Kentucky could determine who makes SEC Championship Game

The new era of the SEC means no more divisions. That has created some better matchups across the conference as Oklahoma and Texas have joined the league but it has made other processes more complicated. Look no further than the SEC Championship Game.

With two weeks left in the season, Texas A&M (10-0, 7-0) sits at the top of the conference but Georgia (9-1, 7-1), Ole Miss (10-1, 6-1), and Alabama (8-2, 6-1) are all within striking distance. What are the scenarios for Atlanta? Well, it’s complicated.

The SEC’s tiebreaker policy says that a three-team tie would move to strength of schedule since this pool of teams did not all play each other. That means the team with the best strength of record would move to Atlanta. What does that mean? The squad with the best “cumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponents among the tied teams” would advance. That makes some games in the last two weeks that do not involve these four teams matter for the conference title race. Kentucky will play in one of those games this weekend.

UK at Vanderbilt, Florida at Tennessee, and Arkansas at Missouri will determine who holds the strength of schedule edge.

Make any sense? Well, it shouldn’t because this is a flawed process. Similar to SEC Tournament scenarios, things can get very confusing when you move out of a division structure. Add in that schedules are extremely unbalanced due to having 16 teams, and you have situations like this one.

Texas A&M currently controls its own desitny. The Aggies will make their first trip to Atlanta with a win against Texas on Black Friday. Everyone else is dependent on what happens elsewhere if they finish the season with a 7-1 mark in league play.

Kentucky can be a chaos agent this weekend. Not only could the Wildcats officially knock Vanderbilt out of the playoff with a win on Saturday, but they could determine who plays for the SEC title. A UK victory would help UGA get back to Atlanta. That could help the Bulldogs earn a first-round bye.

College football — what a sport.

SEC Championship Game scenarios

How Texas A&M reaches SEC Championship

• Beat Texas
• Lose to Texas + Auburn beats Alabama + Mississippi State beats Ole Miss

How Alabama reaches SEC Championship

• Beat Auburn + Texas beats Texas A&M 
• Beat Auburn + Mississippi State beats Ole Miss
• Beat Auburn + win three-way tie with Ole Miss/Georgia based on SEC opponent winning percentage

How Georgia reaches SEC Championship

• Auburn beats Alabama
• Texas beats Texas A&M
• Ole Miss beats Mississippi State + Georgia wins three-way tie with Alabama/Ole Miss based on SEC opponent winning percentage

How Ole Miss reaches SEC Championship

• Beat Mississippi State + Texas beats Texas A&M + Auburn beats Alabama