Half the six games on the SEC slate for Week 9 involve two ranked teams, and when Saturday’s results are in, the league will have only one team undefeated in conference competition. No. 8 LSU and No. 14 Texas A&M will square off on Saturday, and the loser will get its first SEC setback of the season. The other ranked games feature No. 21 Missouri at No. 15 Alabama and No. 5 Texas at No. 25 Vanderbilt. The Longhorns’ first game against the Commodores in Nashville since 1925 also will be Vanderbilt’s first game in which both teams are ranked in the AP Poll since 2008. Here are 10 stats from SEC Football by the Numbers, along with the schedule, TV and betting lines, to get ready for Week 9:
5 Victories without a loss for Oklahoma when playing on an SEC opponent’s home field. The Sooners won 24-3 at Vanderbilt on Sept. 11, 1976; 29-8 at Kentucky on Sept. 18, 1982; 20-13 at Alabama on Sept. 6, 2003; 31-24 at Tennessee on Sept. 12, 2015; and 27-21 at Auburn on Sept. 28. Only this year’s game against Auburn was a conference contest for Oklahoma, which joined the SEC this season. The Sooners visit Ole Miss on Saturday for their first game in Mississippi.
8 Victories without a loss for LSU when a ranked team of Tigers has a ranked Texas A&M team as its opponent. No. 8 LSU visits No. 14 Texas A&M on Saturday. In ranked-versus-ranked matchups, the Tigers defeated the Aggies in 1968, 1986, 1987, 1988, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016. The home team has won the past seven games in the series. The Tigers have lost three in a row at Kyle Field since a 54-39 road victory in 2016.
13 Auburn completions have gained at least 40 yards this season, three more than any other team in the nation except Ole Miss, which has 12. Auburn plays Kentucky on Saturday. The Kentucky defense has allowed seven completions that have gained at least 40 yards, tied for the most in the SEC in 2024. Auburn WRs Cam Coleman and KeAndre Lambert-Smith have four receptions apiece that have gained at least 40 yards, and all of Lambert-Smith’s have gained at least 50 yards. Auburn is tied with Ole Miss, Oregon and UTEP for the most 50-or-more-yard completions in 2024 with six.
13 Receiving yards are needed for WR Tre Harris to become the sixth Ole Miss player to record 1,000 in a season. Harris has 59 receptions for 987 yards and six TDs in 2024. A.J. Brown recorded the top two receiving seasons in Ole Miss history with 1,320 yards in 2018 and 1,252 yards in 2017. Elijah Moore had 1,193 receiving yards in 2020, Laquon Treadwell 1,153 in 2015, Shay Hodge in 1,135 in 2009 and Dontario Drummond 1,028 in 2021 for Ole Miss. Harris leads the nation in receiving yards with 83 more than San Jose State WR Nick Nash and the SEC with 341 more than Arkansas WR Andrew Armstrong.
13 Victories without a loss for Auburn when it holds its opponent to 20 or fewer points and 19 losses without a victory for the Tigers when their opponent scores at least 21 points since the start of the 2022 season. Auburn has lost 22 games in a row in which its opponent scored at least 21 points, dating from a 38-23 victory over Arkansas on Oct. 16, 2021. Kentucky, the Tigers’ Saturday opponent, has averaged scoring 20.4 points per game and has scored 20 or fewer points in five of its seven contests this season.
RELATED: SEC TOP 10 FROM WEEK 8
17 Years since the previous time that the SEC reached the final Saturday in October without an undefeated team. Georgia’s 30-15 victory over Texas on Saturday pinned a loss on the SEC’s last remaining undefeated team in 2024. In 2007, LSU’s 43-37 triple-overtime loss to Kentucky on Oct. 13 left the SEC without an undefeated team at that point in the season. In every season since, at least one SEC team has been undefeated entering the final Saturday in October. The SEC will go into November with a team undefeated in conference play. LSU and Texas A&M don’t have a league loss this season, and they square off on Saturday. The 2007 season also was the most recent in which every SEC team had at least one league loss before November.
41 Consecutive home games have been won in October by Alabama, which hosts Missouri on Saturday. The Crimson Tide hasn’t been beaten at Bryant-Denny Stadium in the 10th month since South Carolina took a 20-3 victory on Oct. 2, 2004. During that winning streak, Alabama has a 27-8 record on the road in October.
99 Years since the previous time that Texas played Vanderbilt in Nashville. The Commodores downed the Longhorns 14-6 on Oct. 10, 1925. Texas will be in Nashville again on Saturday for its 13th meeting with Vanderbilt, but its first since the Longhorns’ 13-12 victory in Dallas on Oct. 13, 1928, cut the Commodores’ lead in the series to 8-3-1. Vanderbilt will put its first four-game home winning streak since the 1987 and 1988 seasons on the line against the Longhorns. The Commodores have beaten Virginia Tech, Alcorn State, Alabama and Ball State at FirstBank Stadium this season. Vanderbilt defeated Rutgers, Kentucky and Maryland in its final three home games of 1987 and beat Mississippi State in its first home game of 1988 for its previous four-game home winning streak. The Commodores’ most recent home winning streak of more than four games came when they defeated Memphis and Chattanooga in 1981 and Tulane, Florida, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, Chattanooga and Tennessee in 1982 in Nashville.
112.1 Rushing yards per game have been averaged by the Oklahoma offense this season, the lowest figure in the SEC. On Saturday, the Sooners face the No. 1 rushing defense in the nation. The Ole Miss defense has yielded an average of 66.6 rushing yards per game in 2024.
195 Consecutive games have been played by Vanderbilt without carrying a ranking in The Associated Press Poll. That streak will end on Saturday, when the No. 25 Commodores face No. 5 Texas. Vanderbilt will be playing as an AP-ranked team for the first time since the No. 22 Commodores lost 24-14 to No. 10 Georgia on Oct. 18, 2008. Vanderbilt has been ranked in two AP polls since then. The Commodores were No. 23 in the final poll of the 2012 season after concluding the campaign with a 38-24 victory over North Carolina State in the Music City Bowl and No. 24 in the final poll of the 2013 season after ending the campaign with a 41-24 victory over Houston in the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham. Saturday’s game will be the first for Vanderbilt involving two teams ranked in the AP poll since facing Georgia in 2008.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE SEC, GO TO OUR SEC PAGE
This week’s SEC schedule includes (all times are CDT with point spreads from BetMGM):
Saturday
· Oklahoma (4-3, 1-3) at No. 18 Ole Miss (5-2, 1-2), 11 a.m. at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi (ESPN). Line: Ole Miss by 20.5
· Arkansas (4-3, 2-2) at Mississippi State (1-6, 0-4), 11:45 a.m. at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi (SEC Network). Line: Arkansas by 7
· No. 21 Missouri (6-1, 2-1) at No. 15 Alabama (5-2, 2-2), 2:30 p.m. at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa (ABC). Line: Alabama by 17.5
· No. 5 Texas (6-1, 2-1) at No. 25 Vanderbilt (5-2, 2-1), 3:15 p.m. at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee (SEC Network). Line: Texas by 18.5
· No. 8 LSU (6-1, 3-0) at No. 14 Texas A&M (6-1, 4-0), 6:30 p.m. at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas (ABC). Line: Texas A&M by 1
· Auburn (2-5, 0-4) at Kentucky (3-4, 1-4), 6:45 p.m. at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky (SEC Network). Line: Kentucky by 2.5
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
