By Matt Smith
SouthernPigskin.com

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There are some noteworthy items on the 2014 SEC conference football schedule.

The SEC finally unveiled Wednesday what college football fans have been waiting for: the 2014 SEC football schedule.

The schedule had been rumored to be released as far back as the SEC Spring Meetings in May, but the release was tabled until some final kinks were worked out.

Lets look at some of the more noteworthy items from the 2014 schedule.

* Permanent crossover opponents have changed, as expected. South Carolina and Texas A&M will now meet annually, as will Arkansas and Missouri. The remaining five permanent pairings (Alabama-Tennessee, Auburn-Georgia, LSU-Florida, Ole Miss-Vanderbilt, Mississippi State-Kentucky) will continue. South Carolina and Arkansas will not play in 2014 after 22 consecutive meetings since they joined the SEC in 1992.

* To establish a full rotation, all permanent crossover games had to be played at SEC East venues. That required just one repeat game, as Ole Miss will travel to Vanderbilt for the second straight season in 2014. Georgia and Auburn will play at Auburn for the second straight year this fall before going back to Athens in 2014.

* All seven rotating crossover games will be played at SEC West venues. For 2014, those matchups are Florida at Alabama, Georgia at Arkansas, Kentucky at LSU, Tennessee at Ole Miss, South Carolina at Auburn, Missouri at Texas A&M and Vanderbilt at Mississippi State.

* The SEC will again open its season with a Thursday night conference game for the third straight season, with Texas A&M and South Carolina playing in Columbia on Aug. 28. That game will be the first live game to air on the SEC Network, which launches next August. The 2014 SEC Championship Game will be held Dec. 6 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

* Because there are 14 Saturdays between Labor Day weekend and Thanksgiving weekend, SEC teams will again have two bye weeks. After 2014, this will not occur again until 2019.

* Texas A&M and LSU will play on Thanksgiving Night – Nov. 27 in College Station. Per a Baton Rouge Advocate report, the teams will meet annually on the holiday weekend 3 on Thanksgiving Night when the game is in College Station and on Friday or Saturday when in Baton Rouge.

* LSU and Arkansas, who had played every Thanksgiving weekend since the Razorbacks joined the SEC, will now play earlier in November. The 2014 game is scheduled for Nov. 15 in either Fayetteville or Little Rock.

* Arkansas and Missouri will begin their annual border battle on Nov. 28 or 29 in Columbia 3 the only inter-divisional game on the final weekend of the regular season.

* Most other games with traditional dates will remain at or around their usual place on the calendar, including Georgia at South Carolina (Sept. 13), Alabama at Tennessee (Oct. 25), Florida vs. Georgia (Nov. 1), Alabama at LSU (Nov. 8), Auburn at Georgia (Nov. 15) and Auburn at Alabama (Nov. 29). One big change is the shift of the Florida-Tennessee game to Oct. 4. The teams had been scheduled to meet on the third Saturday of September every year from 1992-2013.

* The two longest streaks of SEC teams not meeting in the regular season will continue. Georgia and Alabama, who have not played since 2008, will not play each other for the sixth straight season in 2014. The same is true for Ole Miss and Florida, as 2008s 31-30 Ole Miss victory (the Tim Tebow speech game) was the last meeting between the Rebels and Gators.

* No team will play three straight conference games on the road. South Carolina suffered that fate in both 2011 and 2013, with this years trio of travel all coming in consecutive weeks.

* In addition to traditional rivalry games, notable non-conference games for SEC teams in 2014 include Boise State vs. Ole Miss (Aug. 28), Clemson at Georgia (Aug. 30), Wisconsin vs. LSU (Aug. 30), Alabama vs. West Virginia (Aug. 30), Tennessee at Oklahoma (Sept. 13), Arkansas at Texas Tech (Sept. 13) and Auburn at Kansas State (Sept. 20).

* Despite playing just three true road games, Florida appears to have the toughest SEC schedule. The Gators will play both Alabama (away) and LSU (home) from the SEC West in addition to division games with South Carolina (home), Tennessee and Vanderbilt (away) and Georgia (neutral).

* Vanderbilt has the most favorable schedule of any SEC team. Although they must travel to Georgia, the Commodores other three road trips are to Kentucky, Mississippi State and Missouri. The non-conference schedule is also light, with home games against Charleston Southern, Old Dominion, Temple and Massachusetts.