UGA travels to Sun Devil Stadium in '08
Everyone else seems to be talking about 2007. So we decided to just jump right past all that and give you a look at the 2008 scheduling news across the Southeastern Conference.
A survey of NationalChamps.net (and other internet sources) reveals these quality match-ups involving SEC teams*: (Source: NationalChamps.net)
- 1. West Virginia at Auburn - Pat White and Noel Devine descend on the Plains. Steve Slaton will likely be in the pros, but he'll also be eligible if he returns. WVU will be eager to prove that their 1st quarter performance vs. UGA was no fluke.
Looking for wins in all the wrong places
2. Miami at Florida - A renewal of an old bloodbath. The Gators have lost the last six meetings dating back to 1985. Actually, UF has lost seven of the last eight and 11 of the past 14 in five different cities (Miami, Gainesville, Tampa, Atlanta and New Orleans). (See "The Great Gator Flop" for some history)
- 3. Tennessee at UCLA - A quality inter-sectional match-up. This is the first time the two teams have played since Manning's senior year.
4. Arkansas at Texas - Another classic old rivalry returns. The road team split the last two games in the series. The Hogs also picked up a win in the 2000 Cotton Bowl.
5. Georgia at Arizona State - The Bulldogs leave the Southeast for the first time since 1965.
6. NC State at Tennessee - This game could vault up the rankings if Tom O'Brien's squad has an unexpectedly impressive '07 campaign. (Update: This series was postponed (see comments section). At one point, NC State and South Carolina were looking at a series in '08/'09. If anyone has an update on those talks, please post 'em in the comments.
That's an awfully big gun for just shooting bees
7. Mississippi State at Georgia Tech - GT and MSU are charter members of the SEC, but they have only played each other twice, and only once since the SEC was formed. Bobby Dodd refused to play in Starkville, and MSU voted to keep GT out of the SEC when they reapplied in the early 70s. After losing 13 of 16 games to Georgia, Tech is eager to beat ANY kind of Bulldog.
8. Ole Miss at Wake Forest - Honestly, I have nothing to say about this game. If I added the traditional non-conference SEC games to the list, this obviously wouldn't make the Top 10.
9. Vandy at Wake Forest - I have even less to say about this.
(*) I didn't rank the obvious traditional non-conference games like Clemson vs. SC, UGA vs. GT, UK vs. Louisville or UF vs. FSU.
PWD
