Florida Gators football schedule 2024: Texas, Texas A&M on deck as SEC expands to 16 teams

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Image Credit: Alex de la Osa / UAA

Just weeks after the SEC decided to continue its eight-game schedule through the first year of Texas and Oklahoma joining the league in 2024, the conference decided to release the opponents that each team will face that year. And while the eight-game slate will not change, the dissolution of the SEC’s divisions means the old 6-1-1 model is no more.

Rather than face six divisional opponents, one cross-division permanent rival and one rotating cross-division team, the league’s 16 programs will play what amounts to a one-off schedule focused on ensuring all 14 traditional members play either the Longhorns or Sooners as a means of welcoming them into the fold.

No school will travel to the same location it visits in 2023, and the 2024 opponents were determined based on a combination of retaining traditional opponents and finding schedule balance. In other words, do not necessarily expect return matchups or a complete flip of opponents in 2025.

The strength of schedule formula included calculating conference winning percentage since 2012 and dividing opponents evenly with four (two home, two away) ranking among the top eight winning percentages and four (two home, two away) ranking among the bottom eight.

The Florida Gators drew the Texas straw from the deck with the programs meeting for the fourth time in program history and first since 1940. The Gators are 0-2-1 against the Longhorns, drawing with their new SEC brethren in 1924 before losing consecutive games as part of a home-and-home series 15 years later (1939-40).

As far as the rest of Florida’s SEC opponents go, let’s break down the 2024 schedule. Note that the Gators will also face Miami (home), Florida State (away) and UCF (home) next season, giving them 11 Power Five opponents out of 12 regular-season games.

Home

• Kentucky: Wildcats have won three of last five meetings, series continues back to 1967
• LSU: Tigers have won eight of last 10 meetings, series continues back to 1971
• Ole Miss: First meeting in Gainesville since 2015
• Texas A&M: First meeting in Gainesville since 2017

Away

• Texas: First meeting since 1940
• Georgia: Neutral-site game
• Mississippi State: First meeting since 2018
• Tennessee: Gators have won 16 of last 18 meetings, series continues back to 1976

Notes

• Florida will not play Vanderbilt (first time since 1988), South Carolina (1992) or Missouri (2012), all traditional SEC East opponents generally considered the three “easiest” in the old division.
• Not only that, the Gators “easiest” game based on recent performances and future expectations is still on the road (Mississippi State).
• The UF-LSU series continues in 2024 despite the Tigers trying to get out of it for years.
• The Gators are playing two teams each from Texas and Mississippi.
• With Auburn once again not scheduled, the teams will have only played twice in a 17-year span and counting by the time the 2024 season concludes.