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Chris Low, ESPN Senior Writer
As Alabama and Georgia prepare to meet on Saturday in the SEC championship game, fans won’t have to wait long to see them square off again.
Sources told ESPN that Alabama and Georgia are scheduled to meet the first month of the 2024 season, on Sept. 28 in Tuscaloosa, in what will be one of the most anticipated regular-season matchups in college football.
The SEC plans to unveil the entire 2024 schedule sometime in December, a schedule that will include new members Oklahoma and Texas in the expanded 16-team league.
The Sept. 28 meeting next season between Alabama and Georgia will be only the fifth time in the last 20 years that the two SEC powerhouses have played in the regular season. Their showdown on Saturday in Atlanta will mean five of their past six meetings have come in either the College Football Playoff National Championship game or SEC championship game. The only exception was during the 2020 COVID-19 season, when attendance at Bryant-Denny Stadium was capped at 19,424 in an Alabama 41-24 win. Alabama and Georgia have combined to win five of the past eight national championships.
Texas and Texas A&M will also renew their rivalry next season after a 12-year hiatus. The game will be played on Saturday, Nov. 30 in College Station to close the regular season, according to sources. Traditionally, Texas and Texas A&M have always played on either Thanksgiving Day or the Friday after Thanksgiving.
The LSU-Texas A&M game will move to an earlier date (Oct. 26 in College Station). That game has been played on Thanksgiving weekend since the Aggies’ second year in the SEC in 2013.
The month of October will feature several marquee matchups, including Georgia traveling to Texas on Oct. 19. It will mark only the third time the schools have met in the regular season. They last played in a regular-season game in 1958 in Austin, with Texas winning 13-8. They also faced off in the 2019 Sugar Bowl and 1984 Cotton Bowl. The Longhorns lead the series 4-1.
Oklahoma will make its SEC debut against Tennessee on Sept. 21 in Norman, with Volunteers coach Josh Heupel returning to his alma mater. Heupel was the Heisman Trophy runner-up in 2000 and led the unbeaten Sooners to a national championship.
Old Southwest Conference foes Arkansas and Texas will square off on Nov. 16 in Fayetteville, only their fourth regular-season meeting in the last 20 years. The Hogs beat the Longhorns 40-21 in 2021 in a nonconference game.
Arkansas and Texas A&M will play on Sept. 28, the final year of the contract pitting the two teams against each other at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Florida, in what looms as a pivotal third season for coach Billy Napier, will open SEC play at home against Texas A&M on Sept. 14. The Gators kick off the season at home on Aug. 31 against in-state rival Miami. The Aggies also have a tough season opener as they face Notre Dame on Aug. 31 at home.
The Alabama-Tennessee rivalry will remain on the third Saturday in October (Oct. 19 in Knoxville). The Vols will face Florida and Alabama in back-to-back weeks. Florida travels to Neyland Stadium on Oct. 12.
The Egg Bowl rivalry between Mississippi State and Ole Miss will remain at season’s end on Thanksgiving weekend.
Alabama’s close to the season will be especially challenging. The Crimson Tide play at LSU on Nov. 9, at Oklahoma on Nov. 23 and then come back home to face rival Auburn on Nov. 30 in the Iron Bowl.
With Oklahoma and Texas joining the league, the SEC voted to stay at eight conference games for the 2024 season before determining a more permanent schedule for the future, which includes potentially adding a ninth conference game. The league will eliminate divisional standings beginning in 2024. The SEC championship game will feature the top two teams in the conference standings at the end of the regular season.
The 2024 SEC opponents were determined based on two primary factors: traditional opponents and balance of schedule strength. Schedule strength was based on each school’s conference winning percentage since the last expansion of the SEC in 2012.
All 14 existing SEC schools will play either Oklahoma or Texas in 2024.