SEC Football: Trying To Make Sense Of Wildest Season Since 2007 With SEC Network’s Peter Burns

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

This was not the best year for the Southeastern Conference to move from eight to nine league games.

When unranked and 20-point underdog Auburn upset No. 1 Georgia in Athens, Georgia, last Saturday evening on Oct. 17, 2026, it marked the earliest point that the SEC was fresh out of undefeated football teams since Oct. 13, 2007. That was the day that No. 1 LSU lost, 43-37, in triple overtime at No. 17 Kentucky.

No. 5 Georgia (6-1, 4-1) and No. 12 Kentucky (6-1, 4-1) are tied for the league lead, followed by No. 11 Tennessee (6-1, 3-1) and No. 7 Ole Miss (5-1, 3-1) that are each tied in the loss column. No. 13 Alabama (5-2, 3-2) and No. 20 Florida (5-2, 3-2) are tied after that before No. 18 LSU (5-2, 2-2) being deadlocked with No. 22 Missouri (5-2, 2-2)

The Tigers play at Auburn (4-2, 2-2) on Saturday (11 a.m., ABC).

“The NFL-ization of college football is here,” SEC Network’s Peter Burns said on Tiger Rag Radio on Tuesday night. “We’ve never seen this type of parity in the league.”

SEC NETWORK’S PETER BURNS ON TIGER RAG RADIO

The NFL is built for parity via the draft – with the best teams picking in the latest slots – and via schedule making, as the worst teams tend to be scheduled against the teams with the worst records from the previous season.

Never say never about SEC parity, though. In 2007, there was parity in the SEC as teams tended to beat one another up. LSU became the first two-loss national champion since 1960 in 2007 as it finished 12-2 overall and as a 6-2 SEC champion. LSU also lost at home to unranked Arkansas, 50-48, in triple overtime in ’07 before winning the SEC Championship Game over No. 14 Tennessee and beating No. 1 Ohio State, 38-24, in the BCS national title game in the Superdome. There was not another two-loss national champion until 2024 when Ohio State won the national championship at 14-2.

#SECThisMorning is LIVE on @SECNetwork & @SIRIUSXM TELL THE TRUTH MONDAY Wildest Saturday in CFB History Craziest stats the weekend. Rocky Top Rocks Tide Gators! WDE! Cardiac Cats! Woo Pig! LSU 1st SEC Shutout since 07 833-814-0732 Guest: 8:45 @RazorbackFB HC @RSilverfield https://t.co/b52weAfOGI

— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) October 19, 2026

Parity has also trumped home field advantage in the SEC this season. There is not an advantage there overall. SEC teams are 16-16 at home this season overall and, naturally, 16-16, on the road.

So far this season, SEC teams even lose because they win.

“Look at how all these games have gone after teams are coming off a big emotional victory,” Burns said.

After Ole Miss beat its former coach – new LSU coach Lane Kiffin – by 32-24 on Sept. 19 at Ole Miss, the Rebels lost the very next week at Florida, 52-28.

“I mean, Ole Miss got absolutely crushed at Florida,” Burns said.

Then Florida was a 5.5-point favorite the next week at Missouri and got trounced, 45-17.

And the week after Georgia won at Alabama, 20-17, Georgia lost last Saturday to unranked Auburn, 27-24, at home.

“It’s been crazy,” Burns said.

Burns, a native of the Baton Rouge area, sees LSU winning at Auburn Saturday and snapping its 0-8 road losing skid in the SEC.

“I still think LSU is a much better team than Auburn, and I expect to see that on Saturday,” he said.

Auburn is a touchdown underdog.