Barring a weather cancellation (remember Florida-Idaho last year?), SEC teams will play a combined 168 football games during the regular season.

Based on the retention of an eight-game conference schedule that features one annual division crossover rival, that means 56 of those games — or one-third — will feature just one SEC team.

That leaves 112 conference games. SEC vs. SEC. The best against the best. (OK, eight of them involve Vanderbilt.)

We’ve picked out 12 even more special matchups out of those 112 precious contests, one per week. Here are the best conference games of the season by date.

Sept. 5: None

The high-profile action against teams like Wisconsin, Arizona State, Louisville and North Carolina is great. But if you’re craving true SEC football — two of the 14-member institutions squaring off on the same field — you’ll have to wait nine days after the opening kickoff.

Sept. 12: LSU at Mississippi State (9:15 p.m. ET, ESPN)

If the Bulldogs really are the worst team in the SEC West, it shouldn’t be especially difficult for the Tigers to get revenge, right? Something tells me that an early-season LSU road game pitting Brandon Harris (or Anthony Jennings) against Dak Prescott won’t be so simple. Four other SEC teams kick off conference play here.

Entertainment value: 3 out of 5

Sept. 19: Auburn at LSU (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS)

The Ole Miss-Alabama rematch is spicy, but most everyone believes the Tide will get revenge in Tuscaloosa. This matchup, however, features preseason golden child and Auburn quarterback Jeremy Johnson against LSU, which may boast the best secondary in all of college football.

Entertainment value: 4.5 out of 5

Sept. 26: Texas A&M vs. Arkansas

This was a tossup, and we could’ve gone with Florida-Tennessee. But what potentially will become Butch Jones’ first win against his SEC East rivals isn’t as aesthetically interesting as the clash of styles between the Aggies and Razorbacks. It would be hard to surpass last year’s overtime thriller, but we’re interested in watching it.

Entertainment value: 4 out of 5

Oct. 3: Alabama at Georgia

This is an easy choice pitting two preseason Top 10 teams and should be one of the biggest early-season games in the country. It’s also a rematch of a juicy 2012 SEC Championship Game. Who doesn’t want to see the UGA running game against the Bama front seven? And what about Nick Saban against his former assistant Jeremy Pruitt, now defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs?

Entertainment value: 5 out of 5

Oct. 10: Georgia at Tennessee

Just one week after hosting the Tide, Georgia must travel to Knoxville to stare down DE Derek Barnett, QB Joshua Dobbs and the team most feel will be their biggest competitor in the SEC East this season. UGA needs to finish 6-0 in the division to satisfy high expectations and almost assure a spot in the title game, but this is a harsh back-to-back. It also would fit into the “signature win” category for the Vols, who have given the ‘Dogs trouble recently.

Entertainment value: 4 out of 5

Oct. 17: Florida at LSU

This represents another rematch of a 2014 classic. Last year, two struggling offenses combined for 57 points and the game ended on a final-seconds field goal for the Tigers. This year, there’s been so much back-and-forth about which team’s defensive backs are collectively better, so we have a feeling that points may be more difficult to collect. Which quarterbacks will find any traction? And which star will shine brighter, Leonard Fournette or Vernon Hargreaves III?

Entertainment value: 4 out of 5

Oct. 24: Kentucky at Mississippi State

This isn’t the sexiest matchup — at least not on the surface. But there should be some Auburn and Alabama burnout by this point in the season, and this isn’t the most exciting weekend of the year for the Tigers or Tide — even though it is the Third Saturday in October. But that game is in Tuscaloosa, and we think Alabama controls that series for at least one more year. Instead, this game could be the one that propels Kentucky into a bowl game — and Mississippi State into last place in the SEC West. It features two quality quarterbacks in Prescott and Patrick Towles, who will show the country what two “low-end” SEC teams look like.

Entertainment value: 3.5 out of 5

Oct. 31: Florida vs. Georgia

The Halloween slate is especially light, especially considering the SEC removed one week from the regular season this year. Arkansas and Vanderbilt play non-conference games. South Carolina-Texas A&M and Tennessee-Kentucky aren’t the juiciest of SEC matchups. That leaves Ole Miss-Auburn, one of last year’s most dramatic regular-season games, and Florida-Georgia. That’s it. We’ll bank on the Gators being spry (chompy?) again in this one.

Entertainment value: 4 out of 5

Nov. 7: LSU at Alabama

I tried to avoid shoving Alabama in everyone’s faces too often, but it’s inevitable. This game is the best on the schedule this week. Perhaps coach Gus Malzahn will rise to this level, but to this point, Les Miles is the only SEC coach who has consistently competed evenly with Nick Saban’s Bama teams. Almost every year, this heavyweight physical clash features a few dozen future NFL players, bruising collisions and fourth-quarter theatrics.

Entertainment value: 4.5 out of 5

Nov. 14: Georgia at Auburn

The media’s preseason pick for the SEC Championship Game will get even bigger if both teams can meet those expectations. But it’s going to be difficult to match the Prayer at Jordan-Hare that brought such joy to the Tigers during head coach Gus Malzahn’s inaugural season. A win for Georgia here, in turn, would guarantee at least a split with the state of Alabama and should give the Bulldogs a tremendous chance at postseason noise.

Entertainment value: 5 out of 5

Nov. 21: Tennessee at Missouri

The Tigers aren’t the sort of team that can replenish NFL talent every year, even with such great talent evaluation and development. And this season will be a huge challenge for the two-time defending SEC East champions. But an easy schedule should allow Mizzou to contend for a good bowl game, at the least. Meanwhile, beating the Tigers on the road would signify a shift back to the old guard in the East Division.

Entertainment value: 3.5 out of 5

Nov. 28: Alabama at Auburn

I winced a little while leaving off the Egg Bowl. But the Iron Bowl alternatively has been the best and most influential regular-season finale in all of college football several times since 2009. Making any other choice here would be stubborn. This game also could reveal whether the SEC West has essentially killed itself off during a brutal regular season, or if one of the teams remains alive for a College Football Playoff spot.

Entertainment value: 5 out of 5