It's Only SEC (but I like it....)
GEORGE SOMERVILLE – THE TOUCHDOWN’s
SEC CORRESPONDENT
Week 11
Yet again, it’s been a monumental week in the world of college football. This week, an agreement was made to extend the College Football Playoff from 12 teams to 24 teams. While this had been mooted for some time, the timing of the announcement caught many by surprise.
While there may have been hootin’ & a hollerin’ from some quarters, many in and around the SEC were saddened by the news. With an increased schedule for those teams making it to the playoffs from next year, it means the end of conference championship games. So after 35 years of the SEC Championship game, this year in Atlanta will mark the end of one of college football’s great spectacles.
Here are this week’s headlines.
this weeks sec Stories
The end of an era
Birmingham, AL
For 35 seasons, coming out top of the SEC West or East conferences and reaching Atlanta has meant something special. Before national championship dreams could become reality, there was often one final examination: the SEC Championship Game. Now, the event that helped reshape college football is preparing for its final curtain call.
The SEC has confirmed that this year’s game, on December 5 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, will be its last. With the College Football Playoff expanding to 24 teams from the 2027 season, a defining December tradition is making way for a bigger national postseason.
It all began with then SEC commissioner Roy Kramer’s vision. Expansion brought Arkansas and South Carolina into the conference, creating the opportunity to split into divisions and stage college football’s first conference championship game.
On December 5, 1992, Alabama beat Florida 28–21 at Birmingham’s Legion Field, Antonio Langham’s late interception return providing a suitably dramatic opening chapter. While Kramer was adamant that a Conference Championship game was the way forward, privately he was nervous about its success. And so a thrilling end to the first game made it an instant success and appeased any criticism around Kramer’s groundbreaking moves.
Others followed the SEC’s lead, but its championship remained the original and, arguably, the biggest.
The game quickly became box office TV with huge crowds, traditions and heavyweights of the game sparring to effectively win a spot in the National Championship.
After two editions in Birmingham, the game moved to Atlanta in 1994. The Georgia Dome became its home before Mercedes-Benz Stadium took over in 2017. Across its first 34 editions, the championship helped propel 14 SEC teams towards national titles.
The expanded playoff promises more opportunities, more campus games and more teams chasing January glory. Those attractions are clear. Yet there is something uncomfortable about progress requiring the retirement of a game which has become an institution. Those who host annual bowl games and even the Army vs Navy game are sitting uncomfortably watching such games disappear from the schedule.
For generations of supporters, Atlanta was the destination circled before a ball was kicked. Winning there meant conquering the toughest conference in college football.
This December, two teams will contest that honour one final time.
Sankey takes aim
Birmingham, AL
Let’s stay in Birmingham, because it’s been a busy week for the SEC Commissioner, Greg Sankey. Sankey made a few steps across the road from SEC Headquarters to the Finebaum’s Birmingham studio to make an appearance on the show. Sankey’s appearance with Paul was to talk principally about the end of the SEC Championship game caused by the expanded playoff.
The conversation, which was untypically long for a Finebaum interview, meandered onto a number of high-profile topics, including officiating.
SEC officiating crews and the replay teams back in Birmingham have come under fire in recent weeks for decisions which commentators and fans alike thought were plain wrong.
Paul asked Sankey about this, and it was clear from his response that Greg Sankey has heard enough criticism. Or certainly enough from certain quarters. With SEC officiating under scrutiny, the commissioner used Monday’s appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show to deliver a pointed message to television analysts questioning his referees.
“Some of the worst officials in America are those in the announcers booth,” Sankey declared.
His frustration followed Texas’ controversial 34–20 victory at Missouri, where replay decisions repeatedly went against the Tigers. Former Florida quarterback Jesse Palmer questioned the officiating during ESPN’s coverage, but Sankey’s sharpest criticism concerned comments made later that evening during Oklahoma’s visit to Florida.
everyone’s a critic
That broadcast featured former Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray alongside Matt Schumacker. Sankey did not name Murray, although reporting identified him as the principal target. The commissioner objected to an analyst revisiting an earlier game and criticising decisions without first contacting the conference for an explanation.
Sankey’s argument was that inaccurate analysis creates a misleading impression of officials getting decisions wrong. He acknowledged that mistakes happen and that judgment calls will always generate disagreement, while insisting the conference accepts responsibility when errors occur.
The discussion also addressed the SEC’s reluctance to provide live audio from its replay centre. Sankey cited the practical difficulties of handling multiple simultaneous games and several officials contributing to reviews, while maintaining that greater access remains under consideration. Sankey also pointed out that the NFL does not provide replay audio, meaning the SEC is not on an island on this topic.
There is a reasonable point here: playing quarterback does not automatically make somebody an expert in officiating. Broadcasters should understand the rules before delivering their verdict.
However, viewers expect analysts to challenge contentious decisions. Requiring a call to Birmingham before expressing doubt would hardly encourage independent commentary.
Sankey wants informed criticism. Fans want understandable decisions. Opening up the replay process might bring those positions closer together than taking aim at the commentary booth.
For now, the commissioner has ensured that both groups will be listening.
Arch enemy
Baton Rouge, la
Manning
Arch Manning is heading home to Louisiana. Whether Louisiana is quite so pleased to see him may depend on what happens in Death Valley on Saturday night.
The New Orleans native returns wearing burnt orange, carrying Texas’ postseason ambitions into a stadium he visited regularly growing up. Familiar surroundings, certainly. A friendly reception? That feels much less likely.
For all the inevitable talk of football royalty returning to the bayou, Manning has been quick to distance himself from any suggestion of an LSU family connection.
“I have no family that went to LSU,” Manning said this week. “It’s not about me at all this week.”
Fair enough. Grandfather Archie and uncle Eli made their names at Ole Miss, while uncle Peyton chose Tennessee. Louisiana roots have never obliged a Manning to wear purple and gold. However, the Mannings continue to live in New Orleans, and Arch was a standout star at Isidore Newman High School in New Orleans. Manning is a New Orleanian.
Kiffin
Across the field, Lane Kiffin has rather more pressing concerns than the visiting quarterback’s family tree. LSU’s 31–13 home defeat to Alabama dropped the Tigers to 6–3, leaving little room for another disappointing Saturday. Kiffin acknowledged this week that the performance fell below the programme’s expectations. Texas offers an immediate opportunity to respond, although hardly a comfortable one.
There is another personal thread here. Kiffin recruited Manning while at Ole Miss and remembers the young quarterback’s popularity with his teammates. This weekend, he gets a close look at the player he once hoped would run his offence.
Manning arrives after throwing for 297 yards and three touchdowns in Texas’ victory over Missouri. Maintaining that composure amid Tiger Stadium’s noise will matter considerably more than any homecoming narrative.
The script has everything: a Louisiana quarterback, a famous surname, two ambitious programmes and a Saturday night crowd with something to prove.
Arch knows the way home. Now he must find a way out of Baton Rouge with a victory.
"Cock-tober" sparks a Gamecocks revival
Columbia, SC
Only a matter of weeks ago, the likelihood of South Carolina Head Football Coach Shane Beamer remaining in charge in Columbia was remote.
Yet somehow, Cock-tober, as they like to call it in Columbia, has yet again provided some sort of magic over the football program.
October delivered three victories, breathing life into a season that was unravelling at a furious rate. Wins over Florida, Tennessee and Oklahoma transformed the mood around Shane Beamer’s programme, with November bringing a fourth consecutive success against Texas A&M. The Gamecocks have suddenly gone from being also-rans to bowl-eligible. and sitting 7th in the SEC conference table.
What a turnaround for Beamer, his staff and his players.
The Gamecocks campaign was starting to derail with an overtime defeat to Kentucky on October’s opening weekend, leaving Carolina 2–3, following earlier losses to Mississippi State and Alabama. Three consecutive defeats offered little indication that a revival was immediately around the corner.
Gainesville & Sellers
Then came Gainesville.
Carolina’s 38–19 victory over Florida supplied the spark. After an open weekend, the Gamecocks edged Tennessee 27–24 before spending Halloween frightening Oklahoma with a 42–25 win in Norman. Three October victories, two secured away from Williams-Brice Stadium, gave Cocktober some substance to accompany the myth.
The subsequent 17–9 defeat of Texas A&M showed that Carolina could keep winning when the offense slowed, too. At 6–3, bowl eligibility is secured, and the conversation has changed considerably.
Now comes the difficult business of making the revival count.
Arkansas awaits in Fayetteville before Georgia visits Columbia and the regular season concludes at Clemson. There is opportunity in that finish, but precious little room for complacency. Looking ahead to the Bulldogs would be an excellent way to undo several weeks of hard work.
For Beamer, the immediate achievement is restoring belief. Supporters who were counting defeats are now examining possibilities.
October changed the direction of South Carolina’s season. November will determine how far that change can take them.
The calendar may have turned. The Gamecocks will hope their fortunes have turned with it.
Super Kamario Stays Home
Starkville, MS
Mississippi State might just have secured its most important victory of the season, and this one came without a ball being snapped.
According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, quarterback Kamario Taylor is finalising a deal to return to Starkville in 2027. For Jeff Lebby, that represents considerably more than keeping his starting quarterback. It gives the Bulldogs a player around whom they can build their future.
Taylor led State to a 4–0 start before injury interrupted a season which had promised so much. His subsequent absence, and the offensive struggles which followed, underlined just how important he has become to this programme.
Keeping him was always going to be a priority. Getting an agreement in place before the season ends could prove equally significant.
Thamel reports that Mississippi State pitched Taylor on increased investment across the programme. That matters. Retaining an outstanding quarterback is one thing; surrounding him with enough talent to turn potential into sustained success is another.
Lebby can now approach recruits and prospective transfer additions with a compelling selling point: come to Starkville and play alongside Taylor. Offensive linemen, receivers and running backs can see who will be directing the offence.
There is also something here for a fanbase whose early autumn optimism has taken a battering. Taylor’s reported decision offers reassurance that September’s excitement can become the foundation for something more lasting.
Of course, an agreement being finalised still requires completion, and Taylor’s recovery remains central to everything that follows. Nobody should confuse November optimism with guaranteed victories next autumn.
But in a sport where supporters increasingly spend December wondering which of their best players will leave, State appear close to answering their biggest question early.
The cowbells can wait until Taylor takes the field again. For now, Starkville has another reason to believe its best days lie ahead.
Week 11 Schedule
Across the sec
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14
Auburn (5-4, 3-4 SEC) at Mississippi State (4-5, 2-5 SEC)
Series: AU leads, 66-28-2
11 a.m. CT • ESPN2
Last: AU, 27-13 (2023 at Auburn)
Starkville, Miss. • Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field (60,311)
Alabama (7-2, 5-2 SEC) at Vanderbilt (4-5, 1-5 SEC)
Series: UA leads, 61-20-4
11:45 a.m. CT • SEC Network
Last: UA, 30-14 (2025 at Tuscaloosa)
Nashville, Tenn. • FirstBank Stadium (35,000)
Tennessee (7-2, 4-2 SEC) at Texas A&M (4-5, 1-5 SEC)
Series: TN leads, 3-2
2 p.m. CT • ESPN
Last: TN, 20-13 (2023 at Knoxville)
Bryan – College Station, Texas • Kyle Field (102,733)
Missouri (6-3, 3-3 SEC) at Georgia (8-1, 6-1 SEC)
Series: UGA leads, 12-1
3:30 p.m. ET • ABC
Last: UGA, 30-21 (2023 at Athens)
Athens, Ga. • Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium (93,033)
Ole Miss (6-3, 4-3 SEC) at Oklahoma (5-4, 3-3 SEC)
Series: UM leads, 3-0
3:15 p.m. CT • SEC Network
Last: UM, 34-26 (2025 at Norman)
Norman, Okla. • Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (83,489)
Florida (5-4, 3-4 SEC) at Kentucky (7-2, 5-2 SEC)
Series: UF leads, 54-21
6:15 p.m. ET • ESPN
Last: UK, 38-7 (2025 at Lexington)
Lexington, Ky. • Kroger Field (61,000)
Texas (7-2, 4-2 SEC) at LSU (6-3, 3-3 SEC)
Series: TX leads, 9-8-1
6:30 p.m. CT • ABC
Last: LSU, 45-38 (2019 at Austin)
Baton Rouge, La. • Tiger Stadium (102,321)
South Carolina (6-3, 4-3 SEC) at Arkansas (3-6, 1-5 SEC)
Series: ARK leads, 14-10
6:45 p.m. CT • SEC Network
Last: ARK, 44-30 (2022 at Fayetteville)
Fayetteville, Ark. • Reynolds Razorback Stadium (76,000)
GEORGE SOMERVILLE
COLLEGE FOOTBALL WRITER
GEORGE IS A LONG STANDING FANATIC OF LIFE AND FOOTBALL IN THE DEEP SOUTH AND WRITES HIS WEEKLY COLUMN CALLED “IT’S ONLY SEC” FOR THE TOUCHDOWN. HE IS ALSO CO-HOST AND ONE THIRD OF THE COLLEGE CHAPS PODCAST, THE UK’S FIRST PODCAST DEDICATED TO THE COLLEGE GAME.
