Nov. 27, 2021; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Texas A&M Aggies wide receiver Moose Muhammad III (7) reacts after scoring a touchdown against LSU Tigers safety Jay Ward (5) during the first half at Tiger Stadium. If it is a nine-game schedule, with a format where each school would have three annual opponents and rotate the rest, the perception has been that South Carolina would want Georgia as one of them. There was enough pushback from some schools, such as Kentucky, that it didnt happen, but enough of a consensus formed during the next few months that the TV contract became the last hang-up. If not great for the bottom line of wins, losses and national championships, these permanent games would make a good chunk of the Longhorns SEC schedule appointment viewing. With Tennessee, Auburn and LSU slated to be the Crimson Tides three permanent opponents under a potential nine-game format. To stay at 12 games and play nine SEC games, each team would have to cut one of its nonconference games. ), KENTUCKY - 2014 at LSU; 2015 vs. Auburn; 2016 at Alabama; 2017 vs. Ole Miss; 2018 at Texas A&M; 2019 vs. Arkansas; 2020 at Auburn; 2021 vs. LSU; 2022 at Ole Miss; 2023 vs. Alabama; 2024 at Arkansas; 2025 vs. Texas A&M. (Permanent opponents in 2014: Home - Georgia, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State; Away - Florida, Missouri, Tennessee. The conference already has divisional tiebreaker rules for two-team and three-team ties. When I reached to SEC analysts, Vanderbilt was on several peoples lists of teams they wanted to play. For the players, it helps get them around the conference with more regularity. -The Gators annually smacked the Tigers during the 1990s when the LSU program was down. Seth Emerson is a senior writer for The Athletic covering Georgia and the SEC. Pod 1 and Pod 2 in one division in one year, then Pod 1 and Pod 3 in in one division the next year, and so on. (Permanent opponents in 2014: Home - Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss; Away - Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State, South Carolina. Predicting SEC football teams' permanent schedule opponents - College Sankey said in December he expected to announce the decision on the format nine or eight games by early 2023. Auburn vs. Georgia Series tied, 55-55-8, Kentucky vs. Mississippi State Series tied, 21-21, Florida vs. LSU Florida leads, 31-27-3 (.508 winning percentage), Alabama vs. Tennessee Alabama leads, 51-38-7 (.531 winning percentage), Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt Ole Miss leads, 49-38-2 (.550 winning percentage), Arkansas vs. Missouri Missouri leads, 4-2 (.667 winning percentage), South Carolina vs. Texas A&M Texas A&M leads, 1-0(1.000 winning percentage), Florida vs. LSU LSU leads, 6-4 (.600 winning percentage), Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt Vanderbilt leads, 6-4 (.600 winning percentage), Arkansas vs. Missouri Missouri leads, 2-1 (.667 winning percentage), Auburn vs. Georgia Georgia leads, 7-3 (.700 winning percentage), Kentucky vs. Mississippi State Mississippi State leads, 7-3 (.700 winning percentage), Alabama vs. Tennessee Alabama leads, 9-1 (.900 winning percentage), South Carolina vs. Texas A&M Texas A&M leads, 1-0 (1.000 winning percentage). The athletic directors re-confirmed the rotation at their May meeting following the decision to continue playing an eight-game conference schedule, to include six games against division opponents and two games against non-division opponents. A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football. There is no doubt that despite the complaints from other leagues about the SEC needing to play more in-conference games that they made the right call. I fully anticipate being roasted a bit for this, but it was fun working through the process. A nine-game schedule is also likely to be instituted, although how soon is unclear. Related: Why the SEC Needs to Play Nine Conference Games Assuming the SEC heads in the direction of nine conference games, each team will get three permanent and six rotating opponents every year. What the new SEC could look like with Texas and Oklahoma The SEC Championship Game will feature the two top teams in the Conference standings at the end of the regular season. There was a problem saving your notification. Even if they stop playing on an annual basis in the new schedule, theyll still play twice every four years. The 16-team SEC is expected to adapt a nine-game conference schedule, with each member having three permanent opponents. Balance of schedule strength was based on each school's conference winning percentage since the last expansion of the SEC in 2012. 2024 SEC football schedule opponents, takeaways: Oklahoma gets tough Three opponents:Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M. Though Fayetteville, Arkansas, is booked up and a trip to Nashville is intriguing for the Tigers. Would the Tigers really have rather gone to South Carolina to play an 11-2 Gamecocks team with an 18-game home winning streak? Heres a look at what will change for SEC football, now in 2024, and whats still to be determined. In a nine-game schedule, each team would have three permanent opponents, then rotate everyone else. Oklahoma in a good spot for two of Rivals remaining uncommited 5-star prospects, 5 reasons to be confident in the 2023 Oklahoma Sooners, Sooners receive another prediction for No. The nine-game format has been the favorite since the moment Oklahoma and Texas were announced, and there was some thought the decision would be voted on and announced last year at spring meetings in Destin, Fla. - The Athletic Expansion news Deion Sanders at Colorado Spring practice updates Are Georgia and South Carolina set to play each other less often in new SEC schedule? But Florida went 4-8 last year. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of eleven states, two additional public land-grant universities, and one private research university. Its a border battle and the two programs have enjoyed a competitive basketball series over the years. For example, Alabama has played only two games at Vanderbilt since 2002; the Commodores have visited Tuscaloosa only twice since 2006. At the center of this conversation lies the question of how the SEC plans to identify rivalry games that are relevant from a historic perspective, meaningful in. Try a week on us. While that was cause for celebration for those that like The Deep Souths Oldest Rivlary and The Third Saturday in October, the decision upset others, like LSU athletic director Joe Alleva. Deciding the new SEC annual opponents: Our survey results and analysis That would be in two weeks. It was tempting to put Missouri in Oklahomas group of teams. If divisions are eliminated but each team is given three permanent opponents, the other six opponents (in a nine-game schedule) could be rotated to allow for each team to play each other at least twice, home and away, over a four-year period. SEC protected opponents for eight-, nine-game schedules. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. By Seth Emerson Mar 6, 2023. Quarterback Eli Manning #10 of the Mississippi Rebels calls an audible play at the line of scrimmage against the Oklahoma State Cowboys during the SBC Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2, 2004 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. LSU won the SEC West in 2022 in surprise fashion before falling to SEC East and eventual national champion Georgia 50-30 in Atlanta. Even if the SEC went to a nine-game schedule but kept divisions, that would still mean only two cross-division games per season in an SEC with two eight-team divisions. Louisianas border with Mississippi makes those intriguing permanent options. (You can see them here.). Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports. Sites alternate home and away through 2025. There was some talk the Aggies would get the Gators and South Carolina would get LSU if the league busted up the UF-LSU series, but that didnt happen and it left this. That won't always happen -- there will be some down 8-4 or 9-3 years (and that's okthat's how it used to be in college football) -- but that'll be the benchmark that Tennessee will be aiming for each season. Sites alternate home and away through 2025. SEC One Step Closer to Football Schedule Format Decision What is best model? Monday's announcement pertains to the rotating non-division opponents. SEC football schedule: Projecting permanent rivals for each team when Theyve gone 24-6 in these games since 2013 but lost to LSU and the Volunteers this past season. The SEC office also pointed out that while annual opponents are important, they would only make up one-third of a nine-game schedule, or one-eighth of an eight-game schedule. Clemson is the rival to end all rivals for South Carolina, which has struggled to find a similar foil in the SEC. Whats best for the league is whats best for all of us., (Photo: Charles Brock / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images). The move means that the 2023 season will be the final year with the traditional SEC West and East divisions. At the same time, the SECs been notorious for scheduling FCS schools as part of their nonconference schedule. The separation agreement with the Big 12 is reportedly $100 million but despite all of the zeroes, the two programs will likely make their money back hand-over-first in their new league. Im sure there are fans out there that will not love the permanent opponents that were listed for their team, but this is the undertaking Greg Sankey and the SEC are working through. But that pairing may not be so much about history as it is part of a plan by the SEC, informed by a consulting firm, to make things fair. Though the Aggies wouldnt admit it, getting Texas back on the schedule is huge for the state of Texas and for college football in general. LSU could draw a conference slate that avoids Georgia, Florida and Tennessee. In the case of the new schedule format, Navigate put together the records of all 16 teams going back 10 years. One can debate scheduling until the cows come home. (Permanent opponents in 2014: Home - Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ole Miss; Away - Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri. The Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns are set to join the Southeastern Conference in 2024 in a move that will build a juggernaut collection of the top college programs in the nation. Steve Spurrier, after South Carolina beat Georgia in 2012 but saw the Bulldogs win the division because of a better record, introduced a rule change to make the record within the division the criteria. (The loser of this scenario is Auburn, as The Athletic has their predicted opponents as Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.). The two finalists are a 1-7 model, where teams have one permanent rival and seven rotating opponents, and a 3-6 model . The SEC has actually heard the possibility of a four-division set-up, but the logistics of that make it unlikely. Three opponents:Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee. The Gamecocks used to play Arkansas as their permanent opponent. Those concerns got us wondering: are there teams that really do get a free pass every year, while others have a dog fight to secure an East vs. West win every fall? SEC got it right with permanent opponents - 247Sports The teams for the SEC championship game will be determined by best record and a battery of tiebreaking formats. Will new SEC schedule take Georgia-South Carolina out of annual rotation? Its a root reason as to why the fans of the leagues schools are so passionate- because the set-up allows them to be. The SEC has been hoping to tweak the contract not only to account for two more marquee football programs but more conference games. He's not a fan. is adopted at the meetings in Destin, Fla. LSU has played Arkansas and Auburn every year since the Razorbacks joined the SEC with South Carolina in 1992, splitting the conference into East and West divisions for the first time. In fact, Tennessee won 11-of-14 against Alabama between 1993-2006. It's inevitable, with Oklahoma and Texas joining the conference in 2025. Based on conversations with those within the league, SI. But it never was: This is etched in stone. (Nor is the decision to go to nine games, he added.) Arden Barnes-USA TODAY Sports. SEC football scheduling decisions will be pivotal for Oklahoma Sooners LSU football has set dates for the start of spring practice and its spring game, LSU coach Brian Kelly has promoted from within to fill a key role on his football staff. One common theme thats been impressive for me, from commissioner (Mike) Slive to Greg Sankey, that well talk about things, well debate things, but were going to make a decision as to whats best for this conference. Good arguments can be made on both sides. Feb 17th, 3:40 PM. According to Sports Illustrated, the SEC has tried to select permanent opponents based on primary and secondary rivalries, geography, balance and parity. The first phase of that timeline is approaching and is fairly clear: Finalize future scheduling at SEC spring meetings.. That lengthy history of time in the Big 8 would have made for a natural permanent opponent, but connecting with Texas A&M from their time in the Big 12 south and bordering Arkansas also makes for a ton of fun. Alabama already plays all three rivals every year under the eight-game model, so not much would change for the Crimson Tide. Sources have revealed each SEC team's proposed 3 permanent opponents. Brian Bahr/Getty Images. And then theres Texas A&M and the chance to bring back one of the great rivalries in college sports. With the new format beginning in 2025-26, Georgia will only have two permanent opponents. LSU will begin spring football practice next week. This is the most straightforward decision before the league, and one where everyone should arrive ready to vote on first. So the natural assumption, provided the new SEC schedule moves to nine games, has been that the Bulldogs and Gamecocks would be matched as annual opponents. Kentucky has to play Tennessee, the Wildcats biggest SEC rival and fiercest annual rival altogether this side of Louisville. ), MISSOURI - 2014 at Texas A&M; 2015 vs. Mississippi State; 2016 at LSU; 2017 vs. Auburn; 2018 at Alabama; 2019 vs. Ole Miss; 2020 at Mississippi State; 2021 vs. Texas A&M; 2022 at Auburn; 2023 vs. LSU; 2024 at Ole Miss; 2025 vs. Alabama. Yeah, I think we all have strong opinions on what would be best for our school. Arkansas vs. Texas A&M, that's for sure. Mississippi State gets a tough slate with Alabama and LSU, but if it can navigate its permanent opponents 2-1 it would set them up to contend in the SEC.