Alabama, Texas and Georgia lose on the same day for the 1st time since 1996 as unranked Auburn and Florida upset the No. 1 and No. 7: Know what happened nearly 30 years ago

For the first time since 1996, the college football teams of Alabama, Texas and Georgia all lost on the same day. This is likely to result in a shakeup of the SEC rankings. The upsets came as the league’s highest ranked team, Georgia at No. 1, lost 27-24 at home to the unranked Auburn.

While the other highly ranked teams also lost in an unpredictable turn of events. Alabama, ranked at No. 6 lost to Tennessee who are ranked at 14. Unranked Florida went on to upset No. 7 Texas. All three lost their respective matches on the same Saturday after nearly 30 years, according to the SEC.

All three high-ranked teams losing also leaves the SEC with no unbeaten sides left in the season. Georgia had been the league’s last remaining team before the game was stopped in its tracks by Auburn. This came just a week after Texas lost its No.1 spot to Georgia.

What happened in 1996?

The three heavyweights had lost on the same day on October 26, 1996. On that day, Alabama, who had been ranked No.7, lost 20-13 to No.6 ranked Tennessee. Tennessee was led by future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning.

Georgia, who were unranked at the time, had been facing a tough 5-6 season. They lost 24-17 to Kentucky. Texas faced an upset by Colorado.

All three games saw frustrating quarterback plays

All three high-ranked teams witnessed frustrating quarterback plays in their respective matches. The Alabama quarterback, Keelon Russel threw for 147 yards, had two interceptions but zero touchdown passes. The Texas quarterback Arch Manning threw for 173 yards and even a touchdown, however he gave up a fumble in a win for Florida.

For Georgia, Gunner Stockton threw for 272 yards with two touchdowns. However, he had two interceptions which gave Auburn their winning opportunities.

Auburn’s first win in Athens since 2005

For unranked Auburn this was their first win in Georgia’s home Athens since 2005. The win also marked the unranked team’s first win against the No. 1 team. They previously won at Florida in 1996, according to AP.

Speaking to reports, Auburn coach Alex Golesh said, “We’re just continuing to plug”. He added, “We are going to build Auburn back to where everybody wants it, one game at a time”. Golesh also urged fans to “Just hang with us”.

Before the games on Saturday, the No. 1 teams had won straight 93 home matches against their unranked oppositions. The last loss was suffered by Louisiana State University against unranked Arkansas in 2007. The previous two weeks have also marked only the fifth time ever a No.1 team lost to an unranked team in consecutive weeks, according to ESPN. The feat earlier occurred in 1990, 1981, 1960 and 1942.

In other games, Indiana lost for the first time in 23 months to No. 4 ranked Ohio State. The No. 22 ranked LSU upset No. 16 Mississippi State with a 31-3 defeat. The No. 9 ranked Ole Miss defeated 13-ranked Missouri.

All three teams, Texas, Georgia and Alabama can look to bounce back on October 24 as Alabama will face Texas A&M, Texas Longhorns will face Ole Miss and on October 31, Georgia goes on to face Florida.