Georgia was set to host Oklahoma in Athens for game one during the 2023 schedule on September 9, then travel to Norman, Oklahoma to play Oklahoma in 2031. But those games have been scratched due to both Oklahoma and Texas joining the Southeastern Conference in 2025.
Instead, Georgia will host Ball State in Athens, which weakens their strength of schedule for next year.
When Oklahoma and Texas join the SEC, there is sure to be realignment in the conference. As it stands now, the conference is aligned:
2022 Season
West
-Arkansas, Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU, Texas A&M
East
-Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Florida, South Carolina
2025 Season
In 2025 there will be 16 total teams in the SEC. It might be too big to divide it up between East and West. And currently there are east teams that should be in west, and west teams that could be in the east. My take… let’s have two subdivisions in each division consisting of four teams in each subdivision.
West
North
-Oklahoma, Missouri, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt
South
-Texas A&M, Texas, LSU, Arkansas
East
North
-Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky
South
-Auburn, South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi State
So how would the SEC Championship play out? At the end of the regular season, teams would be fighting for the top spot in their subdivision. There would be a final four played where the winner of each division’s subdivision would play each other. The winner of those games would play each other for the SEC Championship in Atlanta, Ga.