If you missed the big news, the SEC has officially postponed this weekend’s Florida-LSU game. At this time, there is no official plan in place to play the game, however, the game has yet to be cancelled.
Upon hearing the news, Tennessee head coach Butch Jones did not seem overly thrilled with the decision. According to Tennessee beat writer Grant Ramey, Jones wants the game played at some point:
Butch Jones on @3HL1045 talking Florida-LSU: "They have to play that football game … I know the SEC will do the right thing."
— @GrantRamey (@GrantRamey) October 6, 2016
Why is this of interest to Jones, you may be asking. Well, if Florida finishes the season having only played seven conference games, it would appear to give them a clear advantage over the Vols to the SEC Championship Game. For example, despite Tennessee’s head-to-head win over Florida, the Gators could potentially have a 6-1 SEC record to Tennessee’s 6-2 conference record by the end of the season.
If that were to happen, the Gators would likely be the team headed to Atlanta from the East.
While the Florida-LSU game has yet to be rescheduled, both schools face off against non-conference opponents Nov. 19 and the possibility of buying out those schools has been thrown around Thursday – Florida is set to host Presbyterian, while LSU is scheduled to welcome South Alabama to Death Valley.
Here’s the SEC official bylaw for determining its champion, SEC Bylaw 30.22.1.3:
The Conference champion will be determined by a game between the two division champions. The team in each division with the highest percentage of wins during all regular-season Conference competition will be declared division champion. If two or more teams are tied with the highest percentage of wins, they will be declared division co-champions. Division standings will be calculated on a percentage basis, using only those Conference games which are a part of the regular rotating schedule.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
