Which SEC games in the upcoming season will feature the highest revenge factor?

Our thoughts on the ten games that rank the highest:

#10 Florida at Tennessee — Sept. 22

This game is more of a rivalry for the Volunteers than the Gators at this point, but there’s no bi-annual game inside Neyland Stadium these days that gets Vol Nation more fired up than the Florida game. Jeremy Pruitt will buy himself a ton of goodwill with the Tennessee fan base if he can knock off the Gators in his first attempt. If his team somehow manages to beat West Virginia AND Florida, Tennessee may give Pruitt an extension before the team’s following week game at Georgia.

On the other hand, Dan Mullen’s first road test could set the tone for his program and prove its business as usual in this annual series despite the fact both programs are under new leadership. Mullen and Pruitt know each other well and have faced off against one another several times over the years. Mississippi State’s loss to Alabama last season came despite Mullen drawing up one of the most successful offensive gameplans against an Alabama defense in the Nick Saban era. Earning a win here may exorcise some of the demons the former MSU coach has from that tough loss.

On top of all that, last year’s ending was pretty memorable and should only add to Tennessee’s anger in this annual series.

#9 LSU at Florida — Oct. 6

These two seem to genuinely hate each other, which always makes for an entertaining contest. With Dan Mullen now leading the Florida program, Ed Orgeron has even more reason to hate the Gators. The home team has lost the last two games in this series, and the Gators get to host the Tigers for the second consecutive year thanks to the hurricane debacle from a few years back. Of course, that history has only added fuel to the already hot rivalry.

Orgeron can’t afford to be embarrassed by a rival coach in his first year with a program, but that’s what could happen if LSU gets showed up in this game like Mullen’s Mississippi State team did to LSU last season. This game is sandwiched between three SEC road games for the Gators, if Florida doesn’t win this one, Mullen’s first year in Gainesville looks to be a bumpy one.

#8 LSU at Texas A&M — Nov. 24

Arguably the best new rivalry in the SEC, these two continue to develop a healthy hatred of each other. Texas A&M can’t seem to beat LSU on the field, but they have managed to beat them in recruiting and in hiring coaches — with the exception of the Dave Aranda saga. How much that truly adds to this rivalry remains to be seen, but things could get heated between these two come late November.

If Ed Orgeron is feeling the heat of a poor season, it will be interesting to see how his fan base reacts to losing to the Aggies for the first time since that team entered the league. On the other hand, Orgeron could silence many of his critics by beating the coach many wanted LSU to hire over him.

#7 Kentucky at Florida — Sept. 8

The annual streak that may never end nearly did last season. If Kentucky is ever going to beat a Dan Mullen coached Florida team, this will probably be Mark Stoops’ best opportunity. While the Kentucky staff could at first claim they weren’t around for many of the losses to Florida, it’s clear this game has now gotten into the heads of everyone involved with the current Wildcat program.

This game also comes early enough in the season that if either team is still working out any kinks, those issues could and will most likely be exposed in this game. Mullen has brought back high expectations to the Swamp, and he can’t afford to drop this game and continue to sell championship expectations to his fan base. If Kentucky loses this game, the program will have to face the reality that Stoops may never win this game.

#6 Mississippi State at Ole Miss — Nov. 22

Few rivalries in the nation have been more intense in recent years than the Egg Bowl. While the rivalry may have lost some luster with Dan Mullen and Hugh Freeze no longer involved, Joe Moorhead will enter this game with a ton of pressure to start his Egg Bowl history with a win. Much like last year, Matt Luke will likely be playing with house money, except this time he’ll have an Oxford crowd behind him for additional support.

Homefield advantage hasn’t meant anything in this rivalry in recent history, and if that trend continues, Mississippi State will have bragging rights all year long inside the state. However, if things go Ole Miss’ way for the second consecutive year, the honeymoon between MSU fans and Moorhead will officially end come Nov. 22. While the rivalry may not be as heated entering the season, an upset tends to turn up the heat for everyone involved when it comes to annual rivalry games.

#5 Mississippi State at LSU — Oct. 20

Of Ed Orgeron’s many embarrassments last season, his team’s performance against Mississippi State was the first and set the tone for the rest of the season. The Tigers lost by a whopping 30 points in Starkville, and if they don’t put up a better showing in Baton Rouge against Joe Moorhead’s first MSU squad, there’s a real chance this is Orgeron’s last game as LSU coach.

After owning Mississippi State over the years — the Tigers had a 14-year streak in the series heading into 2014, LSU has lost its dominant grasp on this series with the Bulldogs winning two of the previous four games. LSU’s previous two wins over MSU have come by a combined five points, and if order in the series isn’t restored sooner rather than later, it would be fair to argue that Moorhead’s program has surpassed Orgeron’s.

Considering Moorhead is entering Year 1 in Starkville and Orgeron is entering Year 2 ( in addition to his interim duties leading into his first season as full-time LSU coach), Tiger fans may not be inclined to continue to support an LSU program heading into the Alabama game on a losing streak come November.

#4 LSU at Auburn — Sept. 15

You could argue the loss to LSU cost Auburn its opportunity to play in the College Football Playoff last year. Not only was the game the biggest blemish on the season for Gus Malzahn’s team, but it also should have never happened considering how dominant they were playing leading up to halftime. A late score before the half kept Ed Orgeron’s team in it and Auburn went into a shell in the second half leading to one of the biggest comebacks of the college football season.

This game will be the first conference game for both programs, and if either one stumbles in the opener against top 10 opponents on a neutral field, which could certainly occur, this game could serve as an elimination game in terms of potential Playoff hopes. The team that drops this one will also start in a big hole in the division race that could prove to be unsurvivable with two months of conference games remaining on the docket.

#3 Auburn at Alabama — Nov. 24

This game would have ranked higher had Alabama not rebounded and won the National Championship, but the Iron Bowl has to rank in the top 3 of any SEC revenge game list, especially considering the domination Auburn displayed in this game last season. We’ll never know if it would have been a different ballgame with Tua Tagovailoa under center, but the entire Alabama team played its worst game in years back on Nov. 25 in the 26-14 loss to the Tigers.

It won’t just be Alabama that seeks revenge in this game, either. Auburn won the division last season but failed to make the College Football Playoff and had to watch from home as the Crimson Tide won another title. Had a banged up Tiger team got a bye week to rest instead of facing Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, as Alabama did leading up to the Playoff, it could have been Auburn that won it all last season.

If these two are firing on all cylinders come this game, it could be the best game of the regular season in the SEC.

#2 Florida at Mississippi State — Sept. 29

There isn’t a game on the SEC schedule that features a higher revenge rating than this one. Dan Mullen and Florida may even need to consider hiring extra security for the coach’s return to Starkville. Mullen hasn’t done much to calm the flames here, either, noting this offseason that several teams on Florida’s schedule probably have the game against the Gators circled on the schedule when asked about his upcoming return to Starkville.

Not to say Mullen’s wrong, he’s probably right on here, but that’s not going to win him any favors come Sept. 29. The Cowbells will be ringing louder for this game than any other Mississippi State home game this season, and it won’t just be the home fans that will be in it to get revenge — every MSU player that sees the field in this game had either played or was recruited by Mullen. They are all going to want him to pay for making a “lateral move” to Gainesville.

#1 Georgia vs. Alabama — Dec. 1

Cheating a bit here as these two teams are not scheduled to meet heading into the season, but they do appear destined to face off in Atlanta come Dec. 1. The Bulldogs have been saying all the right things since Tua Tagovailoa’s 41-yard dart was hauled in by DeVonta Smith to win the National Championship, but it’s hard to imagine the image of “Second and 26” hasn’t been burned into the minds of Kirby Smart’s program this offseason.

The budding rivalry between these schools has intensified since last season’s title game and has bled over to recruiting and doesn’t appear to be cooling anytime soon. This series reminds me of the rivalry between Nick Saban’s early Alabama program and the final years of Urban Meyer’s tenure in Gainesville. The Gators got the best of the first matchup in the 2008 SEC Championship Game and entered the 2009 SEC Championship as the favorite in Atlanta only to get dominated by the Crimson Tide in that game, 32-13. That was the beginning of the end for Meyer in Gainesville and the start of Saban’s dynasty in Tuscaloosa.

Georgia should have the edge in motivation if a rematch does indeed occur come December and will have an opportunity to finally move on from “Second and 26” forever. Smart said it best this offseason during his appearance at Birmingham’s Region’s Tradition pro-am as the Alabama fans in attendance let him hear it following Alabama’s latest title win.

“Oh yeah, I heard a few 2nd and 26s. We’ll remember those,” Smart said during an appearance on the Paul Finebaum Show.