The bye week. It’s a blessing for weary programs and a curse for football-rabid fans, relegated to finally doing chores around the house as their teams take a much-deserved rest.
Open dates not only allow a team an opportunity to mend, but can also prove to be strategically beneficial or detrimental, depending on when they occur.
Here’s a breakdown of each SEC team’s bye weeks in 2016 and whether it’s favorable or detrimental.
ALABAMA
Open date: Oct. 29, between vs. Texas A&M and at LSU
A bye week before facing LSU in 2015 worked in Alabama’s favor, as the Crimson Tide laid a resounding loss on the Tigers en route to the fourth national title under Nick Saban. The Tide and LSU meet once again this year after Alabama’s Halloween-weekend bye week.
Saban is 8-4 with the Tide coming off bye weeks.
The Oct. 29 off date precedes a Week 8 tilt with Texas A&M, and could, arguably see Alabama undefeated headed into the break — should Saban fill holes at quarterback, running back and center.
If Alabama can survive Les Miles and the Tigers, it could be smooth sailing from there on out as Saban’s squad closes the season with three home games against Mississippi State, Chattanooga and Auburn in the Iron Bowl.
Verdict: Winner
ARKANSAS
Open date: Oct. 29, between at Auburn and vs. Florida
Arkansas’ Oct. 29 bye week might come as a welcome gift for the Razorbacks, who will be in the midst of a brutal stretch. Bret Bielema’s squad will play host to Alabama and Ole Miss, followed by a trip to Auburn before the schedule allows them to take a breath.
The Hogs have been a second-half team the past two seasons under Bielema, but they’ll have their work cut out for them after their Week 9 bye. Arkansas returns from the break to face Florida and LSU, in what’s likely to be a season-defining stretch. Fortunately, both games are at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Verdict: Winner
AUBURN
Open date: Oct. 15, between at Mississippi State and vs. Arkansas
Auburn will be tested early this season with contests against Clemson, LSU and Texas A&M among the first four games. The Tigers will sandwich their Oct. 15 bye week around games they likely have to win, versus Mississippi State and Arkansas, if Gus Malzahn wants to contend for a fourth bowl appearance in as many years as Auburn head coach.
Malzahn is 3-0 coming off a bye. That unblemished mark could be in jeopardy against Arkansas, which beat Auburn in a four-overtime thriller last year.
Verdict: Winner
FLORIDA
Open date: Oct. 22, between vs Missouri and vs. Georgia
Florida will take a rest from its SEC East title defense on Oct. 22 after a home matchup with Missouri, the incumbent division champ the Gators ousted last year.
If the Gators can extend their winning streak against Tennessee on Sept. 24, Jim McElwain’s squad could be well on its way toward repeating by the time the Week 8 bye rolls around, with winnable games against UMass and North Texas, as well as divisional scrums versus Kentucky, Vanderbilt and the aforementioned Mizzou Tigers.
In theory, the Gators could sew up the SEC East, once again, as well as clinch a bowl berth, with a win over Georgia in their first game back after the bye when the two clash in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
Verdict: Winner
GEORGIA
Open date: Oct. 22, between vs. Vanderbilt and vs. Florida
Florida won’t be the only the Cocktail Party reveler resting up the week prior. The Bulldogs exit their first bye week under new coach Kirby Smart to face the rival Gators in a vital Week 8 contest.
The front-end of the schedule is rugged with games against North Carolina, Tennessee and Ole Miss, the latter in Oxford. But it also includes a visit by Vanderbilt before the bye week, which could give Smart’s program a confidence boost going into the Florida game.
Once again, we expect that game to help decide the SEC East.
Verdict: Winner
KENTUCKY
Open date: Oct. 15, between vs. Vanderbilt and vs. Mississippi State
Vanderbilt is the pre-bye week/homecoming opponent for Georgia and Kentucky.
The Commodores dealt Mark Stoops and his Wildcats a severe blow to their bowl bid late in 2015 with a 21-17 loss.
This season’s game could be big again for the Wildcats’ postseason hopes.
Stoops, who will be coaching for his job this fall, is 1-2 with the Wildcats coming off a bye week. He’ll face annual crossover partner Mississippi State after the Wildcats’ Week 7 bye. Stoops is 0-3 against the Bulldogs.
Verdict: Winner
LSU
Open date: Oct. 29, between vs. Ole Miss and vs. Alabama
LSU needs its Oct. 29 bye week to simultaneously recover from and prepare for its two biggest games. The team’s Week 9 off date cleaves home tilts against Ole Miss and Alabama, games that will likely determine if LSU can claim its first SEC West hardware since the 2011 campaign.
Verdict: Loser
MISSISSIPPI STATE
Open date: Oct. 1, between at UMass and vs. Auburn
Mississippi State will use its bye week to digest its trip to Foxborough’s Gillette Stadium to face the UMass Minutemen.
The Week 5 off date is early for Mississippi State, which took off Halloween weekend last year.
Dan Mullen’s squad returns in Week 6 against Auburn, before heading West to Provo, Utah, and a donnybrook with BYU. The early bye week could prove to be a disadvantage, however, especially if Mississippi State falls victim to the injury bug while facing Texas A&M, Alabama, Arkansas and Ole Miss in consecutive weeks to close the season.
Verdict: Loser
MISSOURI
Open date: Oct. 8, between at LSU and at Florida
Missouri’s road back to respectability won’t be easy under first-year head coach Barry Odom. That’s thanks to a tough schedule that hits its zenith before the bye week.
Many teams get to bookend their off dates with home games. Not the Tigers. They travel to Death Valley in Week 7 to face LSU and stay on the road in Week 9 against Florida — two squads that should figure into their respective divisional races.
Verdict: Loser
OLE MISS
Open date: Oct. 8, between vs. Memphis and at Arkansas
Ole Miss will be tested early and hard in the 2016 season with games against Florida State, Alabama and Georgia in September.
The Rebels likely will welcome their Week 6 bye week.
Ole Miss will look to exact revenge in the week before and after its Oct. 8 open date against Memphis and Arkansas, respectively. The Tigers and Razorbacks dealt Ole Miss two catastrophic losses in 2015, dooming the Rebels’ chances at winning the SEC West. An earlier bye week might benefit Ole Miss, which didn’t get a breather in 2015 until Week 11.
Verdict: Winner
SOUTH CAROLINA
Open date: Oct. 15, between vs. Georgia and vs. UMass
South Carolina can use its Oct. 15 bye week to prep for its Week 8 contest against UMass by reviewing film of Florida’s and Mississippi State’s earlier matchups versus the Minutemen.
The Gamecocks’ bye week comes in the middle of a five-game home stretch that doesn’t see the team leave Columbia between its Sept. 24 trip to Lexington against Kentucky and Will Muschamp’s return to The Swamp to face his old Florida Gators squad on Nov. 12.
Wins will come at a premium in Muschamp’s debut season, and taking advantage of their time at home and the bye week could make the difference in returning to the postseason.
Verdict: Winner
TENNESSEE
Open date: Oct. 22, between vs. Alabama and at South Carolina
Tennessee will use its Oct. 22 bye week to either celebrate its upset win over Alabama and potential path to the SEC’s elite, or lick its wounds for a 10th consecutive time against the Crimson Tide.
It’ll be an eventful first half of the season for Butch Jones and the Volunteers, who face Virginia Tech and Texas A&M along with the Tide.
That’s in addition to likely division-settling games against Florida and Georgia in consecutive weeks. By the time the Week 8 open date comes up on the schedule, Tennessee will be ready for a rest.
Tennessee would have preferred the bye week earlier or at least had South Carolina and Alabama flip places in the schedule.
If they remain in contention through the bye week, the slate becomes quite favorable: South Carolina, Tennessee Tech, Kentucky and Missouri, before closing, per usual, against Vanderbilt.
Verdict: Loser
TEXAS A&M
Open date: Oct. 15, between vs. Tennessee and at Alabama
Welcome back from your week off, Texas A&M. As a reward, here are your plane tickets to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama.
Kevin Sumlin’s squad is looking to avoid another loss to the Tide, who defeated Texas A&M 41-23 coming off of the Aggies’ bye last year.
Prior to this season’s break, Texas A&M will face the SEC East’s preseason favorite Tennessee, in a game the fans will look to gain an edge with a scheduled “Maroon-out.”
Verdict: Loser
VANDERBILT
Open date: Oct. 29, between vs. Tennessee State and at Auburn
Vanderbilt can use its Oct. 29 bye week to gear up for a final push for its first bowl berth under head coach Derek Mason.
The front part of the Commodores’ slate contains several winnable games, including their Week 8 game against Tennessee State.
A win over the Tigers could put Mason’s squad a win or two away from bowl eligibility, but they’ll have to do so starting with a trip to Auburn in their first game back from the break. Missouri, Ole Miss and Tennessee still loom. The margin for error is thin in Nashville, but the Week 9 bye week might do wonders for Vandy, which is 0-2 coming off an open week under third-year head coach Mason.
Verdict: Winner
Chris Wuensch is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers South Carolina and Tennessee.
