Best Matchups and Top Takeaways from SEC's 2015 Schedule
Here we are at the midway point of the 2014 football season, but it's never too early to start looking ahead to 2015.
The SEC announced its 2015 football schedule on Tuesday night on SEC Nation on the SEC Network, and it's loaded with can't-miss matchups, big weekends and intriguing rivalries.
What are some of the best matchups and top takeaways from the 2015 SEC schedule release? Our picks are in this slideshow.
Alabama's Opponents Will Be Well-Rested
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As an SEC West team, Alabama's schedule is going to be tough simply due to the neighborhood it lives in. Not only is it tough, but the Crimson Tide will face several well-rested foes.
The Crimson Tide will open with Wisconsin in Arlington, Texas, at AT&T Stadium, with both programs having ample time to prepare for the season opener.
After that, three SEC teams will have bye weeks prior to facing the Crimson Tide—Texas A&M the week before its Oct. 17 meeting with the Tide in College Station, Tennessee prior to its Oct. 24 game in Tuscaloosa, LSU prior to its Nov. 7 meeting with the Tide in T-Town.
If there is a silver lining, it's that Alabama's bye week on Oct. 31 also comes before the LSU game, so the Tigers and the Tide will both be well-rested.
Alabama gets the best shot for a lot of teams, and four big-time opponents will have time to prepare for head coach Nick Saban's crew next year.
Ole Miss Better Be in Shape
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You know how recruiting builds depth? Ole Miss is going to find out if that's true in 2015.
Head coach Hugh Freeze's crew won't have a bye week until Nov. 14, making it the only team in the SEC that has a bye week outside of the month of October.
The Rebs will play 10 straight games before taking a weekend off in 2015, a year that features only one bye week for the first time since 2012.
Those Rebels will have a new quarterback in place of Bo Wallace, and they will have to replace senior safety Cody Prewitt. The majority of that roster, though, should stay relatively intact from this year's team—which is currently ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25.
They better be in shape.
Alabama at Georgia Will Be Worth the Wait
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Alabama and Georgia haven't met during the regular season since 2008, and the last meeting between the two—Alabama's 32-28 win in the 2012 SEC Championship Game/de facto national semifinal—left the college football world thirsty for more.
The two will square off between the hedges in Athens on Oct. 3, which is a perfect time for the matchup.
Both will have new quarterbacks who, at that time, will have a month of playing time under their belts and full playbooks at their disposal. There's a cupcake appetizer for each—Louisiana-Monroe for Alabama and Southern for Georgia—which will ensure that both are fresh and ready to go.
Get your popcorn ready.
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Mississippi State Might Have Staying Power
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Mississippi State is going to have to replace a small village of graduates and expected departures from this year's squad, but its schedule will help soften the blow.
The Bulldogs played at South Alabama this year and will open 2015 with another odd road game at Southern Miss. They play Northwestern State, Troy and Louisiana Tech out of conference, and they draw Kentucky and Missouri out of the East.
Furthermore, the Missouri game is on Thursday, Nov. 5, after the Bulldogs' bye week, giving them a nice late-season break before playing Alabama, Arkansas and Ole Miss.
Making Thursday Work for You
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The schedule has to fit in between Labor Day weekend and the weekend after Thanksgiving, and depending on how the calendar shakes out, certain years—like 2015—will mandate only one bye week per team rather than the two that exist this season.
Well, except if you play on a Thursday night.
Auburn and Kentucky will square off on Thursday, Oct. 15, in Lexington, each with a bye week prior to the game. That gives each essentially one-and-a-half bye weeks in the middle of the season, which is a huge advantage over the rest of the conference.
It's not the only Thursday night tilt in the SEC.
Missouri will host Mississippi State on Nov. 5, with both programs having bye weeks prior to the matchup.
South Carolina will play North Carolina in Charlotte on Sept. 3 to open the season, which will give the Gamecocks a little extra time for their SEC opener the following week at home vs. Kentucky.
Texas A&M Better Win 10 Games
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Everything's bigger in Texas, and apparently the size of the state makes it hard for Texas A&M to leave its borders.
The Aggies will leave the state once before Nov. 21—a road trip to Oxford, Mississippi, to take on Ole Miss on Oct. 24. What's the reason? They'll take on Arizona State in Houston in the season opener, and the road game at Arkansas will be branded as the Southwest Classic and played in Arlington, Texas, just as it was this year.
Its permanent cross-division rivalry with South Carolina is tough, but it certainly doesn't look as tough as it did when South Carolina was cooking between 2011-13. Its rotating cross-divisional opponent—Vanderbilt—isn't anywhere close to being a competitive football team.
There better be at least nine wins on the board when all is said and done, because for an SEC West schedule, it doesn't get much easier. Well, maybe if you swapped out Arizona State with Lamar.
Sept. 19 Is Loaded
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If you're looking for the best week of the season, Sept. 19 is here for you.
Alabama will host Ole Miss, LSU will host Auburn and Georgia will host South Carolina during the third week of the season, which will undoubtedly be given a clever marketing nickname like "Separation Saturday."
If we've learned anything over the last two seasons, it's that the SEC is unpredictable. Those three games, though, will begin to shape the landscape of the conference and will give the winners valuable head-to-head tiebreakers that could come in handy down the stretch.
Save for rivalry week, the third week of the season might end up being the best week of the year.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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