The SEC Will Keep An 8-Game Football Schedule When Texas And Oklahoma Join In 2024

It had been a virtually foregone conclusion that the SEC would move to a 9-game conference schedule when Texas and Oklahoma entered the league, but the schools couldn't come to an agreement at this week's SEC Spring Meetings and the conference will maintain its 8-game schedule for at least another year.

It seems for now like this is going to be just a one-year stopgap and the league will figure out a way to go to nine games in 2025, which I sure hope is the case because a 1-7 model — one permanent opponent and seven rotating — can't work with the traditional rivalries in the SEC. If you give teams just one permanent opponent, you're going to lose Alabama-Tennessee, Auburn-Georgia and Texas-Texas A&M on an annual basis, among other games. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said the league would protect "traditional rivalries" in 2024, but it can only do that once.

It seems like everybody except the schools wanted to go to nine games in 2024, especially with the expanded College Football Playoff. Sure, the ninth conference game will hurt Vanderbilt and Missouri try to get to the Birmingham Bowl, but literally nobody cares. Good or bad, there will be even less attention on anything other than the CFP when it goes to 12 teams and a ninth game will probably help SEC teams in Playoff contention far more often than it would hurt them. It's also just way more fun.

This is fine for a year. But fix it before 2025.