Most important games in determining the SEC East champion
- Wyeth Wilson
- Apr 25, 2015
- 3 min read
In 2015, the SEC East will once again be wide open.
With the exception of bottom dweller Vanderbilt, the whole division could make some noise this season. These are the games that will have the biggest impact on who will represent the East in Atlanta:
September 19 – South Carolina at Georgia
There was a stretch of a couple seasons where this was the premier matchup of the year in the SEC East. It won’t quite have that magnitude in 2015, but it will be important.
Last year South Carolina had a disappointing season, finishing 7-6, but they still managed to best Georgia, which kept the Bulldogs out of the SEC Championship game.
The early edge goes to Georgia here, but South Carolina once again will get a chance to throw a wrench in UGA’s championship plans.
September 26 – Tennessee at Florida
Though Florida is a season away from competing for the SEC East, Tennessee will be in the eastern division race this season.
And if there’s one thing that has been constant in the last decade of Tennessee football, it’s that the Vols just can’t seem to beat the Gators.
Tennessee will have more talent this year than Florida, but they also had a talent advantage last season and lost.
This one could go either way, but it’s difficult to pick Tennessee to beat Florida until they actually do.
October 3 – South Carolina at Missouri
The “Battle of Columbia” will feature two teams that again have equal talent levels.
This game will take place when the divisions start to come into shape, which also means a loss for either team would make it much more difficult for them to make their way back into the divisional race.
The fact that this game is at Missouri makes the Tigers the early favorite, but this game will likely be just as much of a classic as the last two matchups.
October 10 – Georgia at Tennessee
This classic SEC East rivalry comes at a key time for both teams.
Georgia will potentially be coming off a loss to Alabama, and will desperately need to avoid losing for the second week in a row, which would greatly hurt their East title chances.
It’s difficult to predict how Tennessee’s first two SEC games (Florida and Arkansas) before this turn out, but they will need a win here regardless.
At least in the preseason, it looks like this game could essentially turn out to be for the eastern division crown.
October 17 – Missouri at Georgia
Despite beating Missouri 34-0 on the road last season, Georgia stayed at home while Missouri represented the East in Atlanta in 2014.
This season, Missouri will look to avenge their only regular season SEC loss from 2014 when the travel to Sanford Stadium in mid-October.
It is likely that each team’s record will display at least one conference loss by this point in the season, and the loser of this game will have a tough climb to get back into the battle for the East.
November 21 – Tennessee at Missouri
Since Missouri has joined the SEC, they are 3-0 against Tennessee.
That streak could come to an end this season, as Missouri loses a lot of production offensively and defensively, and Tennessee will be much improved.
The fact that this game is late in the season does help Missouri to some degree, considering their new players will be settled in by then.
But the reason that the Tigers topped the Vols last season was because of a large advantage on the line of scrimmage. They won’t have that in 2015.
This one is pretty much a toss up, but the Vols get the early nod.
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