The sixth week of the SEC’s 92nd season includes five conference games and one non-conference contest. The league games feature a ranked-vs.-ranked matchup with Missouri and Texas A&M and the renewal of the second-most played major-college football rivalry with Auburn and Georgia. The non-conference contest is notable for the return of former Auburn coach Gus Malzhan to an SEC venue as UCF visits Florida. Five teams – Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Oklahoma and Texas – have open dates on Saturday. Here are 10 stats from SEC Football by the Numbers, along with the schedule, TV and betting lines, to get ready for Week 6:
0 Victories in 54 games for Vanderbilt against teams ranked in the top five of The Associated Press Poll. The Commodores play No. 1 Alabama on Saturday. Vanderbilt’s winless record features 10 losses to the No. 1 team, including defeats by Alabama in 1980 and 2017. The highest-ranked teams that Vanderbilt has beaten were ranked sixth in the AP poll. The Commodores upended No. 6 LSU 7-6 on Oct. 23, 1937, and No. 6 South Carolina 17-6 on Oct. 20, 2007. Vanderbilt has lost 24 in a row to ranked teams since a 14-7 victory over No. 18 Kansas State on Sept. 16, 2017.
1 Major-college football rivalry has been contested more than Auburn and Georgia. The Tigers and Bulldogs will square off on Saturday for the 129th time. Minnesota and Wisconsin will meet for the 134th time on Nov. 29. North Carolina and Virginia will square off for the 129th time on Oct. 26. Georgia leads the series with Auburn 64-56-8, but the Tigers have an 18-17 record in Athens, where Saturday’s game will be played. Georgia has won seven in a row against Auburn. There hasn’t been an eight-game winning streak in the series since the Bulldogs claimed nine consecutive victories from 1923 through 1931.
1 Game against Florida for Gus Malzahn during his eight seasons as Auburn’s coach – at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville exactly five years before Malzahn’s Saturday date in The Swamp as UCF’s coach. Malzahn’s No. 7 Tigers lost to the No. 10 Gators 24-13 on Oct. 5, 2019. Malzahn capped his first season as UCF’s coach with a 29-17 victory over Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl on Dec. 23, 2021. That victory is part of the Knights’ current 13-game winning streak against opponents from Florida. Since a 48-31 loss to South Florida on Nov. 26, 2016, UCF has defeated South Florida six times, Florida Atlantic three times, and Bethune-Cookman, Florida, Florida A&M and Florida International once apiece.
3 Consecutive ranked matchups have been won by Missouri, one short of the school record streak as the No. 9 Tigers prepare to play No. 25 Texas A&M on Saturday. Missouri has won four consecutive contests when both teams were ranked in the AP Poll once. No. 16 Missouri defeated No. 12 Alabama 35-10 in the Gator Bowl on Dec. 28, 1968; No. 9 Missouri defeated No. 13 Michigan 40-17 on Oct. 4, 1969; No. 7 Missouri defeated No. 20 Nebraska 17-7 on Oct. 11, 1969; and No. 9 Missouri defeated No. 20 Oklahoma 44-10 on Nov. 8, 1969, in the Tigers’ four-game winning streak in ranked games. In its current winning streak, No. 14 Missouri defeated No. 13 Tennessee 36-7 on Nov. 11, No. 9 Missouri defeated No. 7 Ohio State 14-3 in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 29 and No. 6 Missouri defeated No. 24 Boston College 27-21 on Sept. 14. The Tigers have had two other winning streaks of three games in ranked-vs.-ranked games. The most recent ended in 1973. Missouri and Texas A&M have met twice previously as ranked teams. The No. 6 Aggies defeated the No. 13 Tigers 17-14 on Nov. 14, 1998, and No. 5 Missouri defeated No. 19 Texas A&M 28-21 on Nov. 30, 2013.
4 Teams have not trailed this season, with SEC members Tennessee and Texas joining Army and Indiana. The Longhorns have an open date on Saturday while the Volunteers will try to extend their streak against Arkansas. Tennessee has gone six games in a row without falling behind. Since their 38-10 loss to Georgia on Nov. 28, the Volunteers have beaten Vanderbilt, Iowa, Chattanooga, North Carolina State, Kent State and Oklahoma without trailing. In its four games this season, Tennessee has outscored its opponents 216-28 for a point differential of 188, which is the best in the nation. The Vols haven’t allowed so few points in their first four games of a season since 1966, when Auburn, Rice, Georgia Tech and Alabama combined to score 20 against Tennessee in that span.
5 Consecutive opponents have failed to reach 100 rushing yards against Ole Miss this season, with the Rebels leading the nation in rushing defense by limiting their opponents to an average of 46.2 yards per game on the ground. Part of Ole Miss’ success is its national-best 53 tackles for loss, which have taken 220 yards off its opponents’ rushing total. The Rebels’ sixth opponent of 2024, South Carolina on Saturday, has rushed for 516 yards and eight TDs in its past two games against LSU and Akron. South Carolina RB Raheim Sanders ran for 386 yards in three games against Ole Miss while playing for Arkansas.
23 Consecutive victories for Alabama against Vanderbilt entering their meeting on Saturday. The Commodores’ most recent victory over the Crimson Tide came on Sept. 29, 1984, when Vanderbilt won 30-21 on the road. Alabama leads the series 63-18-4. Alabama has won 31 in a row against Vanderbilt when the Crimson Tide is ranked, as it is for Saturday’s game at No. 1 in the AP Poll. The Commodores’ most recent victory over a ranked Alabama team came on Oct. 11, 1969, when Vanderbilt defeated the No. 13 Crimson Tide 14-10 in Nashville.
110 Alabama points have been the responsibility of QB Jalen Milroe, whose responsibility-average of 27.5 points per game is the highest in the nation this season. Milroe has 10 TD passes, eight TD runs and one 2-point conversion pass. Milroe is tied with Army’s Bryson Daily and Navy’s Blake Horvath for the most rushing TDs among the nation’s quarterbacks.
342 More receiving yards for Ole Miss WR Tre Harris this season than for any other player in the SEC. Harris has 804 yards and five TDs on 49 receptions. Alabama WR Ryan Williams has 462 yards and five TDs on 16 receptions to rank second in the conference in receiving yards in 2024. Harris has more receiving yards than any player in the nation entering Saturday’s game against South Carolina.
509 Rushing yards for Arkansas RB Ja’Quinden Jackson, the most by an SEC player in the 2024 season. But Tennessee RB Dylan Sampson is the SEC’s leading rusher with an average of 112.25 yards per game. The Volunteers have played one fewer game than the Razorbacks heading into their meeting on Saturday. Jackson will enter the contest with 509 yards and nine TDs on 79 rushing attempts, with Sampson comes in with 449 yards and 10 TDs on 69 rushing attempts. Sampson leads the SEC in rushing TDs, but Jackson has run for a touchdown in five straight games. He’s the first Arkansas player to do that since Alex Collins in 2015.
This week’s SEC schedule includes (all times are CDT with point spreads from BetMGM):
Saturday
· No. 9 Missouri (4-0, 1-0) at No. 25 Texas A&M (4-1, 2-0), 11 a.m. at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas (ABC). Line: Texas A&M by 2.5
· Auburn (2-3, 0-2) at No. 5 Georgia (3-1, 1-1), 2:30 p.m. at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia (ABC). Line: Georgia by 22.5
· No. 12 Ole Miss (4-1, 0-1) at South Carolina (3-1, 1-1), 2:30 p.m. at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina (ESPN). Line: Ole Miss by 8.5
· No. 1 Alabama (4-0, 1-0) at Vanderbilt (2-2, 0-1), 3:15 p.m. at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee (SEC Network). Line: Alabama by 23.5
· No. 4 Tennessee (4-0, 1-0) at Arkansas (3-2, 1-1), 6:30 p.m. at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas (ABC). Line: Tennessee by 13.5
· UCF (3-1) at Florida (2-2), 6:45 p.m. at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida (SEC Network). Line: UCF by 2.5
