The SEC releasing its yearly schedule is always big offseason news. When the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns are joining the conference, it’s paramount.
On Wednesday night, the SEC released its schedule for the 2024 season, the first year the Sooners and Longhorns will be playing alongside Alabama, Georgia and the rest of the teams from the most dominant conference in college football.
The conference already made news by sticking with an eight-game schedule when a nine-game slate was on the table earlier this spring. The news now shifts to the gridiron where the conference’s biggest matchups are officially set.
So, who are the biggest winners and losers of the schedule release and what games should we be excited for? More importantly, what games are we going to miss as Oklahoma and Texas crash the party?
Our writers take you through the biggest questions coming out of the SEC schedule release.
Game you’re most excited for
Georgia vs. Alabama: This will be only the fifth time in the past 20 years that we’ve seen this game in the regular season, and if we’re lucky, we’ll see both of these teams still at or near the top of their powers when this game rolls around in 2024. Alabama has been the standard of college football since 2009, with Georgia coming on in the last handful of years as not just a challenger for that throne, but as a successor the last two seasons. Assuming Nick Saban is still around, I don’t think any of us would complain about not having to wait until the SEC championship or national championship to watch these two programs get after it. It’s college football at its peak. — Harry Lyles Jr.
Texas at Texas A&M: They’ve met 118 times, but not since 2011, when Justin Tucker broke the Aggies’ hearts with a walk-off field goal to send A&M off to the SEC with a 27-25 loss. But that hasn’t prevented the non-stop will-they-or-won’t-they discussion from popping up every few years, all while fans of the two schools continued to chirp and compare everything between the two programs. Finally, the Lone Star Showdown is back, and bragging rights won’t be decided by arguments about recruiting rankings, brands or revenue or who needs the game the most, but instead by lining up and actually playing football against each other. What a concept. — Dave Wilson
Tennessee at Oklahoma: In just two years, Josh Heupel has Tennessee’s program nationally relevant again. The Vols’ trip to Norman has a few different storylines. Brent Venables will be in his third season as Oklahoma’s head coach, and the Sooners’ fans will be expecting a breakthrough by then similar to what Tennessee accomplished in Heupel’s second season. Moreover, Heupel will be returning to his alma mater, where he was a Heisman Trophy finalist. But that doesn’t necessarily mean Heupel has warm and fuzzy feelings about his alma mater after being fired as offensive coordinator by former coach Bob Stoops following the 2015 season. — Chris Low
Oklahoma at Mizzou(!): Hey, sue me, I grew up in Oklahoma, I live in Columbia, and I miss this game a lot. Okay, fine, the real answer is Aggies-Horns, but either way, one of the unique things about OU and Texas moving to the SEC is that it actually reignites a few matchups that either had a long history (A&M-Texas, but also Arkansas-Texas and Mizzou-Oklahoma) or a short but interesting history (OU-A&M, a.k.a. the 77-0 Bowl; Mizzou-Texas, a.k.a. the “Our bad years are better than their good years” Bowl). That is small consolation for the Big 12 schools that lost their most big-name rivals, but in realignment we take what we can get. — Bill Connelly
Biggest game we’re missing?
Georgia at Texas A&M: I’m starting to wonder if we’ll ever see Georgia and Texas A&M play an SEC game at Kyle Field. Yes, I know it will happen at some point. But the Aggies have been a member of the league since 2012, and the Bulldogs have yet to visit College Station. Part of the excitement of the new-look SEC is seeing an established power like Georgia go from its own football-obsessed state into another football-obsessed state like Texas. And now that Bobby Petrino is back in the league as Texas A&M’s offensive coordinator, seeing his offense go up against Kirby Smart’s defense would make for high drama. — Low
Georgia at South Carolina: Maybe it doesn’t qualify as a top-tier rivalry game — the Bulldogs may not even count the Gamecocks as a rival at all — but it’s a shame the two soon-to-be-former SEC East members won’t continue a series that dates back to 1992. There have been some great moments in the series. I’m thinking of 2019, in particular. And I’m bullish on what Shane Beamer and his staff are building in Columbia. It would have been fun to see the upstart try to take down the reigning champ. — Alex Scarborough
Texas vs. LSU: Honestly, I was hoping for Longhorns vs. Tigers. They brewed some bad blood after fighting over Tom Herman in 2016 (remember that?), and that’s a rivalry that has plenty of potential. But I’m just going to calmly continue to assume that eventually right minds will prevail, the league will move to a nine-game conference schedule, and everyone will play everyone every couple of years. That will create enough rivalry opportunities in itself. — Connelly
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SEC commish talks challenges of football scheduling
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey discusses the many factors that go into the league’s scheduling format.
Biggest winner
The fans: For the most part, the SEC did a great job keeping its most important games intact. Even less prestigious rivalries like Arkansas-LSU and Alabama-Tennessee will continue. Each school will play one of the two conference newcomers in Oklahoma and Texas. And there are no repeat trips from the 2023 season. The only thing that would be better for the fans is if the SEC came out on Wednesday and said they will be playing a nine-game schedule in 2025 and beyond. Because a long-term eight-game conference schedule won’t satisfy this many people. So enjoy it while you can. — Scarborough
Rivalries: Kudos to the SEC for doing everything it could to match up schools that have some type of history and not forgetting about tradition. Some of the games were obvious (Alabama-Auburn, Florida-Georgia, Mississippi State-Ole Miss, Oklahoma-Texas, Texas-Texas A&M and Alabama-Tennessee), but it’s nice to see other matchups such as Alabama-LSU, Arkansas-Texas, Florida-Tennessee, Florida-LSU, Georgia-Tennessee and LSU-Ole Miss preserved. — Low
Arkansas: They kept LSU, they kept Ole Miss (one of the most underrated games on the college football slate), they kept Missouri (for whatever that’s worth), they kept A&M and they added Texas. That’s almost perfect for the Hogs. — Connelly
Texas A&M: The Aggies made the most noise about Texas entering the SEC, and athletic director Ross Bjork even made it clear he expected the league to schedule the first A&M-Texas game in College Station, “just because of everything that’s transpired,” he told The Athletic. Not only did Bjork get his wish, but the Aggies also get LSU at home, miss Alabama and Georgia completely and have a road slate that includes trips to Auburn, Mississippi State, Florida and South Carolina. In this lineup, that’s a very friendly schedule. — Wilson
Biggest loser
Alabama: Good luck finding any easy schedules in 2024, but Alabama’s road slate is brutal. Not only do the Crimson Tide have to play at LSU, Oklahoma and Tennessee within the conference, but they also visit Wisconsin the second week of the season in a nonconference game. The “good” news is that they get two-time defending national champion Georgia at home. — Low
Georgia: Bye-bye Vanderbilt. So long Missouri. There will be no more running roughshod over a down SEC East for Georgia. The Bulldogs will face a gauntlet as the conference goes division-less with Florida in Jacksonville, Auburn and Tennessee at home, and road trips to Alabama, Texas, Ole Miss and Kentucky. — Scarborough
Oklahoma: It’s hard to say either the Sooners or the Longhorns can be “losers” coming into the SEC. And while I agree with Alex, I think fans in Norman might understandably feel some type of way about only having three true home games in 2024 (Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee) because of their designation as the home team against Texas at the Cotton Bowl. The positive in this: Two of their three toughest games are going to be at home against the Crimson Tide and Volunteers, while they get a trip to Death Valley against LSU. — Lyles Jr.
Savings accounts: If you are a Texas fan, can you miss a road trip to an old rival against Arkansas? Another one to Texas A&M? You can’t miss Oklahoma. Then there are home games against Georgia and Florida. Oklahoma fans get a road trip to LSU, and home games against Alabama and/or Tennessee. It’s all great for fans, but rough on the ol’ pocketbook. — Wilson
Every team’s 2024 SEC opponents
Away: LSU, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
Home: Auburn, Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina
Away: Auburn, Mississippi State, Missouri, Texas A&M
Home: LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas
Away: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri
Home: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
Away: Georgia (Jacksonville), Mississippi State, Tennessee, Texas
Home: Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A&M
Away: Alabama, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Texas
Home: Auburn, Florida (Jacksonville), Mississippi State, Tennessee
Away: Florida, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas
Home: Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina, Vanderbilt
Away: Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina, Texas A&M
Home: Alabama, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt
Away: Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas
Home: Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Texas A&M
Away: Alabama, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Texas A&M
Home: Arkansas, Auburn, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt
Away: Auburn, LSU, Missouri, Ole Miss
Home: Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas (at Dallas)
Away: Arkansas, Florida, LSU, South Carolina
Home: Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Oklahoma
Away: Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt
Home: LSU, Ole Miss, Missouri, Texas A&M
Away: Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt
Home: Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State
Away: Arkansas, Oklahoma (Dallas), Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
Home: Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State
Away: Auburn, Florida, Mississippi State, South Carolina
Home: Arkansas, LSU, Missouri, Texas
Away: Auburn, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri
Home: Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas