OPENING WEEKEND IN THE SEC
THURSDAY, AUGUST 31
Florida (6-7, 3-5 SEC) at Utah (10-4) Series: UF leads, 2-0
8 p.m. ET • ESPN
Salt Lake City, Utah • Rice–Eccles Stadium (51,444) SiriusXM: 119/194
South Dakota (3-8) at Missouri (6-7, 3-5 SEC) Series: First Meeting
7 p.m. CT • SEC Network
Columbia, Mo. • Faurot Field (62,621) SiriusXM: 138/191
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
Ball State (5-7) at Kentucky (7-6, 3-5 SEC) Series: UK leads, 1-0
Noon ET • SEC Network
Lexington, Ky. • Kroger Field (61,000) SiriusXM: 134/190
Tennessee (11-2, 6-2 SEC) vs. Virginia (3-7) Series: UT leads, 3-1
Noon ET • ABC
Nashville, Tenn. •Nissan Stadium (69,143) SiriusXM: 135/191
Western Carolina (6-2) at Arkansas (7-6, 3-5 SEC) Series: First Meeting
Noon CT • SEC+ / ESPN+
Little Rock, Ark. • War Memorial Stadium (54,120) SiriusXM: 109/192
Mercer (7-4) at Ole Miss (8-5, 4-4 SEC) Series: UM leads, 1-0
1 p.m. CT • SEC+ / ESPN+
Oxford, Miss. • Vaught-Hemingway Stadium (64,038) SiriusXM: 81
UMass (1-0) at Auburn (5-7, 2-6 SEC) Series: First Meeting
2:30 p.m. CT • ESPN
Auburn, Ala. • Jordan-Hare Stadium (88,043) SiriusXM: 135/191
Southeastern Louisiana (9-4) at Mississippi State (9-4, 4-4 SEC) Series: MSU leads, 1-0
3 p.m. CT • SEC Network
Starkville, Miss. • Davis-Wade Stadium (60,311) SiriusXM: 134/190
UT Martin (7-4) at Georgia (15-0, 8-0 SEC) Series: First Meeting
6 p.m. ET • SEC+ / ESPN+
Athens, Ga. • Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium (92,746) SiriusXM: 81
New Mexico (2-10) at Texas A&M (5-7, 2-6 SEC) Series: TAMU leads, 5-0
6 p.m. CT • ESPN
Bryan-College Station, Texas • Kyle Field (102,733) SiriusXM: 135/191
Alabama A&M (6-5) at Vanderbilt (1-0, 0-0 SEC) Series: VU leads, 1-0
6 p.m. CT • SEC+ / ESPN+
Nashville, Tenn. • FirstBank Stadium (28,500) SiriusXM: 109/192
Middle Tennessee State (8-5) at Alabama (11-2, 6-2 SEC) Series: UA leads, 3-0
6:30 p.m. CT • SEC Network
Tuscaloosa, Ala. • Bryant-Denny Stadium (100,077) SiriusXM: 134/190
South Carolina (8-5, 4-4 SEC) vs. North Carolina (9-5) Series: UNC leads, 35-20-4
7:30 p.m. ET • ABC
Charlotte, N.C. • Bank of America Stadium (74,867) SiriusXM: 84
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
LSU (10-4, 6-2 SEC) vs. Florida State (10-3) Series: FSU leads, 8-2
6:30 p.m. CT • ABC
Orlando, Fla. • Camping World Stadium (65,000) SiriusXM: 84
THIS IS SEC FOOTBALL
- Sixteen times in the last 17 seasons, a team from the SEC has advanced to the national championship game. The SEC has won 13 of those contests, with two of the losses coming in the game’s final seconds. The winner of the SEC Championship Game has advanced to the National Championship Game all but once since 2006.
- With Florida in January 2009, five different teams from the SEC have played for and won the national championship. All five have multiple appearances and at least one victory since in the national championship game since 2007.
- The SEC has now won four consecutive CFP National Championships, by three different programs (LSU, Alabama, Georgia).
- Not counting games versus each other, the SEC is 14-3 all-time in College Football Playoff games, playing in eight of the nine CFP Championship Games (winning six of those eight). The SEC is 10-1 in CFP Semifinals, including 10 consecutive semifinal wins.
- Since 2006, the SEC has posted a 33-15 (.688) record in BCS/CFP games, more wins, appearances, and winning percentage than any other A5 conference.
- The Southeastern Conference led the nation yet again in 2022 with 369 former players on opening weekend 53-man active rosters, including injured reserve.
- A total of 22 former SEC players were on active rosters of Super Bowl LVI between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.
- The SEC is 109-67 (.619) in bowl games since 2006, the only FBS league with a .600 or better winning percentage and 30 wins more than the next closest conference.
- The SEC has now won 60 games in the last nine postseasons and has sent no less than eight teams to post-season bowls in each of the last 16 seasons.
- In the nine seasons of the College Football Playoff era, only seven programs nationally have been ranked No. 1 in the weekly CFP Top-25 Poll (which begins in late October each year) – five of those seven programs (Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi State, Tennessee) are from the SEC. No team outside the SEC has been ranked No. 1 in the weekly CFP Poll since 2019, while four schools from the SEC have been ranked No. 1 during that time.
- Ten different SEC teams, including all seven from the SEC Western Division, have made BCS/New Year’s Six bowl game appearances since 2006: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Texas A&M. Since the formation of the College Football Playoff in 2014, six of the seven schools in the Western Division have advanced to a New Year’s Six bowl.
- With Georgia and Alabama both earning victories in the CFP Semifinals in both 2021 and 2017, the national championship game has featured two SEC teams twice in the last six years and three times since the 2011 season.
- The SEC received 83 of the total NFL Combine invites in 2023 – which accounted for 26 percent of the national total.
- The SEC Championship has been the most watched conference championship nationally for 14 of the past 15 seasons, including 12 in a row from 2008-2019. The only year it was not #1 was 2020 when the SEC did not have a traditional schedule due to the pandemic. The 2022 SEC Championship Game was seen by nearly 11 million viewers.
- Fourteen of the most 25 viewed college football games in 2022 involved teams from the SEC, including three of the top four and four f the top six.
- The SEC led the nation’s conferences in NFL Draft picks for the 17th consecutive year in 2023 with 62 selections, just three less than the SEC and national record set one year ago.
- This marks the ninth straight year for the SEC to see 50 or more players taken in the NFL Draft. Only three times in the last 28 years has another conference other than the SEC seen 50 or more players drafted.
- For the 12th time in the last 13 years, the SEC once again tied or led the nation in First Round NFL Draft selections, as the league produced nine opening-round draft picks.
- During the last 19 NFL Drafts, the SEC has a nation-leading 168 players taken in the opening round, an average of nearly nine per season.
- Bryce Young was the third No. 1 overall pick from the SEC in the last four NFL Drafts and fifth in the last 10 years.
