The 2018 Southeastern Conference football season represents the 86th season of SEC football taking place during the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season began on August 30 and will end with the SEC Championship Game, between Alabama and Georgia, on December 1. The SEC is a Power Five conference under the College Football Playoff format along with the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big 12 Conference, the Big Ten Conference, and the Pac-12 Conference. For the 2018 season, the SEC has 14 teams divided into two divisions of seven each, named East and West.

Preseason

Recruiting classes + National Rankings Team ESPN Rivals Scout 24/7 Total SigneesAlabama #1 #1 #1 #1 29Arkansas #26 #24 #27 #27 27Auburn #9 #14 #11 #9 23Florida #13 #9 #10 #10 23Georgia #3 #3 #2 #3 25Kentucky #30 #26 #35 #31 24LSU #7 #8 #7 #7 23Ole Miss #36 #39 #29 #29 21Mississippi State #24 #27 #25 #24 24Missouri #54 #48 #40 #42 24South Carolina #19 #16 #21 #21 24Tennessee #15 #15 #16 #17 27Texas A&M #11 #10 #9 #12 27Vanderbilt #60 #57 #69 #65 20

SEC media days The SEC conducted its annual media days at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham – The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama on July 16–19. The event commenced with a speech by commissioner Greg Sankey, and all 14 teams sent their head coaches and three selected players to speak with members of the media. The event along with all speakers and interviews were broadcast live on the SEC Network and streamed live on ESPN.com.

Preseason media polls The SEC Media Days concluded with its annual preseason media polls. Since 1992, the credentialed media has gotten the preseason champion correct just six times. Only nine times has the preseason pick even made it to the SEC title game. Below are the results of the media poll with total points received next to each school and first-place votes in parentheses.

SEC Champion Voting Alabama (193) Georgia (69) Auburn (14) South Carolina (4) Florida (2) Mississippi State (1) Missouri (1)

West Division Alabama (263) – 1971 Auburn (19) – 1664 Mississippi State (2) – 1239 Texas A&M – 1091 LSU – 1025 Ole Miss – 578 Arkansas – 412

East Division Georgia (271) – 1977 South Carolina (8) – 1535 Florida (4) – 1441 Missouri – 1057 Kentucky (1) – 874 Tennessee (1) – 704 Vanderbilt – 392

First place votes in () References:

Preseason All-SEC Media + First Team Offense Position Player Class TeamQBDrew LockSRMissouriRBDamien HarrisSRAlabamaRBBenny SnellJRKentuckyWRA. J. BrownJROle MissWR Deebo SamuelRS SRSouth CarolinaTE Albert OkwuegbunamRS SOMissouriOLJonah WilliamsJRAlabamaOLGreg LittleJROle MissOLMartez IveySRFloridaOLTrey SmithSOTennesseeCRoss PierschbacherSRAlabama

+ First Team Defense Position Player Class TeamDLRaekwon DavisJRAlabamaDLCeCe JeffersonSRFloridaDLMontez SweatSRMississippi StateDLJeffery SimmonsJRMississippi StateLBDevin WhiteJRLSULBAnfernee JenningsRS JRAlabamaLBMack WilsonJRAlabamaDBDeandre Baker SRGeorgiaDBGreedy WilliamsSOLSUDBJ. R. ReedJRGeorgiaDBDeionte ThompsonRS JRAlabama

+ First Team Special Teams Position Player Class TeamPCorey FatonySRMissouriKRodrigo Blankenship RS JRGeorgiaRSDeebo SamuelRS SRSouth CarolinaAPDeebo SamuelRS SRSouth Carolina

References:

Head coaches School Coach YearAlabama Nick Saban 12thArkansas Chad Morris 1stAuburn Gus Malzahn 6thFlorida Dan Mullen 1stGeorgia Kirby Smart 3rdKentucky Mark Stoops 6thLSU Ed Orgeron 2ndMississippi State Joe Moorhead 1stMissouri Barry Odom 3rdOle Miss Matt Luke 2ndSouth Carolina Will Muschamp 3rdTennessee Jeremy Pruitt 1stTexas A&M Jimbo Fisher 1stVanderbilt Derek Mason 5th

Rankings + Legend     Increase in ranking   Decrease in ranking   Not ranked previous week RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll

  Pre Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 FinalAlabama AP 1 (42) 1 (48) 1 (54) 1 (58) 1 (60) 1 (58) 1 (59) 1 (60) 1 (61) 1 (60) 1 (60) 1 (61) 1 (61) 1 (61) 1 (61) 2C 1 (61) 1 (59) 1 (59) 1 (60) 1 (61) 1 (61) 1 (61) 1 (61) 1 (60) 1 (62) 1 (63) 1 (64) 1 (63) 1 (63) 1 (62) 2CFP Not released 1 1 1 1 1 1ArkansasAP C RV CFP Not releasedAuburn AP 9 7 7 9 10 8 21 RV RV RV RV RV RVC 10 7 7 11 10 9 21 RV RV RV RV RV RV RVCFP Not released 24Florida AP RV 25 RV 22 14 11 9 13 19 15 13 11 10 7C RV 25 RV RV RV 16 12 11 14 21 16 13 10 10 6CFP Not released 11 15 13 11 9 10 Georgia AP 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 8 7 6 5 5 5 4 6 7C 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 6 6 5 5 5 5 4 6 8CFP Not released 6 5 5 5 4 5Kentucky AP RV RV RV 17 13 18 14 12 11 12 20 17 16 16 12C RV RV RV RV 17 15 20 17 14 12 12 21 18 15 15 11CFP Not released 9 11 17 15 15 14LSU AP 25 11 12 6 5 5 13 5 4 4 9 10 8 12 11 6C 24 15 13 6 6 6 12 5 4 4 10 10 8 14 11 7CFP Not released 3 7 7 7 10 11Mississippi State AP 18 18 16 14 23 RV 24 22 RV 21 18 25 22 20 18 RVC 18 18 16 14 19 RV RV RV RV 21 15 23 20 19 18 25CFP Not released 18 16 21 18 18 18MissouriAP RV RV RV RV RV 24 RVC RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RVCFP Not released 24 23Ole Miss AP RV RV C CFP Not released South Carolina AP RV 24 RV RV RV RV C RV 24 RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RVCFP Not releasedTennessee AP C RVCFP Not releasedTexas A&M AP RV RV RV 22 RV RV 22 17 16 25 RV RV RV 22 21 16C RV RV RV 22 RV RV22 18 17 RV RV RV RV 22 20 16CFP Not released 20 22 19 19Vanderbilt AP C RV RV CFP Not released

Schedule

Regular season Index to colors and formattingNon-conference matchup; SEC member wonNon-conference matchup; SEC member lostConference matchup All times Eastern time. SEC teams in bold.

Rankings reflect those of the AP poll for that week until week ten when CFP rankings are used.

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Week Four

Week Five

Week Six

Week Seven

Week Eight

Week Nine

Week Ten

Week Eleven

Week Twelve

Week Thirteen

Week Fourteen

Championship game

The game between South Carolina and Marshall, originally scheduled for September 15, 2018, was canceled in anticipation of Hurricane Florence. The Gamecocks scheduled Akron to replace Marshall, as Akron had their game against Nebraska canceled due to inclement weather earlier in the year.

Head to head matchups Head to headTeamAlabamaArkansasAuburnFlorida GeorgiaKentuckyLSUMissouriMississippi StateOle MissSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexas A&MVanderbilt Alabama — 0-1 0-1 0-1 0-1 0-1 0-1 0-1 0-1 Arkansas 1-0 — 1-0 1-0 1-0 1-0 1-0 1-01-0 Auburn 1-0 0-1 — 1-0 1-0 1-0 0-1 1-0 0-1 Florida — 1-0 1-0 0-1 1-0 0-1 0-1 0-1 0-1 Georgia 0-1 0-1 — 0-1 1-0 0-1 0-1 0-1 0-1 Kentucky 0-1 1-0 — 0-1 0-1 0-1 1-0 1-00-1 LSU 1-0 0-1 0-1 1-0 0-1 — 0-1 0-1 1-0 Missouri 1-0 0-1 0-1 1-0 1-0 — 1-0 0-1 0-1 Mississippi State 1-0 0-1 0-1 1-0 1-0 1-0 — 0-1 0-1 Ole Miss 1-0 0-1 1-0 1-0 1-0 — 1-0 1-01-0 South Carolina 1-0 1-0 1-0 0-1 0-1 — 0-1 1-00-1 Tennesse 1-0 0-1 1-0 1-0 0-1 1-0 1-0 — 1-0 Texas A&M 1-0 0-1 1-0 0-1 0-1 1-0 0-1 0-1 — Vanderbilt 0-1 1-0 1-0 1-0 1-0 0-1 1-0 0-1 —

SEC vs other conferences SEC vs. Power 5 matchups This is a list of teams considered by the SEC as "Power Five" teams for purposes of meeting league requirements that each member play at least one "power" team in non-conference play. In addition to the SEC, the NCAA officially considers all football members of the ACC, Big 10, Big 12 and Pac-12, plus independent Notre Dame (a full but non-football ACC member), as "Power Five" teams.

All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game.

Date Visitor Home Site Significance Score September 1 No. 1 Alabama Louisville Camping World Stadium • Orlando Camping World Kickoff W 51–14 September 1 Ole Miss Texas Tech NRG Stadium • Houston, TX AdvoCare Texas Kickoff W 47–27 September 1 Tennessee No. 17 West Virginia Bank of America Stadium • Charlotte, NC Belk Kickoff Game L 14–40 September 1 No. 8 Miami (FL) No. 25 LSU AT&T Stadium • Arlington, TX Advocare Classic W 33–17 September 1 No. 6 Washington No. 9 Auburn Mercedes-Benz Stadium • Atlanta, GA Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game W 21–16 September 8 Clemson Texas A&M Kyle Field • College Station, TX L 26–28 September 8 Mississippi State Kansas State Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium • Manhattan, KS W 31–10 September 15 Vanderbilt Notre Dame Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, IN L 17–22 September 15 Missouri Purdue Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN W 40–37 November 24 Georgia Tech No. 5 Georgia Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate W 45–21 November 24 South Carolina No. 2 Clemson Memorial Stadium • Clemson, SC Palmetto Bowl L 35–56 November 24 No. 17 Kentucky Louisville Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY Governor's Cup W 56–10 November 24 No. 13 Florida Florida State Doak Campbell Stadium • Tallahassee, FL Florida–Florida State football rivalry W 41–14

SEC records vs other conferences 2018-19 records against non-conference foes:

Regular Season

Power 5 ConferencesRecordACC5–2Big 122–1Big Ten1–0Notre Dame0–1Pac 121–0Power 5 Total9–4Other FBS ConferencesRecordAmerican2–0C-USA10–1Independents (Excluding BYU and Notre Dame)2–0MAC3–0Mountain West3–1Sun Belt6–0Other FBS Total26–2FCS OpponentsRecordFootball Championship Subdivision15–0Total Non-Conference Record50–6

Post Season

Power Conferences 5RecordACC1–2Big 121–3Big Ten3–1Power 5 Total5–6Other FBS ConferencesRecordAmerican1–0Other FBS Total1–0Total Bowl Record6–6

Postseason Bowl games

(Rankings from final CFP Poll; All times Eastern) Date Time Bowl Game Site TV SEC Team Opponent Result January 7, 2019 8:00 p.m. CFP National Championship Levi's Stadium • Santa Clara, CA ESPN No. 1 Alabama (14–0) No. 2 Clemson (14–0) L 16–44 January 1, 2019 8:30 p.m. Sugar Bowl (New Year's Six) Mercedes-Benz Superdome • New Orleans, LA ESPN No. 5 Georgia (11–2) No. 15 Texas (9–4) L 21–28 January 1, 2019 1:00 p.m. Fiesta Bowl (New Year's Six) State Farm Stadium • Glendale, AZ ESPN No. 11 LSU (9–3) No. 8 UCF (12–0) W 40–32 January 1, 2019 1:00 p.m. Citrus Bowl Camping World Stadium • Orlando, FL ABC No. 14 Kentucky (9–3) No. 12 Penn State (9–3) W 27–24 January 1, 2019 12:00 p.m. Outback Bowl Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL ESPN2 No. 18 Mississippi State (8–4) Iowa (8–4) L 22–27 December 31, 2018 7:30 p.m. Gator Bowl TIAA Bank Field • Jacksonville, FL ESPN No. 19 Texas A&M (8–4) NC State (9–3) W 52–13 December 31, 2018 3:45 p.m. Liberty Bowl Liberty Bowl • Memphis, TN ESPN No. 23 Missouri (8–4) Oklahoma State (6–6) L 33–38 December 29, 2018 8:00 p.m. Orange Bowl (CFP Semifinal) Hard Rock Stadium • Miami Gardens, FL ESPN No. 1 Alabama (13–0) No. 4 Oklahoma (12–1) W 45–34 December 29, 2018 12:00 p.m. Peach Bowl (New Year's Six) Mercedes-Benz Stadium • Atlanta, GA ESPN No. 10 Florida (9–3) No. 7 Michigan (10–2) W 41–15 December 29, 2018 12:00 p.m. Belk Bowl Bank of America Stadium • Charlotte, NC ESPN South Carolina (7–5) Virginia (7–5) L 0–28 December 28, 2018 1:30 p.m. Music City Bowl Nissan Stadium • Nashville, TN ESPN Auburn (7–5) Purdue (6–6) W 63–14 December 27, 2018 9:00 p.m. Texas Bowl NRG Stadium • Houston, TX ESPN Vanderbilt (6–6) Baylor (6–6) L 38–45

Awards and honors

Player of the week honors