Potential scenarios for SEC next year

Here are the top 7 teams based on final conference record this year, going into next year:

Alabama - 8-0
Georgia - 8-0
Texas - 8-1
Oklahoma - 7-2
LSU, Missouri, Ole Miss - 6-2

Here's how they break down vs each other:

Alabama plays Georgia, LSU, Missouri, Oklahoma (no Texas, no Ole Miss)

Georgia plays Alabama, Texas, Ole Miss (no Oklahoma, no Missouri, no Ole Miss)

Texas plays Georgia, Oklahoma (no Ole Miss, no Missouri, no Alabama, no LSU)

Oklahoma plays Texas, Ole Miss, Missouri, Alabama, LSU (no Georgia)

LSU - Alabama, Oklahoma, Ole Miss

Missouri - Oklahoma, Alabama

Ole Miss - Georgia, Oklahoma, LSU

So, a few observations:

1. I don't know which voodoo witch or eldritch horror Oklahoma offended, but probably not a bad idea to make a few visits to a confessional or hire an exorcist.

2. There are a few scenarios that allow for a 3-way tie of undefeated teams. The most likely one is probably Alabama / Texas / Ole Miss, but Missouri and Texas each only play 2 of the teams that finished with 2 losses or fewer (and not each other). Any of the 4 teams that neither play could also end up undefeated (LSU or Ole Miss). While a 4-way tie is impossible, there's a couple of scenarios for 3-way ties among these teams. Of course, there's even more scenarios for 1-loss ties with a "A lost to B who lost to C who lost to A".


While these scenarios usually self-correct by the end of the season, it'll be interesting to see if we end up with a large number of ties. IIRC, the last 3-way tie in the SEC was 1989 (Alabama, Auburn, and Tennessee).