LSU could not have asked for a more favorable schedule outlook on Friday afternoon. The Tigers will add Vanderbilt and Missouri to their 2020 lineup, making maneuvering through the 10-game meeting a little easier.
Ed Orgeron and company are fresh off hanging on to 66 points at the Commodores in 2019 behind Joe Burrow’s explosive offensive performance. The Tigers lead the entire series 23-7 and ride an eight-game winter streak in the 2020 matchup.
In 2016, Orgeron actually made his debut as the LSU head coach against Missouri, a move that resulted in a 42-7 win for the Purple and Gold.
“We have made every effort to create a scheme that is as competitive as possible and builds on the existing eight conference games that were already planned for 2020,” said SEC Commissioner SEC San Greg. “This scheme is a one-year anomaly that we have developed under unique circumstances presented by the impact of COVID-19.”
One staff member of the conference text Sports Illustrated national writer Ross Dellenger immediately after the conference announced the two additional teams.
“I want to see the algorithm in that formula,” the assistant wrote.
Here are the 10 conference opponents that LSU will face this season. A full schedule is expected that next week something will be released by the SEC.
vs. Ole Miss
by Vanderbilt
by Florida
in Arkansas
vs. Mississippi State
vs. Alabama
vs South Carolina
by Auburn
by Texas A&M
vs. Missouri
How the SEC ultimately decides to plan the Tigers’ season will tell a lot. If games like Missouri, Vanderbilt and South Carolina could be thrown in between fierce competition, then the gruesome scheme would make it a little less daunting. Imagine having to have Florida and Alabama on back-to-back neighborhoods.
The conference has already announced that each team will get one open day in the schedule plus an extra bye week for each conference team one week before the conference championship. Alabama, Florida, Texas A&M and Auburn were all ranked on Thursday in the top 13 of the Polles for press coaches, with LSU ranking at no. 5 comb.
“Buckle up, big boy,” Orgeron said in a Tuesday edition of Off the Bench on ESPN 104.5. “What else can you say, man? Hey, what a challenge. The best conference in the world. You play eight conference games and now you’re going to play 10. You will not play games without conferences, but you know what? To To get to the top of the mountain, you have to be the very best and hit the very best. That’s part of being in the SEC, so I welcome the challenge. “
Of course, the college football season is still in balance and Saturday’s news was uneasy to say the least. The MAC became the first FBS conference to cancel fall sports and that was immediately followed by the Big Ten stopping at padded practices “until further notice.”
The Big Ten Conference announced today, based on the advice and advice of the Big Ten Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, that, until further notice, all institutions will remain within the first two days of the acclimatization period in football (that is, helmets are the only piece of protective equipment that student-athletes are allowed to wear) because we continue to go through precision period.
We understand that there are many questions about how this affects separations, such as the ability to move forward with the season. As we have constantly said, we will continue to evaluate daily, relying on our medical experts, to make the best decisions possible for the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes.
It’s hard to imagine a world where the Big Ten kicked off the 2020 season next spring and the other conferences did not ultimately follow. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey responded to the news from the MAC and Big Ten on ESPN radio, saying that although the conferences want to unite, many decisions are made separately.
“We want to be connected, but the best example is back in March. Different conferences made independent decisions, but all came to the same destination,” Sankey said.
“We all come to the decision from a perspective. That perspective may or may not intersect. That is reality. You can identify a truck of change issues, but we are in an unusual environment.”
