SEC reportedly considering conference-only slate despite ACC plans
The ACC announced an 11-game scheduling model Wednesday for the 2020 season, which included one non-conference game that must be played in the team’s home state.
This year's Florida-Florida State matchup can still happen, but now the ball is in the SEC's court. Right now, it's a "fluid situation" according to Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger.
He reported that the SEC is moving closer to a conference-only schedule of 10 games after the idea was approved by the "majority of athletic directors" during a virtual meeting Wednesday.
The league’s presidents meet virtually Thursday morning, though it’s unclear if they will vote on the matter then or next week. Any scheduling plans must be ratified by them.
Despite the ACC, Big 12 and SEC working to preserve non-conference games among their schools, such as UF-FSU, Ross reports that an SEC-only slate has “emerged as a potential best option” for schedule flexibility and a uniform testing protocol — despite some league administrators disagreeing with the current proposal.
Should the presidents vote for conference-only games, the Gators wouldn’t play Florida State for the first time since 1957 and could face two more SEC West teams. If their schedule is 10 league games and every team adds its next two rotational opponents, that would be Alabama and Texas A&M for UF.
For what it's worth, Florida athletics director Scott Stricklin expressed a desire to travel to Tallahassee in the event of a season happening.
“If we’re able to get to the point where we play a game, when we get to that point I want to play that FSU game,” Stricklin said July 14. “That’s really important to the state of Florida. I think it’s really important to both institutions. I’m hopeful we can find a way to play our schedule as normally as possible at that point, but that again is secondary to making sure we take the extra steps to enhance the safety for our athletes.”
The Gators began walk-throughs last Friday and preseason camp is scheduled to start Aug. 7. The Big Ten and Pac-12 both plan to play only conference games this season.