SEC Officials Agree To Eight-Game Conference Schedule Starting In 2024, Ultimately A Bridge To The Future
MIRAMAR BEACH, Florida- The Southeastern Conference has finally agreed to a scheduling model, though it's not the one that has been discussed for over a year. On Thursday night, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey announced that the conference would be moving to an eight-game format for the 2024 season.
According to the agreement, in the one-year schedule, SEC teams will play eight conference games plus one required opponent against a power-5 opponent. One of the bigger aspects of the situation was that the SEC did not have the votes to move towards a nine-game model at the moment. In reality, the SEC was hoping ESPN would fork over additional money for the SEC adding another conference game, but that has not happened.
Former Football Quarterbacks Eli Manning (L), Archie Manning (2R) and Peyton Manning (R)pose with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey (2L) prior to the SEC Championship game. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
Also, the SEC will eliminate divisions in 2024, once Texas and Oklahoma arrive. The SEC Championship Game will feature the two top teams in the Conference standings at the end of the regular season.
“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,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.
“Creating a one-year schedule will provide a longer on-ramp to manage football scheduling around existing non-conference commitments of our members,” Sankey said. “It will also provide additional time to understand the impact of an expanded College Football Playoff and engage with our media partners as we determine the appropriate long-term plan for SEC football scheduling."
Opponents for the 2024 season will be announced during a special broadcast on June 14th. In all honesty, this was the best possible outcome for the SEC right now, since they did not have the votes for nine conference games. This also gives the conference an opportunity to wait on ESPN and potentially more funding, while they negotiate.
For those that criticize the SEC for not changing its format right now, Greg Sankey noted that the conference isn't shying away from competition.
"Over time, nobody is shying away from anything. We just didn't add another game during a period of transition," Sankey noted.
Field-Storming Rule Change, Monetary Punishment Benefits Opposing School
Now that the conference has approved the schedule, officials also voted on new changes to on-field security following games. The SEC has seen an uptick in field-stormings recently, thanks to Alabama losing a few games last season to Tennessee and LSU. I'm kidding, but the conference has decided on a few changes.
"Each member institution must provide security and uniformed law enforcement presence around each team and game officials before, during and after the event to precent contact with spectators," the SEC announced.
Also, hosting teams must provide secure area for teams to depart the field if fans storm the field, which can not be accessible to the general public. This means that the host school must rope off an area and provide a tunnel like area for players and coaches to exit the field. In the event of a basketball court storm, the visiting team can forgo the handshake line and move inside the setup barricade.
This has been done in recent years by Kentucky, in the event the school feels like a court-storm is coming. There are also monetary fines, which now benefit the losing team. Each school has had its 'storming count' reset to zero. But in the future, if the host school rushes the field, they must pay the opposing school a fine of $100,000 for the first offense, $250,000 for second and $500,000 for third offense.
It should be noted that the SEC expects to have a longterm plan for scheduling approved by this time next year, though we said the same thing this year.