College football schedule: Predicting each SEC team's permanent opponents
Change is coming to the SEC football schedule in the very near future as the conference welcomes superpowers Texas and Oklahoma to the fold.
SEC officials have been working over plans for a season without divisions featuring either an eight- or nine-game conference schedule starting in 2024.
The eight-game schedule will have teams play one permanent opponent and seven other rotating teams each season, while the nine-game slate will give teams three permanent opponents and six rotating games each year.
What would the nine-game SEC schedule look like, and what three teams would each school likely play in such a scenario?
College Football Schedule: Predicting Each SEC Team's Permanent Opponents
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Auburn: Alabama, Georgia, Vanderbilt. This schedule will be rough for the Tigers, and while it's always tough in the SEC West, this annual slate would spell some difficulty for the program getting to and staying in College Football Playoff contention. Alabama and Georgia should be guaranteed given those generations-old rivalries, but Ole Miss could also be in play.
South Carolina: Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida. The Gamecocks have a border rivalry with Georgia that dates back to the 19th century but they likely wouldn't mind getting rid of that game every season while preserving the Tennessee matchup.
Missouri: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt. Expect to see two old football rivalries return to the schedule as Mizzou should reunite with OU and Arkansas, series begun in 1902 and 1906 respectively, including two Big 12 title game matches against the Sooners. Missouri's rivalry with Arkansas has some big gaps in it and it leads the Hogs, 10-4, while Oklahoma has the 67-24-5 edge against the Tigers.
Kentucky: Georgia, South Carolina, Vanderbilt. Maintaining the game against Georgia would be an important boost for Kentucky's quality of schedule metric and playing Vanderbilt gives UK a winnable game and a historic rival.
Vanderbilt: Tennessee, Auburn, Missouri. Expect the SEC to keep Vandy's main historic rivalry on the schedule every season with the Tennessee game, an in-state meeting that dates back to 1892, not expected to go anywhere.
Ole Miss: Mississippi State, LSU, Arkansas. It doesn't seem likely that the Rebels would draw both Alabama and LSU, and the conference could side with keeping the Magnolia Bowl in place between the two. And of course the Egg Bowl won't budge.
Mississippi State: Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Kentucky. The Bulldogs are used to playing a tough schedule in the SEC West and that should continue in this new era. Texas and LSU are in contention here owing to geography.
Arkansas: Texas, Ole Miss, Missouri. The Razorbacks have revived the Battle Line Rivalry series with Mizzou, something the SEC wants to keep on the schedule, and with two former SWC rivals coming over, the Hogs are sure to get one if not both of Texas and/or Oklahoma.
Texas A&M: LSU, Texas, Mississippi State. An already-tough SEC West schedule is likely going to stay tough for the Aggies, who could draw both their old Big 12 rivals in the new-look slate, but the league wants to keep the LSU series, one that has plenty of history and has gone back and forth in recent seasons.
Florida: Georgia, Oklahoma, South Carolina. Losing the annual Vols-Gators matchup isn't ideal for fans, but the SEC would want to integrate one of its major powers with one of the incoming schools, meaning UF would draw either Texas or OU, and of course the Georgia game stays put.
Texas: Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Arkansas. The Red River Shootout is one of college football's premier dates and a major addition to the SEC brand, and the Longhorns are likely to reunite with two former rivals in the Aggies and Razorbacks in what will be two must-watch games every season.
Oklahoma: Texas, Florida, Missouri. A pair of old Big 12 rivals will be moving to the SEC as the Sooners meet up with Mizzou again and an annual Oklahoma-Florida game will be a major boost to both teams' quality of schedule.
Tennessee: Alabama, Vanderbilt, South Carolina. It's unlikely the SEC will do away with the Third Saturday in October, especially with the Volunteers finally trending in the right direction again, and it will keep the Vandy game intact.
LSU: Ole Miss, Alabama, Texas A&M. A strong schedule for the Tigers, who will maintain the core of their current football schedule, including the bombshell date with the Crimson Tide, but the Florida game would be a casualty of the new rotation.
Georgia: Auburn, Florida, Kentucky. Two easy picks for the SEC here as the Bulldogs maintain two of the league's top-flight series: the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry against Auburn, and the World's Largest Cocktail Party against Florida.
Alabama: Auburn, LSU, Tennessee. Nick Saban may not like it, but the Tide's three-game rotation might be the easiest to project given the school's existing rivalries.
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