It’s Only SEC (but I like it…) : Week Seven

Some games need no additional hype. Put Alabama and Tennessee together on the Third Saturday in October, and the history, hostility and expectations take care of themselves. This year, however, one change will make an already compelling occasion look even better.

For the first time since 1970, both teams will wear their home jerseys: Alabama in crimson, Tennessee in orange – a wait of 56 years. The agreement also covers next season’s meeting in Tuscaloosa, when Tennessee will wear orange at Bryant-Denny Stadium for the first time. 

The last such encounter finished 24-0 to Tennessee, whose defence intercepted Alabama eight times. Josh Heupel hopes lightning strikes twice, although current form suggests this might be difficult.

However, recent history offers encouragement enough. Tennessee has won the last two meetings in Knoxville, including the unforgettable 52-49 thriller in 2022 that ended Alabama’s fifteen-game winning streak in the series. The Volunteers followed that with a 24-17 home victory in 2024. Alabama reclaimed bragging rights with a 37-20 win last season. This is a game which often lives up to its hype.

can 2026 live up to expectations?

Now both arrive at 5-1, with Alabama ranked sixth and Tennessee fourteenth in the AP poll. Kalen DeBoer’s team must respond to last weekend’s bruising 20-17 defeat by Georgia. There are easier places to rebound than Neyland Stadium. 

The Volunteers enter the weekend leading the FBS with 25 sacks and averaging 228.3 rushing yards per game. Yet the QB situation in Knoxville remains a question mark. No such dilemma for Alabama who must protect wunderkind Keelon Russell. 

For Heupel, the opportunity is to turn another rivalry victory into evidence that Tennessee belongs among the conference’s leading contenders. For DeBoer, consecutive defeats would change the conversation around a season that began with five straight victories.

While the uniforms pay homage to another era, the consequences belong firmly to this one: conference positioning, postseason ambition and the right to enjoy the cigar afterwards.

Crimson against Orange. A packed Neyland. Two teams with little room for error. Some traditions deserve to be brought back. This one should never have disappeared.

The SEC’s legal battle with LSU rumbles on, and the conference’s latest court filing makes its position clear: leaving two football players off a roster does not settle the bigger argument about who governs the league.

On October 13, the SEC opposed LSU’s attempt to dismiss its federal lawsuit in Alabama, alleging “a complete lack of institutional control” over the university’s athletic programmes. That remains an allegation, rather than a judicial finding, but the language illustrates how relations have deteriorated.

The dispute began with LSU’s pursuit of former Ole Miss players Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris following their spells with NFL organisations. Neither ultimately joined the Tigers’ football roster. LSU argues that, with those players excluded and September’s meeting of conference leaders proceeding without interference, the controversy underpinning the lawsuit has disappeared. 

A difference of opinions

The SEC disagrees. Its argument extends beyond eligibility to its ability to enforce membership standards, including protecting its right to remove a member. The conference maintains that LSU’s retreat on those two players does not resolve the threat of interference with future disciplinary action. However, you will recall that the SEC and its members did not move to expel LSU from the conference. Yet.

Viewed from Birmingham, this is a defence of the other fifteen institutions. A conference depends upon its members competing under common rules. If one university can secure exceptions while its rivals continue observing restrictions, those rivals have every reason to question what their compliance actually achieves.

That is the strongest case for Greg Sankey’s position. The SEC has a responsibility to protect the competitive bargain its members have entered. Allowing disagreements to become a succession of different arrangements would leave coaches, athletes and administrators navigating uncertainty. But what’s new in college football!

Fight on the hard court

Basketball has now entered the argument. The SEC cited LSU’s recruitment and practice involvement of former St. John’s standout RJ Luis Jr., who subsequently signed professional contracts, as evidence of continuing concerns. However, coach Will Wade said on October 13 that LSU would follow SEC protocols and confirmed Luis had not been rostered. That qualification matters. 

LSU is entitled to challenge the conference’s legal arguments. Equally, the SEC is entitled to seek clarity over its authority. LSU’s next reply is due October 20; the latest filing is another argument, not a final judgment. 

For the rest of the league, the question is straightforward: what protection does a shared rulebook provide if membership brings its benefits, but compliance becomes optional whenever that rulebook proves inconvenient?