The battle for the SEC championship is the most compelling race in college football in 2024.
The conference now has six schools with two losses or fewer in conference play. Florida defeated No. 22 LSU 27-16 to hand the Tigers a third loss in SEC play. No. No. 21 South Carolina defeated No. 23 Missouri 34-30 to hand those Tigers a third loss.
The SEC should get four teams in the College Football Playoff — maybe even five — but the battle to determine the two teams that make it to the SEC championship game in Atlanta on Dec. 7 is very real heading into Week 12.
The matchup between No. 7 Tennessee and No. 12 Georgia will provide some clarity, but the most important matchup in the race will take place on Nov. 30 between No. 3 Texas and No. 15 Texas A&M. That will determine how much the potential two-loss logjam will be in figuring out who goes to the conference championship game.
Here’s a look at where these contenders sit in the standings, their respective paths to the SEC Championship, and the tiebreaker rules if two teams – or three or more teams – are tied in the standings at the end of the regular season conference standings.
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2024 SEC Football Rankings
The SEC has six teams with two losses or fewer in conference play. Here’s a look at those teams. South Carolina is also ranked in the AP Top 25 and CFP rankings, but the Gamecocks have three losses in conference play.
| SCHOOL | SEC | GENERAL | P.F | PA |
| Texas | 5-1 | 9-1 | 370 | 119 |
| Tennessee | 5-1 | 8-1 | 361 | 196 |
| Texas A&M | 5-1 | 7-2 | 278 | 191 |
| Georgia | 5-2 | 7-2 | 275 | 166 |
| Alabama | 4-2 | 8-2 | 395 | 169 |
| Ole ma’am | 4-2 | 8-2 | 407 | 129 |
SEC tiebreaker rules for 2024 season
The SEC will use six potential tie-breakers for the 2024 season in the following order until the tie is broken:
Step 1: Head-to-head competition: This is the easiest draw cup. Did team A beat team B?
Step 2: Record vs. all regular conference opponents.
Step 3: Record against the highest (best) ranked common conference opponent in the conference standings, and advance through the conference standings among tied teams.
Step 4: Cumulative conference winning percentages of all conference opponents among tied teams.
Step 5: Capped relative aggregate scoring margin against all conference opponents among tied teams.
Step 6: Random draw.
SEC contenders heading to the championship game
Texas (9-1, 5-1)
Remaining schedule: vs. Kentucky, at Texas A&M
The Longhorns still control their destiny after a 20-10 win at Arkansas. The tough loss for them is Georgia. Alabama and Ole Miss have head-to-head wins against the Bulldogs as their common opponent, and that tiebreaker could hurt the Longhorns if they make a mistake in either of the final two games. However, Texas will be favored over the Wildcats and Aggies. They have the best path to the SEC championship game.
Tennessee (8-1, 5-1)
Remaining schedule: at Georgia, versus UTEP, at Vanderbilt
The Vols are tied for first in the conference standings but have lost the last seven meetings to Georgia. The Arkansas loss hurts as Ole Miss and Texas A&M are coming off wins against the Razorbacks. Still, Tennessee controls its own destiny at this point, as Texas and Texas A&M — the other one-loss teams — play on Nov. 30.
Texas A&M (7-2, 5-1)
Remaining schedule: vs. New Mexico State, in Auburn, vs. Texas
The Aggies are the chaos team in this field — because a win against Texas in the regular-season finale would set up a potential two-loss mess for the rest of the SEC field. Texas A&M is coming off a non-conference loss to Notre Dame, but that has more impact on the CFP race at this point.
Georgia (7-2, 5-2)
Remaining schedule: vs. Tennessee, vs. UMass, vs. Georgia Tech
The Bulldogs close out SEC play against Tennessee on Saturday. A loss would mean elimination from the race. A win would keep Georgia’s hopes alive, and the head-to-head win against Texas could come in handy when the Aggies beat the Longhorns on Nov. 30. However, the head-to-head losses against Ole Miss and Alabama are the biggest. disadvantage. That will be difficult to overcome in a two-loss situation.
Alabama (8-2, 4-2)
Remaining schedule: vs. Mercer, in Oklahoma, vs. Auburn
The Crimson Tide defeated Mercer 52-7 and is in good form despite conference losses to Vanderbilt and Tennessee. That’s because Alabama has head-to-head wins against Georgia and LSU, which will be huge if there’s a pile-up of two-loss teams. In most of these situations, Alabama will have the advantage. It’s amazing how Kalen DeBoer’s first season in Tuscaloosa fluctuated.
Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2)
Remaining schedule: in Florida, versus Mississippi State
The Rebels are in a good spot for the College Football Playoff, but three-point losses to Kentucky and LSU make their path to the SEC championship game much more difficult. The 28-10 win against Georgia offset the 29-26 loss to LSU, but that likely won’t be enough unless Alabama loses again.
SEC common opponents tracker for 2024
Here’s a look at the common opponents of the six teams in the battle. Keep this schedule handy for the last three weeks:
| OPPONENT | TEN. | BEN | TEXAS | UGA | MISS. | BAMA |
| Alabama | W24-17 | – | – | L41-34 | – | – |
| Arkansas | L 19-14 | W21-17 | W20-10 | – | W 63-31 | – |
| Chestnut brown | November 23 | W31-13 | – | November 30 | ||
| Florida | W23-17 | W33-20 | W 49-17 | W34-20 | November 23 | – |
| Georgia | November 16 | – | L30-15 | – | W28-10 | W 41-34 |
| Kentucky | W28-18 | – | November 23 | W 13-12 | L20-17 | – |
| LSU | – | W38-23 | – | – | L29-26 | W 42-13 |
| The state of Mississippi | W33-14 | W34-24 | W35-13 | W 41-31 | November 29 | – |
| Missouri | – | W 41-10 | – | – | – | W34-0 |
| Ole ma’am | – | – | – | L28-10 | – | – |
| Oklahoma | W25-15 | – | W34-3 | – | W26-14 | November 23 |
| South Carolina | – | L44-20 | – | – | W27-3 | W27-25 |
| Tennessee | – | – | – | November 16 | – | L24-17 |
| Texas | – | November 30 | – | W30-15 | – | – |
| Texas A&M | – | – | November 30 | – | – | – |
| Vanderbilt | November 30 | – | W 27-24 | – | – | L40-35 |
Most likely SEC championship game scenario
Here’s what we think will happen in the coming weeks.
– Missouri will take its third loss against South Carolina. That happened on Saturday.
– Georgia will beat Tennessee.
– Texas will beat Texas A&M on November 30. The Longhorns win to claim one of the spots in the SEC championship game.
– If the chalk comes out from there, there will be five teams with 6-2 records in conference play trying to clinch the spot opposite Texas in Atlanta. The first tiebreaker is the head-to-head record between those teams. At that point it would be Ole Miss (1-0), Alabama (1-1), Tennessee (1-1), Georgia (1-2) and Texas A&M (0-0).
Here’s what that scenario would look like in the remaining games:
| OPPONENT | TEN. | BEN | TEXAS | UGA | MISS. | BAMA |
| Alabama | W24-17 | – | – | L41-34 | – | – |
| Arkansas | L 19-14 | W21-17 | W20-10 | – | W 63-31 | – |
| Chestnut brown | W | W31-13 | – | W | ||
| Florida | W23-17 | W33-20 | W 49-17 | W34-20 | W | – |
| Georgia | L | – | L30-15 | – | W28-10 | W 41-34 |
| Kentucky | W28-18 | – | W | W 13-12 | L20-17 | – |
| LSU | – | W38-23 | – | – | L29-26 | W 42-13 |
| The state of Mississippi | W33-14 | W34-24 | W35-13 | W 41-31 | W | – |
| Missouri | – | W 41-10 | – | – | – | W34-0 |
| Ole ma’am | – | – | – | L28-10 | – | – |
| Oklahoma | W25-15 | – | W34-3 | – | W26-14 | W |
| South Carolina | – | L44-20 | – | – | W27-3 | W27-25 |
| Tennessee | – | – | – | W | – | L24-17 |
| Texas | – | L | – | W30-15 | – | – |
| Texas A&M | – | – | W | – | – | – |
| Vanderbilt | W | – | W 27-24 | – | – | L40-35 |
| CONF. REC. | 6-2 | 6-2 | 7-1 | 6-2 | 6-2 | 6-2 |
| H2H RECORD | 1-1 | 0-0 | – | 1-2 | 1-0 | 1-1 |
