Texas will be the center of attention in the SEC – at least in its first season.
We’re about to find out how Alabama, Georgia, and yes, Oklahoma, feel about that.
The SEC unveiled its eight-game schedule for the 2024 season on Wednesday. Divisions have been scrapped, and the addition of Texas and Oklahoma altered the state of some of the classic rivalries within the conference. Every SEC school will play either the Sooners or Longhorns.
That all coincides with the implementation of the 12-team College Football Playoff model. How will the SEC's eight-game model stack up with the Big Ten's nine-game model when more at-large bids are at stake? That will be worth watching in 2024.
BENDER: USC, UCLA must earn rivalries with Ohio State, Michigan
In the meantime, a closer look at the winners and losers from the 2024 schedule reveal:
Winner: Texas
Texas is the shiny new addition – a program that generated $239 million in 2022. That's second in the FBS and the most among SEC schools.
Texas' grand-opening tour – which could feature Arch Manning at quarterback – comes with a blockbuster home matchups against Georgia and Florida and a Southwest Conference reunion at Arkansas, but those aren't the best games on the schedule. Mississippi State and Kentucky round out the home schedule, Vanderbilt is a winnable road game and Oklahoma counts as a road game despite remaining at its neutral Dallas site.
Texas-Texas A&M is back, too. The uneasy in-state siblings have not played since 2011 – a game in which the Longhorns won 27-25 at Kyle Field. Texas will travel to Texas A&M, and with that one of the best rivalries in college football will be reborn on a larger stage.
Loser: Oklahoma
Welcome to the SEC, Boomer Sooner. Oklahoma finished 6-7 in Brent Venables’ first season, and the Sooners were handed a loaded schedule in 2024.
That includes a home matchup with Alabama. Tennessee – led by former Oklahoma quarterback Josh Heupel – also is on the home schedule. Another reunion game with South Carolina and former assistant coach Shane Beamer isn’t a layup, and the Texas game remains a neutral-site game at Dallas.
Oklahoma also drew road games at LSU and Auburn – two of the most-hostile road environments in the SEC. The Sooners have never played in Death Valley or Jordan-Hare Stadium. Ole Miss and Missouri are on the road schedule. While Texas got the glamorous schedule, the Sooners got the one that doesn’t have many breaks.
It's a win for visibility, but it's going to be tough to get through that in Year 1.
MORE: SEC quarterback situations heading into the fall
Winner: LSU
Brian Kelly took the Tigers to the SEC championship game in his first season, and they have their toughest games at home in Alabama and Oklahoma. Florida and Texas A&M are on the road schedule, but the Tigers will not have Auburn, Texas or Georgia in the first year of the new format.
The Tigers should be in the mix for the SEC championship, and the elimination of divisions combined with this schedule will improve their chances to get to Atlanta.
Losers: Georgia and Alabama
The Bulldogs haven't lost much in the last two years, and the 2023 schedule is set up to give Kirby Smart a chance to lead the program to a third consecutive national championship.
The 2024 path will not be easy. Georgia opens with a non-conference game against Clemson on Aug. 31 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. We mentioned the road game at Texas, but it's a road trip to Alabama that is the highlight of the schedule. It's the Bulldogs' fourth trip to Bryant-Denny Stadium since 2000.
That game carries more weight with the SEC using its heavyweights for the first road show at Oklahoma and Texas.
Georgia also maintains its rivalries with Florida and Tennessee.
Auburn fans to UGA fans after seeing who the Dawgs play in 2024 pic.twitter.com/tKWacs2NZw
— Jake Crain (@JakeCrain_) June 14, 2023
Alabama coach Nick Saban did not like the possibility of playing LSU, Auburn and Tennessee as protected rivals on a nine-game schedule. Well, the Crimson Tide kept all three in the eight-game format and added a road game to Oklahoma. LSU and Tennessee are on the road, and South Carolina is on the home schedule.
The Bulldogs and Crimson Tide will likely be heavy favorites in 2024 no matter what, but how would that strength of schedule be measured with two or three losses in the 12-team CFP era? That is one of the more-interesting questions to ponder.
Winner: Generational rivalries
Here are the 11 SEC rivalries in which the schools have played at least 100 times. Nine of those games will be played in 2024. The conference did a good job of protecting most of the historical rivalries:
| RIVALRY | GAMES | PLAYED IN 2024? |
| Georgia-Auburn | 127 | Yes |
| Ole Miss-Mississippi State | 119 | Yes |
| Tennessee-Kentucky | 118 | Yes |
| Texas-Oklahoma | 118 | Yes |
| Texas-Texas A&M | 118 | Yes |
| Tennessee-Vanderbilt | 117 | Yes |
| LSU-Mississippi State | 116 | No |
| LSU-Ole Miss | 111 | Yes |
| Alabama-Mississippi State | 107 | No |
| Alabama-Tennessee | 105 | Yes |
| Georgia-Florida | 100 | Yes |
It’s not perfect. Auburn, for example, will have a new-look schedule made more difficult with home games against Georgia and Alabama – which were split last year.
update: 2024 will be the first year Auburn…
— Justin Ferguson (@JFergusonAU) June 14, 2023
- hasn't played LSU since 1991
- hasn’t played Ole Miss since 1989
- hasn’t played Mississippi State since 1954
- hasn’t played any of them since 1933
Loser: Mississippi State
Notice the Bulldogs were the only team who lost two of their historical rivals in Alabama and LSU with the new schedule. Mississippi State also will have to travel to Georgia, Tennessee and Texas. The Egg Bowl also will be on the road at Ole Miss. That’s not a great draw for Mississippi State.
MORE: Top 25 2023 college QBs | Ranking FBS coaches 1-133
TBD: The 8-game schedule
The addition of Oklahoma and Texas is great. The matchups with Alabama and Georgia will be fun, but this is a conference interested in national championships. Will an eight-game schedule complicate the SEC championship and CFP picture?
The Big Ten will play nine conference games, and a trend to watch in 2024 is which one of the two most influential Power 5 conferences gets more teams in the College Football Playoff. That – as much as television money – could influence how soon the SEC pivots to a nine-game conference model.
2024 SEC schedule by team
Alabama
- Home: Auburn, Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina
- Away: LSU, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
Arkansas
- Home: LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas
- Away: Auburn, Mississippi State, Missouri, Texas A&M
Auburn
- Home: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
- Away: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri
Florida
- Home: Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A&M
- Away: Georgia, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Texas
Georgia
- Home: Auburn, Florida, Mississippi State, Tennessee
- Away: Alabama, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Texas
Kentucky
- Home: Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina, Vanderbilt
- Away: Florida, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas
LSU
- Home: Alabama, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt
- Away: Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina, Texas A&M
Mississippi State
- Home: Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Texas A&M
- Away: Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas
Missouri
- Home: Arkansas, Auburn, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt
- Away: Alabama, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Texas A&M
Ole Miss
- Home: Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Oklahoma
- Away: Arkansas, Florida, LSU, South Carolina
Oklahoma
- Home: Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas*
- Away: Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, Missouri
South Carolina
- Home: LSU, Ole Miss, Missouri, Texas A&M
- Away: Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt
Tennessee
- Home: Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State
- Away: Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt
Texas A&M
- Home: Arkansas, LSU, Missouri, Texas
- Away: Auburn, Florida, Mississippi State, South Carolina
Texas
- Home: Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State
- Away: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt
- Home: Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas
- Away: Auburn, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri