Predicting Arkansas’ 2024 SEC Football Opponents

Months of wrangling finally came to a resolution earlier this month when SEC presidents and the chancellor agreed to play an eight-game conference schedule in 2024 when Oklahoma and Texas join the league.

They basically made the decision because the eight-on-nine debate will eventually go on.

However, for ESPN, the goose had laid another golden egg. The interim schedule means the SEC must start from scratch to determine opponents for next season. And what better way to reveal those picks than with an SEC Network special?

That’s exactly what they will do, as the eight opponents and the home and away fixtures will be announced from 18:00 on Wednesday.

Until then, Best of Arkansas Sports decided to pick the 2024 opponents for Arkansas football

@Missouri

This is one game we know for sure. Like it or not, the Battle Line Rivalry presented by Shelter Insurance is the Razorbacks’ one protected game in the eight-game format. With the Tigers coming to Fayetteville this year, it’s safe to assume the 2024 game will be one of four road games for Arkansas. The bigger question is whether the Razorbacks can finally do what they’re doing failed in six previous trips to Colombia.

@ Texas A&M (at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas)

There’s no guarantee this game will be played, but it’s probably not too far-fetched to imagine Hunter Yurachek making a strong case for it, so the Aggies have to honor the final year of the Southwest Classic’s contract. This could be a way for the SEC to throw Arkansas a bone. Then again, maybe that’s faulty logic on our part. Without Texas A&M on the 2024 roster, the contract with AT&T Stadium expires after this season. Yurachek said earlier this monthmeaning the Aggies would get to host the next game on campus.

@ Texas

In a nine-game format, Texas is expected to be one of Arkansas’ three permanent opponents. The former SWC rivals won’t meet annually if the eight-game schedules continue, but one benefit of the 2024 interim arrangement is that these secondary contests can happen for at least one more year. Most fans focus on games like Alabama-Tennessee, Auburn-Georgia and Texas-Texas A&M, but the older generation remembers a time when Arkansas vs. Texas was one of the biggest games of the year with national impact.

@ South Carolina

From 1992-2013, Arkansas and South Carolina met annually as perennial crossover opponents. Together in the SEC, they were the new kids on the block, so the league paired them up. It made so much sense that when Missouri and Texas A&M joined two decades later, the SEC expected the same. Forget it. Anyway, the SEC is probably trying to mix up the old East and West schools a bit and we already have Texas A&M above and three other current SEC West foes below. Arkansas originally had to will host Kentucky in 2024 and travel to Vanderbilt in 2025, so it only makes sense that South Carolina would get the nod instead.

vs. Ole Miss

It would be a crime against college football to stop the Arkansas-Ole Miss series. Both teams have played wild games over the years and especially in recent seasons. It will reportedly continue with the Rebels as the third of Arkansas’ permanent opponents in a nine-game format, so it’s a fair assumption that Ole Miss will be included in the 2024 interim slate. It’s good for all parties involved.

vs. LSU

This is a game that many Arkansas football fans would like to see return to its rightful place this Thanksgiving weekend. That’s not likely to happen, but keeping the Arkansas-LSU game on the schedule seems to make sense for the league. Most of the time it is a competitive game, the last three are decided by a tie of three points and there is a big trophy involved. With the Razorbacks headed to Baton Rouge this season, we’ve got them coming back to Fayetteville in 2024.

vs. Alabama

Once a vocal proponent of nine-game conference schedules, Nick Saban recently changed his tune when he learned that Alabama’s permanent opponents would be Auburn, LSU and Tennessee. Apparently, that’s too tough for the Crimson Tide. The SEC probably doesn’t want to ruffle his feathers, so Arkansas will likely stick with its schedule in 2024 as one of its easier upsets, a 16-game winning streak is no enemy of the SEC.

vs. Florida

The last two times the SEC created interim schedules, in 2013 (when Missouri/Texas A&M joined) and 2020 (pandemic), Arkansas was sent to Gainesville. You could make it three out of three this time, but the SEC certainly wouldn’t send the Razorbacks to Florida in back-to-back years. Or maybe it would. We gave the league the benefit of the doubt and believe it will use this opportunity to even things out after three of the schools’ last four meetings were at The Swamp.

2024 Non-Conference Slate

Aug. 31 vs. UAPB
Sept. 7 at Oklahoma State
Sept. 14 vs. UAB
Nov. 23 vs. Louisiana Tech

As a reminder, the four non-conference games listed above are still on the schedule and are the only games with known dates. Thank God the SEC didn’t go on a nine game streak. Can you imagine having to decide between UAB and Louisiana Tech? We all know they have to protect the UAPB game so they don’t get away with winning in the FCS, especially at state. Of course, they may have taken a risk and canceled/re-transferred Oklahoma State.

Instead, the Cowboys meet the SEC’s requirement to play at least one non-conference game against a Power Five team or a major independent. It’s unknown if that requirement will remain in place if the conference adopts nine games, but the Razorbacks already have big games on the schedule: Notre Dame in 2025 and 2028, Utah in 2026 and 2029, Oklahoma State in 2020. 2024, 2027, 2032 and 2033 and Texas Tech in 2030 and 2031.

***

More coverage of SEC football and Arkansas football from BoAS