The SEC continues to dominate headlines. Just a week following the SEC Meetings in Destin last week, the league announced an 8-game conference schedule for 2024. The SEC remains the only Power-5 conference with 8 interconference games opposed to 9. The 8 game conference schedule is a real sore spot for other conferences. For year’s Big Ten fans point to the number of conference games as a knock against SEC programs. But last night the 2024 SEC schedule release silenced the critics. Some rules for the 2024 SEC schedule. This is the first year Texas and Oklahoma will be members of the conference. Divisions are gone. The SEC Championship Game will be between the top-2 teams. This is just the format for the 2024 SEC football season. 2025 and beyond will be discussed in the future with the pods idea and a 9th conference game not ruled out.
The SEC had a difficult job keeping the balance of the schedules relatively close, keeping the many rivalry games going, and giving all the schools a shot at either Texas or OU in the first season. The checked the last box beautifully while bringing back the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry. The rivalries largely stay in place. Alabama will still play Auburn, LSU, and Tennessee in 2024. Georgia will still play the Gators in Jacksonville, plus games against Auburn and Tennessee. I think the conference did a beautiful job finding a balance between honoring past rivalries, infusing Texas and Oklahoma, and giving us the big time matchups we expect from the conference. One thing is very apparent; the 2024 SEC Schedule Release silences the critics.