Change is coming for Auburn football and the other teams in the Southeastern Conference in the 2024 season. Oklahoma and Texas will officially make the move from the Big 12 to the SEC, and their schedules will only get more difficult.
However, some SEC teams are facing easier schedules with the removal of the East and West divisions. Prior to 2024, Auburn football has typically faced the likes of Ole Miss, LSU, Alabama, Georgia, and Texas A&M year in and year out. Now, the schedule will look a bit different.
While the two sacred rivalries, Alabama and Georgia, are protected, the Tigers will skip over teams from the state of Louisiana and Mississippi for the first time since 1933. Auburn will host Arkansas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt, and they will travel to play Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, and Kentucky.
The new way of scheduling SEC teams will likely take some getting used to, and Auburn football fans had mixed reactions to the lack of usual opponents and the easier schedule:
The rest of the SEC having an Auburn-level schedule is gonna be fun.
— Sports Illustrated's Auburn Elvis (@AuburnElvis) June 15, 2023
It’s absolutely wild Auburn doesn’t play LSU in 2024. That game is always one of my favorites. Gonna be weird for sure but exited to host Oklahoma
— MiKE WESTiNHAM (@westinham) June 14, 2023
Every part of my "college traditions matter" brain is screaming about this schedule. But the chaotic Auburn in me sees this 2024 schedule like... pic.twitter.com/8LTb4BwkzW
— Evan (@thEHolder10) June 15, 2023
Despite the changes, it is a big relief that the SEC has protected the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry and the Iron Bowl. While the Tigers’ schedule may be easier without these games, they’re the most important games to many Auburn football fans and ones that are looked forward to (most) every year. Good luck to Oklahoma and Texas, though.