The SEC has officially announced another open date on Dec. 19 for games not involving division champions who’ll be competing in the conference title game that day.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is pleased that the conference will be able to provide additional flexibility during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It has been a goal of the SEC to play a complete football schedule provided we maintain a healthy environment for student-athletes and everyone around our football programs,” Sankey said. “The added flexibility of a December 19 playing date for teams that do not qualify for the SEC Football Championship and the ability to adjust opponents on five-day notification provide a greater opportunity for our schools to play a full schedule of games in 2020.”

The SEC already had an open date on Dec. 12 for any contests impacted by COVID-19. As we’ve gotten to the midway point of the season, 10 of the 14 teams in the conference will be utilizing that open date.

The SEC also announced that all games slated for Nov. 21 will be played.

The SEC will now permit teams that had a game impacted by COVID-19 to schedule another game on the same weekend.  The stipulations are that the game can’t be a rematch or a new game. The new game has to be against a team already be on the schedule and the decision must be made by each Monday.

These rules take effect for games after Nov. 21.

Four SEC games have been cancelled this weekend, including No. 1 Alabama at LSU, No. 5 Texas A&M at Tennessee, No. 12 Georgia at Missouri, and No. 24 Auburn at Mississippi State.