From Alabama-Notre Dame to Tennessee-UNC, we suggest football rivalries for SEC teams
Four SEC teams play a nonconference rivalry game with an ACC team each season, but the SEC's other members don't have a fixed non-league clash they play annually.
We're here to make some suggestions.
For Alabama, how about a matchup of blue bloods? There are multiple opportunities to reignite some old Southwest Conference clashes. Football-proud Nebraska and Penn State would make for good annual opponents for an SEC team, too.
On this episode of "SEC Football Unfiltered," a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams suggest a nonconference rival for each of the SEC's 10 teams that do not currently play a rivalry game with a member of the ACC.
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Their assignments range from the Big 12 to the Pac-12 and Big Ten.
The hosts don't tinker with established nonconference matchups, meaning they preserve the pairings of Florida-Florida State, Georgia-Georgia Tech, Kentucky-Louisville and South Carolina-Clemson.
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Here's their other nonconference rivalry assignments, with explanations provided during the "SEC Football Unfiltered" podcast.
Missouri: Illinois (Adams); Kansas (Toppmeyer)
Tennessee: Georgia Tech (Adams); North Carolina (Toppmeyer)
Vanderbilt: Duke (Adams); Duke (Toppmeyer)
Alabama: Michigan State (Adams); Notre Dame (Toppmeyer)
Arkansas: Baylor (Adams); TCU (Toppmeyer)
Auburn: Oklahoma State (Adams); Penn State (Toppmeyer)
LSU: Notre Dame (Adams); Miami (Toppmeyer)
Ole Miss: Southern Cal (Adams); Nebraska (Toppmeyer)
Mississippi State: Texas Tech (Adams); Oklahoma State (Toppmeyer)
Texas A&M: Penn State (Adams); Baylor (Toppmeyer)
Later in the episode
– The hosts examine the ongoing quarterback competitions at Auburn, Ole Miss and Georgia. Can Hugh Freeze expect to upgrade at quarterback via the transfer portal? Jaxson Dart remains the quarterback to beat at Ole Miss. Is that a good thing? And, is Georgia's starting quarterback competition down to two contenders?
Where to listen to SEC Football Unfiltered
Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. John Adams is the senior columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel. You can subscribe to their podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered, or check out the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: From Alabama-Notre Dame to Vols-UNC, we suggest football rivalries for SEC
