Steve Spurrier: SEC schools 'gimme games' are going to take a hit

With Texas and Oklahoma set to join the conference within the coming years, change is coming to the SEC scheduling system. An increase of two teams will bring the total in the SEC up to 16 and most likely to nine total conference games. Teams may have to drop one of their easier games of the season as a result.

Legendary former Florida Gators player and head coach Steve Spurrier gave his opinion on the situation, talking about how SEC teams will have at least one more competitive game and get rid of “gimme games”. He said some of the overall records are not going to be as good as years past while taking a small shot at a past Texas A&M schedule.

“People are not going to have near as good of records as we’ve always had in the SEC,” Spurrier said. “Right now, we play eight conference games and four out of conference and a lot of schools get gimme games. Like, four gimme games. Some of them do, some of them don’t but shoot, I guess that’s just the way life is.

“I remember one year, Texas A&M, when they came in the conference, they played Sam Houston (State), they played El Paso (UTEP), I think SMU they may have played, and another down the line team. There’s four right there and I think that was Johnny Manziel and then they upset Alabama. They had a 10, 11 win season.”

Spurrier was referencing the 2012 season for the Aggies where they finished the season with an 11-2 record. Their nonconference was Louisiana Tech, Sam Houston, SMU, and South Carolina State before upsetting No. 1 Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Texas A&M has scheduled some Power Five opponents since then but were easing themselves into the conference back then.

SEC teams have long been publically criticized for playing the so-called “gimme games”, especially in the month of November. For example, in Week 12 of the 2022 season, five teams will play against non-Power Five opponents before their respective rivalry games. In the future, with nine SEC games on the schedule, that possibility could be thrown out the window.

Exactly how the scheduling format will look will be decided in the upcoming months by the conference. However, there are too many teams in the SEC to continue to ignore a nine-game conference schedule. After all, it’s not a foreign concept after playing 10 games during the 2020 season.