The SEC West representative in the SEC title game has been Alabama or LSU five years straight and 10 of the past 12 seasons.
There’s a good chance the winner of Saturday night’s game between the Tigers and the Tide in Tuscaloosa will be there again this year to face Georgia, if chalk holds.
LSU coach Brian Kelly said if he has his way, the Tigers will get Alabama as an annual opponent when the league eliminates divisional play next season with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma.
“I think we’re going to have a say in what that schedule looks like in terms of Alabama against LSU,” Kelly said on the SEC Coaches Teleconference on Wednesday.
“Commissioner (Greg) Sankey has given us the opportunity to talk about the team or teams we want to keep on our schedule, and each team has those natural rivalries.
“Certainly, in talking to Scott Woodward, our AD, he and I both would be in agreement that LSU-Alabama is a game that we would like to see played every year.”
The current league scheduling format, which features seven permanent opponents and one rotating, will no longer be in effect after this season.
Instead, there will be a new schedule model in place for at least one year which, if it is the model held in place moving forward, would feature one annual opponent and seven rotating.
That could mean the end of LSU and Alabama playing annually, as they have since 1964.
It seems more likely Auburn would be the most likely annual opponent for the Tide.
Many annual rivalries would be lost with the new scheduling format, which prioritizes more balance and variety in the SEC schedule.
Georgia is expected to keep Florida as its yearly football opponent, the Gators taking priority over such rivals as Auburn and Tennessee in an eight-game schedule model.
Tide coach Nick Saban acknowledged how special the LSU-Alabama rivalry is, but indicated it could be on hold until there’s a schedule model with at least three annual opponents,
“Both fanbases look forward to the game, and I think as many of these types of fan interest rivalry games, whatever you want to call them, that we can keep over time is beneficial to the conference and beneficial to the players that play the game,” Saban said.
“We’ve got some natural rivalry games that have tremendous fan interest, whether it’s Auburn, Tennessee and LSU, so if you’re only going to play one of those, somebody is going to be disappointed.
“If we eventually expand the schedule in the league, which probably will happen someday with that many teams (16), and you have three fixed (opponents), you probably have a better chance of that happening.”
The nine-game schedule model discussed by the SEC featured three permanent opponents and six rotating.
However the league moves forward, look for Alabama and LSU to be at or near the for the foreseeable future.
Here’s a look at this week’s SEC Power Rankings, from the vantage point of this writer:
Tier One
Georgia: Kirby Smart is virtually unbeatable with more than a week to prepare, has won 19 straight dating back to Sugar Bowl loss to Texas.
Alabama: Nick Saban blows out candle and team sings Happy Birthday to him in team meeting room. Yes, that really happened.
LSU: Brian Kelly has been a best-case hire for the Bayou Bengals, but can he put together a defense?
Ole Miss: Rebels looked a bit sloppy beating Vanderbilt but should be on point for A&M.
Missouri: Tigers off to best start in 10 years, confident and hungry rolling into Athens.
Tier Two
Tennessee: Vols showed toughness and character with bounce-back win at Kentucky.
Texas A&M: Aggies trying to hold things together at 5-3, have dropped 8 straight on road.
Kentucky: Mark Stoops’ Wildcats have dropped three straight heading into Starkville.
Florida: Gators pulling out all the stops, wearing black uniforms in front of sellout crowd at The Swamp vs. Arkansas.
Auburn: Much-needed win for Hugh Freeze over Maroon Bulldogs last Saturday but must take care of business on road at Vandy.
Tier Three
South Carolina: Shane Beamer’s team gets a much-needed light opponent in Jacksonville State but can’t take them too lightly.
Mississippi State: Cowbells will be ringing in what figures to be smash-mouth affair with Kentucky.
Arkansas: Hogs trot out new offensive coordinator after bye week, could surprise at Florida.
Vanderbilt: Commodores hoping to snap seven game losing streak in final home game of season.
