Must See TV. That is the best way to characterize the 2024 Southeastern Conference football season. First, the league officially welcomes Texas and Oklahoma to the conference. Every current SEC member will have either Oklahoma or Texas on their schedule in 2024. Goodbye to our favorite theme song, (Gary and Brett), and CBS. The SEC begins its new media rights deal with ESPN in 2024. Gone are divisions and instead, the two top teams meet in Atlanta to decide the champion. If there is a fault, the SEC won’t be playing nine conference games in 2024. Administrators couldn’t come to an agreement in Destin two weeks ago. The league office made up for it by putting together some great week-in and week-out matchups, especially when it comes to the defending back-t0-back national champions. Here’s a closer look and breakdown of Georgia’s 2024 football schedule.
2024 SEC OPPONENTS@GeorgiaFootball #SECFB x @SECNetwork pic.twitter.com/WKOwcDnLRU
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) June 14, 2023
Georgia’s 2024 Football Schedule
Neutral Site Games
Georgia plays two neutral site games in 2024. They open the season against Clemson at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Mercedes-Benz Stadium has become a second home for the Bulldogs. In 2022, Georgia played in Atlanta three times, dismantling Oregon to open the season, outlasting LSU in the SEC Championship game, and narrowly escaping Ohio State in the College Football Playoff Semifinals. Georgia will also play Florida in Jacksonville in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party or whatever they are calling it these days. While these games look great on the schedule, one can’t help but think they would be even better on campus.
Kirby Smart has long talked about how important having home games are to recruiting. He has talked on and off about moving the Florida game to Sanford stadium and to the Swamp, but even he had to acknowledge the financial benefits of the neutral site games. “When it comes down to it, there’s a very, very basic element of everything that comes back to, number one money, and number two recruiting and getting good players. I firmly believe that we’ll be able to sign better players by having it as a home-and-home because we’ll have more opportunities to get them to campus. But, I also think there’s a financial factor that factors into that, with having the game there and being able to make more money for the university, possibly, there. You have to weigh both those and make really good decisions.”
The neutral site games generate a lot of money for Georgia. In 2022, Chick-Fil-A paid Georiga $5.9 million dollars to open the season at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and another estimated $4.5 million dollars to play Flordia down in Jacksonville. That is a lot of money that would be difficult to make up with a home game in Athens. One can’t help but wonder how much game experience on television and in the stadium would be enhanced if these games were played on campus.
Nonconference Schedule
In addition to Clemson, Georgia plays Tennessee Tech and UMass. They will close the season at home against Georgia Tech. The addition of Clemson is an instant upgrade over the 2023 non-conference schedule. Looking into the crystal ball, one would assume that UMass would be removed from the schedule. The game is scheduled for November 23rd and would be an ideal spot to have an additional SEC team on the schedule. Look for ESPN to salivate over the big television numbers that the S
Road Schedule
Georgia fans may want to travel with the team as they make their way through the SEC in 2024. Georgia plays all the hits as they visit Texas, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Kentucky in 2024. The Texas and Alabama games will no doubt bring in 10 million plus television eyeballs and electric stadiums. These are games that should be happening on an every-year or every-other-year basis. Georgia fans can trek to the Grove to pregame before facing the Portal King Lane Kiffin and his Rebels. Nobody can complain Georgia will have a cupcake schedule in 2024.
Home Schedule
Georgia welcomes Auburn, Mississippi State, and Tennessee between the hedges in 2024. The league kept the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry with Auburn. 2024 will be year two for Hugh Freeze and the Tigers should be ready to make a jump. Tennessee was one of the hottest teams in 2022 and will look to continue to be one of the top teams in the conferences as they push ahead to 2024. There are more questions than answers for the future of Mississippi State with Zach Arnett replacing Mike Leach this season. The two neutral site game neutralizes some of the extra energy that could have been brought to Sanford Stadium in 2024. Here is hoping Josh Brooks brings more of those games back to Dooley Field in 2025 and beyond.
Verdict
ELITE. Brooks and Smart both like to talk about how Georgia’s fans and teams are elite. Georgia’s 2024 SEC schedule is ELITE. Georgia has traded former SEC East Divisional foes South Carolina, Missouri, and Vanderbilt for some combination of Mississippi State, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Texas. These are the matchups that fans want to see as realignment becomes part of our reality. Here is to hoping that the administration can meet in Destin and add the ninth conference game in 2025.
