A couple weeks ago, the SEC released each team’s home and away opponents for the coming season, meaning the three schools each team will play twice during the season while playing everyone else just once. Out of curiosity and boredom, I made a list of each team’s home-away opponents along with those teams’ aggregate record in SEC play last season.
Based on that criteria, A&M gets the toughest schedule as their three opponents finished 33-15 in the conference last season. Kentucky was next with opponents who had a 32-16 record. And, third? You guessed it. Vandy comes in next on the list with opponents that accumulated a 28-20 record. Still, I like it better than last season when we had UT and LSU along with Arkansas.
Oddly, all three of the teams with the toughest home-away schedule (according to last year’s records) finished in the bottom four and played on opening day of the SEC tourney. The easiest road of any team by this criteria? LSU, of course. Their three opponents were 16-32 last year. In fairness, it must be pointed out that one of LSU’s opponents, A&M, figures to be one of the most improved teams in the league. They have a few top-100 recruits coming in this season and did great in the portal. They should probably be in the top half of the league. But, the criteria for this list is last year’s record, not this year’s potential.
ALABAMA—Auburn, Arkansas, LSU (27-21)
ARKANSAS—Missouri, Alabama, Kentucky (17-31)
AUBURN—Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M (26-22)
FLORIDA—Georgia, Ole Miss, Mississippi State (25-23)
GEORGIA—Florida, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt (19-29)
KENTUCKY—South Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi State (32-16)
LSU—Texas A&M, Alabama, Auburn (16-32)
OLE MISS—Mississippi State, Florida, Georgia (23-25)
MISSISSIPPI STATE—Ole Miss, Florida, Kentucky (18-30)
MISSOURI—Arkansas, South Carolina, Vanderbilt (26-22)
SOUTH CAROLINA—Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee (21-27)
TENNESSEE—Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Texas A&M (21-27)
TEXAS A&M—LSU, Auburn, Tennessee (33-15)
VANDERBILT—Tennessee, Georgia, Missouri (28-20)
Who Drew The Toughest Home-Away Schedule?
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