Top Five SEC Games in 2024
The 2024 season will go down in college football history as the year everything changed. The College Football Playoff will be expanding to 12 teams, ESPN/ABC will now own the SEC, USC/UCLA will be moving to the Big 10, and the SEC will be adding the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners. Recently, the SEC announced each team's eight conference opponents in the upcoming 2024 season.
Here are the Top Five SEC Games in the 2024 season
No. 5- The Red River Rivalry
If you ask a college football fan what are the biggest rivalries in college football, they would most likely say Michigan vs. Ohio State, Alabama vs. Auburn, Army vs. Navy, and Texas vs. Oklahoma. Every year in October, both Texas and Oklahoma travel to Dallas, TX, to play in the Cotton Bowl, in one of the biggest games of the year. In the stands, there is a 50/50 split of burnt orange and sooner red fighting against each other to give their team an advantage. Some of the all-time greats who have played in this historic game our Baker Mayfield, Jalen Hurts, Sam Bradford, Adrian Peterson, Vince Young, Ricky Williams, Colt McCoy, Earl Campbell, and many more. Texas leads the all-time series at 63-50 going into the SEC.
No. 4- Georgia at Texas
The Georgia Bulldogs are currently the back-to-back national champions aiming for the first three-peat in college football history. Texas on the other hand has not won a national championship since 2005. Would be surprised to hear that Texas actually has the Bulldogs number all-time. Currently, the Longhorns hold a 4-1 record all-time vs Georgia with their most recent matchup coming in a 28-21 victory for Texas in the 2018 Sugar Bowl. Even though these teams have only met five times, there is no love lost between them. In 2024, the Bulldogs will be traveling to Austin for the first time since 1958 for a highly anticipated matchup.
No. 3- Alabama at Oklahoma
Alabama and Oklahoma are two of the most storied programs in college football. In 2024, the Crimson Tide will be traveling to Norman, OK for the first time since 2002 where the second-ranked Sooners beat Alabama 37-27. The 2024 matchup will only be the seventh time these two schools have met with Oklahoma leading the series 3-2-1. The most recent matchup was in the 2018 CFP Semifinal where Tua Tagovailoa and the No.1 ranked Crimson Tide beat Kyler Murray and the fourth-ranked Sooners, 45-34, in the Orange Bowl. These two schools have also been arguing with each other over who owns Jalen Hurts. The current Philadelphia Eagles quarterback originally signed with Alabama and played three seasons in Tuscaloosa before transferring to Oklahoma for one season.
No.2- Texas at Texas A&M
Imagine if the Iron Bowl or Michigan vs. Ohio State got canceled for more than a decade, that is exactly what happened with Texas vs. Texas A&M. Before 2011, Texas was like Alabama where they had two massive rivalries every year, the Red River vs. Oklahoma and their annual matchup with Texas A&M on Thanksgiving weekend. These teams hate each other so much that the Aggies actually left the SEC to get away from the Longhorns. In 2024, the Longhorns will be returning to Kyle Field to play the Aggies for the first time since 2011. Even though these two teams have so much hatred for each other, Texas dominates the all-time series 76-37.
No.1- Georgia at Alabama
How could this not be No.1?
In the 2010s, Alabama and Georgia have been the two of the best teams in college football. These two teams have been the pain in each other's rear end for the past couple of years Whenever Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide faced off against the Bulldogs, it was one of the best games of the year. In 2012, Alabama beat Georgia, 32-38, in 2012 the SEC Championship to determine who would go to play Notre Dame in the National Championship. In 2015, Georgia hired Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart to become their new head coach. In the 2018 National Championship, Smart and Georgia had Alabama on the ropes until Tua Tagovailoa threw a game-winning pass to Devonta Smith to win the National Championship. In the 2021-22 season, Alabama won the SEC Championship against the Bulldogs but Georgia won the rematch for the National Championship. Now everyone is saying that Georgia is becoming the new Alabama and Smart is on his way to dethroning Saban. Since 2008, Nick Saban and Alabama have defeated Georgia 7-8 times while also being 4-1 in Smart's reign as head coach. In 2024, the Bulldogs will be traveling to Tuscaloosa for the first time since 2020 .