Rival programs Texas and Texas A&M are scheduled to meet for the first time in 13 years next Saturday, with a spot in the SEC Championship Game at stake.
The winner of the No. 3 Longhorns and No. 15 Aggies will advance to the SEC title game, where they will face No. 10 Georgia. The SEC office confirmed Saturday night that the Bulldogs have qualified for the conference title game for the fourth straight season following their Week 13 results.
This was the unexpected result of an amazing day of upsets in the SEC. Ole Miss and Alabama were eliminated with their third loss, No. 11 Tennessee was eliminated in a tiebreaker, and Georgia State qualified after a new tiebreaker rule was considered.
The top four teams in the standings heading into Week 14 are:
6-1
At Texas A&M
6-2
Not applicable
5-2
texas
5-2
at Vanderbilt
SEC scenario breakdown
• If Texas wins next week, it will have the best record and the No. 1 seed. Georgia State won the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Volunteers, and whether Tennessee wins or loses against Vanderbilt, it will remain the No. 2 seed.
• If Texas A&M wins, there will be a three-way or four-way tie for first place, depending on whether Tennessee wins. None of the initial tiebreakers seem to apply, so it will depend on the strength of the schedule. Texas A&M currently has that advantage, and the SEC office’s calculations suggest it will continue to do so next week. Here’s how they looked after this weekend’s game:
28-30
26-32
26-35
23-36
However, that only confirms the No. 1 seed, and the tie-breaking process for the remaining three teams will go back to the beginning. In that case, Georgia would earn the No. 2 seed after defeating Tennessee and Texas.
Even if Texas A&M wins and Tennessee loses, Georgia still wins the head-to-head matchup with the Longhorns to qualify.
Bottom line: It’s complicated.
Here are the SEC’s six tiebreakers in order.
Head-to-head competition between tied teams Records against all common conference opponents between tied teams Record against the highest (highest) common conference opponent in the conference standings and advancing through the conference standings between tied teams Cumulative winning percentage All conference opponents within tied teams All conference opponents within tied teams with relative total point differential cap vs. Random draw of tied teams
How Auburn upset the Aggies
Auburn receiver Ke’Andre Lambert-Smith made a jumping catch in the middle of the end zone on a two-point conversion pass from quarterback Peyton Thorne in the fourth overtime, making it the game-winner. Texas A&M had a chance to match, but Marcell Reed’s rollout pass to Amari Daniels was dropped. Auburn fans packed the field at Jordan-Hare Stadium to celebrate their first win over a ranked team in the Hugh Freeze era.
The Tigers (5-6, 2-5) took a 21-0 lead in the second quarter through the passing game. Thorne completed four passing plays of 15 yards or more in the first quarter alone, including a 63-yard touchdown pass to Cam Coleman and a 60-yard completion pass to Lambert Smith.
Texas A&M fought back with three touchdowns on its next four drives to tie the game at the 21:00 with 7:57 left in the third quarter. Aggies receiver Noah Thomas (5 catches, 124 yards) had two of those touchdown catches of 14 and 73 yards in the third quarter.
Auburn running back Harquez Hunter (130 rushing, 3 touchdowns) gave the Tigers a 28-21 lead, but Texas A&M answered with a Randy Bond field goal and an 8-yard touchdown run by Daniels. He then scored four points to take a 31-28 lead. 01 left in the 4th quarter.
The Tigers got inside A&M’s 10 in the final moments, but made a tying field goal at the end of regulation.
Both teams traded for a touchdown in the first overtime, then a field goal in the second overtime. By rule, teams must alternate attempting two-point conversion plays starting in the third overtime. Neither team was able to score in the third overtime period.
Looking to the future
Despite the loss, the Aggies still have a chance to advance to the SEC title game for the first time in school history. Texas A&M joined the SEC in 2012 but never won the division under Kevin Sumlin and Jimbo Fisher.
New coach Mike Elko has a chance to accomplish what his predecessor couldn’t, but it will require an upset of rival Texas. If the Aggies lose, they will be ranked outside of the top 12 and will miss the College Football Playoff.
The Longhorns will visit Kyle Field next week, marking the first time the rivals have faced each other since 2011 and the 119th time they have met. Texas leads the series 76-37-5, winning the last game 27-25 on a Justin Tucker field goal as time expired.
Earlier in the day, Georgia wasn’t considering itself a strong possibility for the SEC Championship, much less clinching a spot before the day was over. Much of the discussion was about whether it would be better to miss the game, rest and prepare for the first round of the playoffs rather than lose and risk falling further down the standings.
“We don’t really talk about it,” guard Tate Rutledge said. “If it falls into place, we’re going to try our best to get up there and try our best to win. But if it doesn’t, it’s not. Right now (Georgia Tech) I’m just focused on.”
(Photo: Michael Chang/Getty Images)
