In speaking with reporters Wednesday on the Southeastern Conference's weekly coaches' teleconference, league commissioner Greg Sankey reiterated that the league had a finish date – Dec. 19 – in mind for its regular season and Sankey wanted to preserve that date.
However, Sankey made clear that the SEC must maintain some flexibility, especially as it faces its largest weekend of cancelled/postponed games and college football does the same, with nearly 15 total contests removed from this weekend's slate due to COVID-19 outbreaks and protocols.
On Friday, Sankey and the SEC formally announced that not only would the league utilize its championship Saturday – Dec. 19 – to host makeup games but it also revealed it could adjust matchups as well.
Per the release, the SEC has elected not to make changes to its slate of games Nov. 21 – but it left open the possibility to change matchups the remainder of the season. The thought process is that it could allow the league to prioritize its Eastern and Western divisional matchups. Among this weekend's postponed games, top-ranked Alabama was set to visit defending CFP champion LSU in a game that has direct implications on the Tide's ability to win the West, appear in the SEC Championship and potentially earn a CFP berth.
“It has been a goal of the SEC to play a complete football schedule provided we maintain a healthy environment for student-athletes and everyone around our football programs,” Sankey said, per the release. “The added flexibility of a Dec. 19 playing date for teams that do not qualify for the SEC Football Championship, and the ability to adjust opponents on five-day notification, provide a greater opportunity for our schools to play a full schedule of games in 2020."
The SEC is keeping open the right to adjust matchups as late as Monday evening of the game weeks that are scheduled to close out the regular season after next weekend: Nov. 28, Dec. 5, Dec. 12 and Dec. 19.
“The games subject to rescheduling would only be those on a team's original schedule and against opponents that a team has not yet played,” the SEC added in its release.