As Texas and Oklahoma prepare to move to the Southeastern Conference in 2024, the SEC released football opponents for the upcoming season. Many current SEC opponents are former Big 12 rivals, making Texas’ move to the new conference exciting for fans and foes alike. 

With the Texas and Oklahoma move, the SEC dissolved its current East and West division model, instead moving to an eight-opponent schedule. All 16 teams’ opponents were revealed at 6 p.m. on Wednesday night. 

In its first year of SEC play, Texas will face Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Mississippi State at home in the Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, and travel to Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M. Texas will also see Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl. While Texas will technically be the away team in Dallas in 2024, the atmosphere will surely make both sides feel at home.

The Longhorns will travel to Nashville to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores, renewing a matchup that hasn’t occurred since 1928, when Texas fell 13-12 at home to Vanderbilt. However, Vanderbilt has not seen much success in recent seasons, going 5-7 in 2022, its best record since 2018. 

Renewing an old rivalry with lots of history, Texas will travel to Fayetteville to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks for the first time since 2021, when Arkansas won the “Welcome to the SEC” game 40-21. 

In the most anticipated rivalry renewal, Texas will return to Kyle Field to take on the Texas A&M Aggies for the first time since Justin Tucker’s last-second walk-off field goal in 2011. Since then, the chatter around the two teams’ next matchup has been endless, and fans on both sides now have an answer. 

“I’m most excited about the (Texas A&M) rivalry (being renewed),” said electrical and computer engineering junior Robert Taylor. “It’s local, I have a lot of friends that go there and it’s always fun to compete with them.” 

Unlike with Texas A&M and Arkansas, the Longhorns don’t have a long history of playing with teams like Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Mississippi State, with the most memorable win over Georgia coming in the 2019 Sugar Bowl. 

“I’m excited to see new opponents,” Taylor said. “Getting to play good teams (like SEC teams) should make our team better. Playing better teams makes you better yourself.” 

Texas’ SEC move was met with high expectations since the announcement in 2021, and this strong first-year schedule will allow the team to prove it can compete with the best of the best.