It was a crazy weekend of college football, as multiple teams from the top 10 in the AP Poll took their first losses of the season.
The SEC wasn’t exempt from the upsets, as the Vanderbilt Commodores took down the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide and Arkansas Razorbacks took down the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers.
While the fanbases reacted to the upsets with the expected excitement, rushing the field and, in Vandy’s case, taking the goalposts from the stadium and throwing them in a river, conference leadership didn’t find the celebrations to be a laughing matter.
On Sunday, the SEC announced that Vanderbilt was fined $100,000 for its first offense of rushing the field after the massive upset victory over Alabama, the first win over a No. 1 team in school history.
The conference also announced that Arkansas was fined $250,000, its second fine for rushing the field. A third fine would cost the school $500,000. Last year, the SEC changed the policy, leading to stiffer fines for fans rushing the field while players or officials are still present. The penalties will be paid to Alabama and Tennessee, respectively.
It’s a bit of a double-edged sword. The conference has to have safety measures in place, but it’s also impossible to truly control the crowd when tens of thousands of college students are set on making it to the playing surface after a big win.
[SEC]
