Longhorns Full 2024 SEC Schedule Officially Released: Details
Welcome to the Southeastern Conference, Texas Football. Time to see what the program is made of entering Year 4 of the Steve Sarkisian era.
The Longhorns are slated to play all three former Southwest Conference opponents in 2024, traveling to College Station and Fayetteville to take on Texas A&M and Arkansas, respectively, while meeting longtime rival Oklahoma in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl for the Red River Showdown.
Texas also is scheduled to face two-time defending national champion Georgia, Florida, Mississippi State and Kentucky at Royal Memorial Stadium. The Horns will travel to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt as their final away game destination. Kickoff times and dates won't be released until a later date during the 2024 regular season.
The Longhorns also have nonconference games scheduled against Colorado State, UTSA and Michigan. Texas scheduled a home-and-home series with the Wolverines before news of its inevitable departure to the SEC, with the first matchup being played on Sept. 7 next fall in Ann Arbor, and a return trip scheduled in Austin come Sept. 4, 2027.
Texas officials also announced that the Longhorns would play Louisiana-Monroe as their fourth nonconference game. Since the date hasn't been finalized, conference games could begin as soon as Sept. 21, 2024.
Last month, SEC officials voted to go with a temporary eight-game SEC schedule in 2024 due to the arrivals of Texas and Oklahoma. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said that the move would only be in place for the time being as the league tries to navigate through changes, including expansion to the College Football Playoff.
"During this time of change, our fans will continue to enjoy traditional rivalries and begin to see new matchups presented by adding two historically successful football programs to the SEC," Sankey said on June 1.
Under the new eight-game format, Texas' permanent rival will be Oklahoma due to the success and pageantry of the Red River Showdown. The game has been played yearly during the State Fair of Texas and is expected to remain inside the Cotton Bowl on a new deal by both schools.
The real storyline for 2024 is the return of the Lone Star Showdown. After A&M departed the Big 12 in favor of the SEC, then-athletic director DeLoss Dodds told The Daily Texan, the university's student newspaper, that the rivalry would only return on the Longhorns' terms.
New athletic director Chris Del Conte and A&M athletic director Ross Bjork have spoken of the prominence of the rivalry, though A&M and Bjork were initially hesitant to see Texas join the SEC when it was announced last July. Both sides have seemed to come to an understanding that they will be in each other's lives for the foreseeable future.
A&M, which is coming off its worst season since 2008, made it clear from the jump that if the Lone Star Showdown were to return, the first game was to be played at Kyle Field. The Aggies hosted the last matchup between the two in-state rivals, culminating in a game-winning 40-yard kick from Justin Tucker to give the Longhorns a 27-25 victory.
Texas leads the all-time series over A&M, 76-37-5. Should the league move to a nine-game format in the future, the two schools would meet regularly, switching locations from Austin and College Station. As for the Thanksgiving festivities, that's likely a question for another date.
Texas rekindled the rivalry against Arkansas during Sarkisian's first season on the Forty Acres back in 2021. After a sluggish start from Hudson Card, the Longhorns turned the ball over to Casey Thomspon for the second half. By then, the game was out of reach, leading to a Razorbacks' victory.
Arkansas, which seemingly has taken the drastic leap into a new era of football under coach Sam Pittman, has always been considered a worthy adversary among Texas fans. All time, the Longhorns lead the series, 56-22, though several top matchups throughout the rivalry led to season-altering moves for either program.
Georgia and Texas have only met on the football field five times, with the Longhorns holding the 4-1 series lead. The two last met in New Orleans back in 2018 for a showdown in the Sugar Bowl. Sam Ehlinger wowed fans with his three-rushing touchdown performance to give the Horns the 28-21 victory.
Ehlinger also made headlines when he famously proclaimed to fans, “We’re baaaaaaaaack!” Instead, the Longhorns failed to pick up double-digit wins the next two seasons, leading to the firing of Tom Herman following the 7-3 campaign in 2020.
Teams that will not face the Longhorns in 2024 will automatically pencil them on their schedule for 2025, meaning Texas will face Auburn, Alabama, LSU, Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and South Carolina come Year 2 of joining the SEC.
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