Smart says SEC schedule ‘most overrated’ debate
DESTIN, Fla. — Kirby Smart sounded ready to be done with the Southeastern Conference’s great schedule debate.
“The most overrated conversation in the world,” the Georgia coach said Tuesday.
As is tradition, the Southeastern Conference took over a resort hotel on the Florida Gulf Coast for its spring meetings this week. The hottest topic is what the nation’s toughest football conference plans to do with its schedule starting in the 2024 season when Texas and Oklahoma join to make it a 16-team league with no divisions.
The options are sticking with an eight-game slate but shifting to one annual rivalry game instead of the current two, or going to nine games with three annual rivals. The SEC has been trying to figure this out for more than a year.
“I’m a history teacher by trade,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz told reporters. “And every time I come to one of these meetings I’m blown away that the 13 colonies actually formed a union, but we can’t agree on an eight- or nine-game schedule.”
Either way, punting divisions fixes one big problem for the SEC: infrequent meetings between some league members.
The most glaring example: Texas A&M has played Georgia just once since joining the SEC in 2012, and the Aggies are still awaiting a visit to College Station by the Bulldogs.
“Four years, you will play everybody, home and away,” said Smart, whose team has won two straight national titles. “I get the traditional rivalries, you have three, you have two, you have one. You have this, you have that. You guys need something to write about bad when you start talking about this.”
Despite Smart’s ambivalence, the eight-or-nine conversation does matter a lot to fans.
With an eight-game schedule that protects only one annual opponent, Auburn-Georgia — the Deep South’s oldest rivalry, played 127 times — Alabama–Tennessee and maybe the renewal of the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry are among the notable matchups likely to become every-other-year games.
Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher said when the Longhorns arrive, he would like Texas A&M’s annual rival to be Texas. But that would mean shelving Texas-Oklahoma every other year.
“LSU’s become a great rivalry for us,” Fisher said. “But as you go traditional rivalries of A&M you’d say Texas.”
While LSU coach Brian Kelly stopped short of fully committing to a number of conference games, he said he wouldn’t want to give up playing Alabama every year, and the only way to do that would be with a nine-game conference schedule.
The SEC football coaches and athletic directors met separately on Tuesday and will gather together Wednesday with the hope of finally coming to a decision before meetings wrap up on Friday.
Drinkwitz is one of the few coaches to take a stand, siding with nine.
Kentucky‘s Mark Stoops is probably the most vocal supporter of sticking with eight, noting that the school’s annual in-state rivalry with Louisville of the Atlantic Coast Conference means the Wildcats are already locked into at least nine games against Power 5 opponents.
“I’m a history teacher by trade. And every time I come to one of these meetings I’m blown away that the 13 colonies actually formed a union, but we can’t agree on an eight- or nine-game schedule.”
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz
There is no guarantee the schedule question will be settled this week. Commissioner Greg Sankey has said there is still time for more consideration. He even acknowledged the possibility of a short-term solution, landing on a model but with a commitment to it for only a year or two.
Sankey met with football coaches Tuesday to discuss a multitude of topics, including the schedule.
“I sensed a trust level in our decision-making process,” Sankey said.
Alabama coach Nick Saban has promoted playing schedules with nothing but Power 5 schools and seemed to be a supporter of nine conference games over the past year.
Now, he seems concerned about what it might mean for Alabama’s nonconference schedule in coming years. The Tide have home-and-home series with Wisconsin, Florida State, Ohio State and Notre Dame — among others — scheduled between 2024 and 2030.
“If we go to nine games, we’ll have to unwind that,” Saban said. “My deal has always been to play more SEC games because we couldn’t get more people to schedule. So now I think there are more people who are willing to schedule. So having a balance is probably most important.”
Sankey has said he would like to “land the plane” this week, but he also recalled the last time the SEC expanded. Texas A&M and Missouri were granted membership in the fall of 2011 and began playing in 2012, giving the conference less than a year to figure out the football schedule.
“So we got a lot of reserves in the wings of that airplane,” Sankey said. “But we’re going to be more timely than that.”
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Max Olson
Utah quarterback Devon Dampier has been upgraded to probable for the Utes’ game against Colorado, according to the updated Big 12 availability report released Friday night.
The junior quarterback has dealt with a lower leg injury this season, and coach Kyle Whittingham said Dampier “got beat up in this game pretty good” after the Utes’ 24-21 loss to rival BYU last weekend.
Dampier was initially listed as questionable Wednesday but progressed throughout the week and took reps in practice, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
The 5-foot-11, 210-pound junior, a transfer out of New Mexico, has started every game despite the injury and ranks sixth in the Big 12 in total offense with 1,375 passing yards, 442 rushing yards and 18 total touchdowns.
True freshman backup Byrd Ficklin played four snaps against BYU and would be in line to start if Dampier is unavailable Saturday against the Buffaloes (10:15 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Utah wide receiver Tobias Merriweather and defensive tackle Dallas Vakalahi were downgraded from doubtful to out against Colorado. Merriweather ranks second among Utes wideouts with 130 receiving yards on eight receptions this season.
The defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers opened the 2025 MLB season in Japan on March 18.
Now, 220 days later, they meet the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 1 of the Fall Classic.
Will the Dodgers be the first team to repeat as champs since the New York Yankees at the turn of the century? Or will the underdog Blue Jays win their first title since 1993?
It all starts Friday night. We’ll have the action covered right here, from pregame lineups to live analysis during the game to takeaways after the final pitch.
Key links: Mega-preview, predictions | Schedule
Live updates
Gamecast: Follow the action pitch-by-pitch here
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Jorge Castillo
TORONTO — Bo Bichette, who has not played since spraining his left knee in early September, was added to the Toronto Blue Jays‘ roster for the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Bichette, a two-time All-Star at shortstop, will play second base for the first time in his major league career and bat cleanup in Game 1 on Friday night in Toronto, according to the lineup released by the Jays.
“I’ve been able to get a lot of good work in, but honestly, I’m leaning on a whole life’s work of swings and at-bats that have all been dedicated to being ready for this moment,” Bichette said. “I feel ready, and I’m ready to get out there. I’m super excited.”
The Blue Jays also included first baseman Ty France on their roster for the first time this postseason. Outfielder Joey Loperfido and right-handed reliever Yariel Rodriguez, who were on the American League Championship Series roster, were not included.
Bichette has not played in a game since injuring the knee in a collision with Yankees catcher Austin Wells on Sept. 6. Bichette attempted to return in time for the AL Championship Series but could not run the bases without significant pain the day before the Blue Jays had to submit their roster.
The infielder worked out at second base and faced live pitching Wednesday and Thursday, after which he said the knee was “feeling good enough.” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Bichette could play second base, shortstop or even serve as the team’s designated hitter during the series, a move that would likely push George Springer into right field.
“I’ve seen him do it, albeit minor leagues a few years ago — or a number of years ago,” Schneider, who previously worked in the organization’s minor league system, said of Bichette playing second base. “But as long as he was moving around fine and physically felt OK, you felt good about putting him out there.”
Set to be a free agent this winter, Bichette had a rebound season after posting a .598 OPS in 81 games in an injury-plagued 2024 campaign. The homegrown star, 27, finished second in the majors with a .311 batting average and hit 18 home runs with 94 RBIs and an .840 OPS.
Without him, the Blue Jays have played Andres Gimenez, their regular second baseman, at shortstop in the postseason with Isiah Kiner-Falefa getting most of the starts at second base.
Los Angeles added right-handers Edgardo Henriquez and Will Klein while dropping lefty Alex Vesia and righty Ben Casparius. The Dodgers said Thursday that Vesia was not with the team in Toronto because of a family matter. The Dodgers opted to leave Vesia off the roster entirely rather than putting him on Major League Baseball’s family medical emergency list, which would have allowed him to return to the roster within three to seven days.
“We just didn’t want to have any potential for any kind of pressure,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “This is so much bigger than baseball. For us, it was doing whatever small part we could to just a hundred percent be supportive.”
Former closer Tanner Scott was not added. The left-hander was dropped from the National League Division Series roster following surgery Oct. 8 to remove an abscess from an infection on his lower body.
Clayton Kershaw, who was left off the Dodgers’ wild-card series roster and did not pitch in the NLCS, is on the World Series roster. Kershaw has said he plans to retire after this season.
Information from ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez and the Associated Press was used in this report.
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