The 2024 college football season was disappointing for one SEC school, the Kentucky Wildcats, who finished with a record of 4-8. This result marked their worst season since head coach Mark Stoops’ inaugural year in 2013.

A 247Sports survey ranked the University of Georgia third for best college football tailgate experiences, with the rest of the top ten largely dominated by SEC teams. That passion for pregame rituals runs deep and tailgating has a long history, stretching back more than a century.

With an additional conference game, SEC schools might look to cancel future matchups against Big 12 opponents.

Now that the SEC has adopted a new scheduling model, teams in the league will play at least 10 Power 4 opponents each year. Purdue will play 11 from 2026-28.

Whit Weeks and Harold Perkins represented LSU's defense on the preseason All-SEC Coaches' team. They landed on the first and second team, respectively. Both return to Baton Rouge after recovering from injuries. Perkins went down in week four, while Weeks was carted off the field during the second quarter of LSU's bowl game against Baylor.

According to BetMGM, LSU's odds to win the SEC are +650. That puts the Tigers No. 4 in the conference behind Texas, Georgia, and Alabama. There's a wide gap between LSU at No. 4 and Texas A&M at No. 5. The Aggies' odds to win the SEC are +1500.

With talk about future SEC schedules, future Big Ten Playoff guarantees, and future headaches in the ACC, it might be a little easy to lose sight of the tree at the forefront of the forest. College football is back.

The baton for the top conference in the country has been passed begrudgingly to the Big Ten. Sorry, SEC, you can't boast two consecutive national champions without getting that honor, and that's what your northern rivals currently boast.