Auburn football could see its “most positive developments in years” soon if the SEC ratifies the proposed scheduling of the 2024 season — aka the first for the SEC without the West and East divisions and with Texas and Oklahoma — according to Auburn Rivals’ Bryan Matthews.
“I won’t be on the proverbial edge of my seat but I’m excited to see how commissioner Greg Sankey and his staff incorporate Texas and Oklahoma into the schedule, maintain traditional rivalries and balance the relative strength of the schedules throughout all 16 teams,” Matthews wrote. “I can’t remember the last time Auburn didn’t play one of, if not THE, toughest schedule in the conference. That balanced schedule, assuming they pull it off, will be one of the most positive developments for Auburn football in years.”
The SEC established eight conference games, plus another scheduled game against a Power Five opponent, as the 16 teams’ future setup for the nation’s flagship conference starting in 2024. That means that Georgia can become a “non-conference” for AU in the same way Wake Forest and North Carolina have in the 2020s to preserve their historical rivalry since Alabama and the Iron Bowl will become the one primary Auburn football rivalry played every season.
Analyst would be ‘surprised’ if Texas or Oklahoma isn’t on 2024 Auburn football schedule
For Tiger fans looking to see new opponents and opposing fanbases make their way to the Plains, Matthews has good news: Texas or Oklahoma is a very serious possibility for the 2024 Auburn football schedule.
“Could Oklahoma or Texas be visiting Jordan-Hare Stadium in about 16 more months? I’d actually be a little surprised if that doesn’t happen,” Matthews wrote.
While the Lane Kiffin-fueled Ole Miss rivalry may be de-prioritized by the SEC’s future scheduling, that could be made up by some of college football’s highest revenue-grossing programs in UT and OU. All in all, there will be good and there will be bad when the SEC shakes things up in 2024, but the game will go on — and that eagle is going to make its way to the 50-yard line to the roars of 86,000 people no matter what.