The SEC has its opening week football schedule for Sept. 26 released, and the four first-year coaches in the league all have daunting assignments.
Mike Leach’s Mississippi State team is on its way to face defending national champion LSU, which is at no. 5 ranks in the Amway Preseason Coaches Poll. The other three first-year coaches – Arkansas’ Sam Pittman, Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz and Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin – also debuted against teams ranking in the top 10 of the coaches’ poll.
Arkansas comes home against no. 4 Georgia, while Missouri home no. 3 Alabama takes over and Ole Miss home no. 8 Florida game.
The SEC will play a 10-game, only league schedule this season and earlier this month announced two additional opponents for each team to go along with the existing eight league goals. The two additional opponents were enemies over distribution and selected, according to a statement from SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, to “create a scheme that is as competitive as possible and builds on the existing eight conference games already planned for 2020.”
The full schedule will be announced Monday at 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
The only two Week 1 Matchups involving second division add-ons are Alabama at Missouri and Georgia in Arkansas.
Sources told ESPN that a conference call with head coaches and SEC officials last week was heated over the lack of transparency in how the two additional games were selected.
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