Auburn and Georgia picked by SIDs to meet in SEC title game

By foxsports
Published

Auburn and Georgia are scheduled to play one of the bigger games of the SEC season on Nov. 14, and according to a newly released poll of the conference's football information directors, they'll meet again just three weeks later in the SEC championship game. 

In the AL.com/Birmingham News SEC Preseason Football Report, which polls the league's 14 football information directors, Auburn was picked to win the West with 33 points (just ahead of Alabama's 32) and Georgia was tabbed to win the East with 36 points. 

Breaking down the voting, Auburn received three first-place votes and three seconds in the West, while Alabama got three first-place votes, two seconds and a third. In the East, Georgia got six first-place votes whereas Missouri had one first-place vote, four seconds and one fifth. Note that the media directors could not vote for their own programs. 

So, based on voting, the Tigers and Bulldogs would seem to be the SEC favorites, right? Not so fast, my friend. In the overall poll, Alabama was picked as the top team in the conference, receiving nine first-place votes. Auburn, meanwhile, received three first-place votes (and was picked as low as eighth by one football information director), and Georgia had one.

If you're thinking, "that doesn't make sense," turn your mental clock back to 2011, when LSU went undefeated, won the West and beat Georgia in the SEC title game ... and Alabama was waiting in the BCS championship game, which the Tide won decisively. Perhaps a similar scenario plays out this season? If so, it could very well mean two SEC teams participating in the College Football Playoff. 

Of course, this poll doesn't actually mean anything; it's simply a method to gauge the conference members' expectations. But if those expectations are at all accurate, a) the SEC West -- and especially the Iron Bowl -- will be verrrrrryyyyy interesting this year, and b) a conference title game rematch is a distinct possibility since Georgia plays both 'Bama (on Oct. 3) and Auburn during the regular season.

(h/t AL.com)