SEC won’t juggle the football schedule again until after next Saturday’s games

If LSU passes the SEC’s COVID-19 protocols and is cleared to play next Saturday, it will be as scheduled at Arkansas with an 11 a.m. kickoff.

The SEC said all games planned for November 21 including LSU-Arkansas will be played as scheduled. But all games scheduled to be played after November 21 are subject to weekly evaluation in order to re-schedule games that have been postponed during the 2020 season.

The teams that do not qualify for the SEC championship game on December 19 would be eligible to play games that day that are rescheduled during the remaining weeks of the 2020 football season.

The postponed LSU-Alabama game has yet to be re-scheduled. But with all the games next week being played as scheduled, the annual rival games like Alabama-Auburn, Ole Miss-Mississippi State and LSU-Texas A&M likely set in stone on Nov. 28, Alabama likely to play in the Dec. 19 SEC championship game and LSU already playing at Florida Dec. 12, it’s likely LSU and Alabama will play on Dec. 5 moving that day’s LSU-Ole Miss and Alabama-Arkansas games to Dec. 19 and Dec. 12 respectively.

The league also on Friday established parameters that allow for the adjustment of game opponents as late as five days prior to competition. The conference office may revise the weekly football schedule up to 9 pm ET/8 pm CT on the Monday prior to Saturday games for the purpose of maximizing the number of games available to be played. The games subject to rescheduling would only be those on a team’s original schedule and against opponents that a team has not yet played.

“It has been a goal of the SEC to play a complete football schedule provided we maintain a healthy environment for student-athletes and everyone around our football programs,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said. “The added flexibility of a December 19 playing date for teams that do not qualify for the SEC Football Championship and the ability to adjust opponents on five-day notification provide a greater opportunity for our schools to play a full schedule of games in 2020.”