: Oct. 15 at Tennessee
Arkansas: Sept. 24 vs. Texas A&M
Auburn: Sept. 17 vs. Texas A&M
Florida: Oct. 29 vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville, Florida)
Georgia: Oct. 29 vs. Florida (in Jacksonville, Florida)
Kentucky: Oct. 29 at Missouri
LSU: Nov. 5 vs. Alabama
Mississippi State: Sept. 10 vs. South Carolina
Missouri: Nov. 12 vs. Vanderbilt
Ole Miss: Oct. 15 at Arkansas
South Carolina: Sept. 17 vs. East Carolina
Tennessee: Sept. 24 vs. Florida
Texas A&M: Oct. 8 vs. Tennessee
Vanderbilt: Sept. 1 vs. South Carolina
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
