Last night, the SEC revealed their 2024 conference schedule. This was one of the most highly anticipated schedule releases for two reasons.
The first is the elimination of divisions next year. However, the second reason is the debut of the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners in 2024 SEC play. With this schedule release, most of the college football world discovered that one of these teams is going to have a much easier 2024 SEC schedule than the other.
Oklahoma Sooners Have a Harder Schedule
Based on 2023 results, it appears that the Oklahoma Sooners got the short end of the stick. What does their 2024 schedule look like? Let’s take a look:
- vs. Temple
- vs. Houston
- vs. Tulane
- vs. Tennessee
- at Auburn
- BYE
- vs. Texas
- vs. South Carolina
- at Ole Miss
- vs. Maine
- at Missouri
- BYE
- vs. Alabama
- at LSU
If 2023 is any indication, the Oklahoma Sooners have a gauntlet of a schedule. The latest College Football Playoff rankings have six of these SEC teams ranked. Oklahoma has to face half of these ranked teams on the road.
Two of these teams ended up making this year’s College Football Playoff (CFP). The last three games on Oklahoma’s schedule are particularly brutal. That is because all three of these teams landed in the Top 15 of the latest CFP rankings.
If this was not enough, Oklahoma has internal problems they need to solve. Their biggest one is finding a new quarterback. That is because their quarterback, Dillon Gabriel, plans to transfer to Oregon next season. With a new quarterback and a much more difficult schedule next season, Oklahoma could be in for a rough first year in the SEC.
Texas Longhorns Have a Softer Schedule
Now, let’s get to the Texas Longhorns. Unlike Oklahoma, Texas ended up with a much softer landing in the SEC based on 2023 results. Let’s take a look at who they have to play in 2024:
- vs. Colorado State
- at Michigan
- vs. UTSA
- vs. ULM
- vs. Mississippi State
- BYE
- vs. Oklahoma
- vs. Georgia
- at Vanderbilt
- BYE
- vs. Florida
- at Arkansas
- vs. Kentucky
- at Texas A&M
Admittedly, Texas has the toughest non-conference game out of any mentioned here. That comes against the Michigan Wolverines in Week 2 of the 2024 season. However, their schedule does get easier after that game.
Their annual game against Oklahoma is one of the toughest games on their schedule next season. It is one of just two games against teams ranked in 2023 from this new SEC conference. The other one comes the week after against Georgia.
With that said, the Longhorns do have one intriguing game to keep an eye on. That comes in their regular season finale against Texas A&M. The two schools had a long rivalry in the Big 12. However, they have not played each other since the Aggies left the Big 12 for the SEC.
There have been rumors for years that Texas A&M did not want Texas in the SEC. If that is true, it was finally too much to overcome, as Texas gets set to join them next season. Now, Aggies fans will get a chance to reignite the rivalry.
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