Two SEC schools finalized their 2012 football schedules yesterday and a third school will notice the difference:

* Auburn has placed an open date between its September 22nd game with LSU and its October 6th game with Arkansas.  Both games will be at Jordan-Hare Stadium, but bye week will allow the Tigers to rest up between the two huge SEC West showdowns.

* Arkansas has officially added Rutgers – now minus coach Greg Schiano — to its home schedule on September 22nd.  The Razorbacks will then play in New Jersey on Rutgers’ campus next September.  In addition, the Razorbacks are moving this year’s home game with LSU from Little Rock to Fayetteville for the first time since 1994.  An additional 20,000 tickets can be sold to the UA-LSU game at Razorback Stadium.  Arkansas’ game with Ole Miss will move from Fayetteville to Little Rock for the first time since the Hogs entered the SEC in 1992.

* The site of the Arkansas-Texas A&M contest is still up in the air at this point.  Arkansas wants to play the game in Arlington, Texas as planned, A&M wants the game at Kyle Field in College Station.

CBS and the SEC decided to announce something yesterday that we’ve all known since back in January — the TV listings for the Iron Bowl and the Battle for the Boot.

As expected, CBS will carry the Friday, November 25th matchup between LSU and Arkansas beginning at 2:30pm ET.  The game moves back to the Friday after Thanksgiving this year, after the Iron Bowl filled that slot in 2010 and 2009.  This year’s Battle for the Boot trophy will be played in Baton Rouge.

A day later, Alabama and Auburn’s November 26th battle will kickoff at 3:30pm ET live from Jordan-Hare Stadium on The Plains.

In the state of Alabama, bye weeks are always a hot topic.  Last year, Alabama faced six SEC foes who were coming off byes.  Talk to a Tide fan and you’ll soon learn that those byes were the only reason Bama lost three games on the season.

To offset the bye-week gap leading into the Iron Bowl, Nick Saban had the Tide’s 2010 game with Georgia State moved to a Thursday night… so his squad could get an extra couple of days off heading into its game with hated Auburn.  The Tigers were one of those six league opponents who had a off week prior to Bama.

This year, no schedule moves will be necessary.  No byes have been awarded.  In a state where every little advantage is magnified, neither participant in the 2011 will have an open date the week prior to the Iron Bowl.

Alabama will face Georgia Southern on November 19th in Tuscaloosa.  Auburn — which has just released its official schedule — will host Samford on that date.

So both programs will be in action the week leading into the November 26th showdown at Jordan-Hare Stadium.  If games against FCS foes qualify as being “in action.”

For those Auburn fans who were unable to join 78,000 revelers at Jordan-Hare Stadium last Saturday, below is the season highlight tape that was shown during the Tigers’ official BCS Championship celebration.

Enjoy.  (Or weep, if you’re not a Tiger fan.)

Content provided by Garnet And Black Attack.

Apparently, Auburn won’t receive any punishment for the Newton situation. The NCAA ruled that Newton’s father did indeed shop his son around to Mississippi St., but it’s letting Auburn and Newton off because they apparently didn’t know about the actions of Newton’s father. I would assume that this is case closed on this issue unless additional facts become available. That means that in addition to having their star QB this weekend, Auburn won’t forfeit any of its victories or any titles it might win over the next few weeks. Sorry, ‘Bama and UGA fans.

I would say the NCAA is letting Auburn off pretty easy here. Rules were violated and the letter of the law would suggest punishment is in order. However, I guess the NCAA let us off easier than they might have, too, considering that we have several players who not only sought but, at least according to the NCAA, received improper benefits. Fair enough, I say. I’m ready to see our guys play the game and quit worrying about the Newton off-field situation.

Auburn and South Carolina meet in a rematch of a Sept. 25 contest with the SECChampionship on the line. The Tigers won the first meeting, 35-27 in Jordan-Hare Stadium, andwill be playing in their first SEC title game since 2004.
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The No. 2 Auburn football team held its final workout prior to Friday’s game against Alabama with a 75-minute practice in helmets and shorts Wednesday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
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The No. 2 Auburn football team continued to prepare for Friday’s game against Alabama with a 100-minute practice in shells Monday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
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The No. 2 Auburn football team resumed workouts for Friday’s game against Alabama with a 90-minute practice in full pads Sunday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. It marked the first full practice for the Tigers since Thursday evening as the team enjoyed its first off week of the season over the weekend.
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Content provided by Dawg Sports.

As promised, here is your Saturday night general college football discussion thread, to be used to discuss those late gridiron games occurring after the Georgia Bulldogs‘ tilt with the Auburn Tigers in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Have at it.

Go ‘Dawgs!