Longhorns To Find Fourth Nonconference Opponent For 2024 Season

For years in the Big 12, Texas has only needed to find three opponents outside of the conference to make a 12-game schedule. That won't be the case in 2024. 

With Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC next fall, all eyes turn to the upcoming schedule. During last week's league meetings in Destin, Fla., conference athletic directors voted to keep the eight-game format intact for at least one season once the Longhorns and Sooners arrive. 

Slight problem for the two new schools; their 2024 schedules featured only three nonconference opponents, meaning Longhorns athletic director Chris Del Conte must work on adding another matchup to the schedule before the start of the 2023 season. 

“We have to find a game in a hurry,” Del Conte said at the league meetings, per the Austin-American Statesman. “There are not a lot of (available) games out there, but we’ll be in great shape.”

Expectations were during league meetings that the SEC would move to a nine-game schedule permanently due to the impact of rivalries. In an eight-game format, programs would have one permanent rival, seven rotating SEC matchups, and four non-conference games. In a nine-game format, rivalries would expand to three opponents, while nonconference games would move down to three. 

Five current programs were in favor of the schedule expansion, but the nine remaining schools voiced their opinion to leave the eight-game format in place for next year. Del Conte, who did not have a vote during meetings, also favored the nine-game schedule, given that Texas already plays nine games per year in the Big 12.  

The Longhorns and Sooners will face each other as permanent rivals in the Red River Showdown, but it's also expected that the league will bring back the Lone Star Showdown against Texas A&M for at least one season. If the league keeps nine games on the schedule for good, A&M, Oklahoma and former Southwest Conference foe Arkansas will be the Longhorns' three permanent rivals.

Finding a nonconference opponent could be tricky for multiple reasons. The most significant is timing as programs schedule out-of-conference games well in advance of the regular season. Texas has games planned as far out as a decade, with a home-and-home series set with Arizona State in 2032 and 2033.

Another primary concern is the level of competition. With the College Football Playoff expanding the 12 teams in 2024, a stronger schedule could separate a two-loss program when it comes to resume booster. The Longhorns wouldn't want to face off against an opponent like Clemson, but they shouldn't be keen on scheduling an FCS roster just to fill the quota. 

"We have been engaged in planning for the entry of Oklahoma and Texas into the SEC since the summer of 2021, but the change of the membership date from 2025 to 2024 creates scheduling complexities that can better be managed with a one-year schedule," SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said Thursday.

Initially, Texas and Oklahoma were set to join the SEC in 2025 when the Big 12's current media rights deal concluded. However, the Longhorns, Sooners and Big 12 came to a buyout clause in February, thus allowing the two schools to break their grant of rights contract a year early.

According to the Houston Chronicle, all 16 SEC programs will be required to play at least one opponent from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 or a major independent in the new 2024 format. Texas already has that covered in its home-and-home series against Michigan on Sept. 7. 

The Longhorns also have matchups scheduled against Colorado State to open the season at Royal-Memorial Stadium on Aug. 31 and UTSA on Sept. 14. The last nonconference game likely would come in November prior to Week 13's season finale. 

Funding also will play a role in determining an opponent. Programs like Alabama and Georgia often pay a certain amount of funds to schedule a "guarantee win" game at some point during the regular season. Last year, Alabama paid University of Louisiana-Monroe nearly $2 million to travel to Tuscaloosa for a Week 3 matchup at Bryant-Denny Stadium, a game in which Crimson Tide won, 63-7. 

Georgia, which looks to become the first three-peat national champion since Minnesota (1934-36), paid Samford $500,000 for play in Athens for the season opener, a game in which the home Bulldogs won, 33-0. 

The SEC will release its full 2024 conference schedule on June 14 during a live special on the SEC Network.

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