SEC football schedule for 2024: the addition of Texas and Oklahoma means ten exciting games to watch in the fall
Prior to the 2024 college football season, conferences realign. The SEC gains two new members, Texas and Oklahoma, making 16 total, solidifying its status as the top conference in the country. The SEC released the first football schedule of the new era on Wednesday night, revealing the dates of each game.
As the Longhorns and Sooners prepare for their inaugural season against fresh competition, special attention is focused on them. As teams vying for a spot in the College Football Playoff, many of their games are among the most important and eagerly awaited matches on the schedule. The start of new series against elite programs and the resurgence of old rivalries make for an exciting SEC welcome.
Along with the games involving new members, there are also games like Georgia vs. Alabama, LSU vs. Alabama, and other equally important matchups between current leaders. These games are commodities compared to the fresh, intriguing matchups, but they will be crucial in deciding the league champion and CFP contenders.
Although there hasn’t been a regular meeting since the Southwestern Conference split, this 19th-century rivalry is set to rekindle as Texas and Arkansas will play in the same conference for the first time in over thirty years. With national championship implications in several of the 79 all-time meetings, the history of this series is noteworthy. The last time these rivals faced off was in 2021, when Arkansas defeated a Texas team ranked No. 15.
In its first season in the league, Oklahoma plays two top-tier SEC teams, one of which is Tennessee, which it has only faced four times. Over the past ten years, the schools have grown closer to one another. They played a home-and-home series in 2014–15 and decided to play extra games in 2020 (which was postponed due to the pandemic) and 2024 (which is now a conference game). With Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel making his way to his alma mater, where he won the 2000 national championship as the Sooners’ star quarterback, there is a lot of extra intrigue in their first-ever league matchup.
A road trip to Death Valley is the perfect way to say “Welcome to the SEC.” This game could have a significant impact on the conference title race because both Oklahoma and LSU have strong starters-in-waiting in Jackson Arnold and Garrett Nussmeier, respectively, despite their planned offseason quarterback changes. Although the Sooners are accustomed to tough situations and high-profile matchups, this will undoubtedly be one of their toughest tests of the year and a less than cordial welcome from their new league.
The First Saturday in November is still a major event in the SEC West, despite the conference’s expansion adding so many intriguing new matchups to the schedule. Few will quickly forget the thrilling overtime match in 2022 that propelled LSU to the top of the division, or the innumerable top-10 matches that have transpired over the course of a long history that stretches back to 1895. The Tigers are just 10-29 against the Crimson Tide in Baton Rouge, but they are looking for their second straight victory at home against the legendary Nick Saban, their former head coach.
Before the 2012 season, Missouri left the Big 12 and joined the SEC, ending a rivalry that dated back more than a century. However, since Oklahoma has now followed suit, the series has resumed. With 96 all-time meetings between these well-known rivals, their series is among the most hotly contested in the annals of both programs. Because it could have an impact on the conference championship race, next year’s matchup revival is even more eagerly awaited in light of the Tigers’ historic 2023 campaign.
Next season, when it becomes an SEC conference game, the Red River Rivalry will take place on an even greater platform. One of the greatest rivalries in college football will continue as Texas and Oklahoma agree to play their annual game at the Cotton Bowl as a neutral site until 2036. There will soon be more highly-ranked games between College Football Playoff contenders. The last Big 12 game was an exciting one, with Oklahoma defeating No. 3 Texas with a late touchdown.
Just two of the six meetings between Alabama and Oklahoma in history have taken place during the regular season. These two teams almost always face off in pivotal moments, and the most recent meeting between them took place in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the end of the 2018 season, with Alabama emerging victorious in a 45-34 shootout. If the Sooners exact revenge on the Crimson Tide on their home field in one of the biggest games of the season, they could make a big splash entering the SEC.
