New Information Released Regarding 2024 SEC Football Season

With the addition of new teams moving from the Big 12 to the SEC, a lot of questions surrounding formatting have arisen.

The University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma are set to officially join the SEC on July 1, 2024. Since the SEC now has to incorporate these two schools into the regular schedule among the other 14 teams, a decision has been made regarding the regular seasons.

On June 1, the SEC presidents made a move to put forward an eight-game conference schedule rather than a nine-game slate. This was a controversial adoption, and along with this change, divisions will also be done away with.

Georgia, Florida, LSU, Texas A&M and Missouri were the only teams that reportedly voted for a nine-game schedule in 2024. Although this choice was rejected, 2024 is the last season that is confirmed to have an eight-game schedule. The conference schedule will probably feature nine games in the future.

Along with this new schedule, each SEC team will also be required to put at least one Power 5 program on its schedule. This includes programs within the ACC, B1G, Big 12 and Pac-12. SEC teams do have the option to play a major independent opponent such as Notre Dame rather than a Power 5 opponent.

Each SEC team is also required to play one of the newcomers in 2024. In other words, every SEC team will be matched home or away with either the Longhorns or the Sooners. Mississippi State has been paired with Texas, and the two programs will face off in Austin on an undetermined date.

All of these changes mean that the 2023 season will be historic for the SEC and the teams that form it, and many new changes will likely be made for the future.