Nick Saban weighs in on SEC decision to play 8-game schedule in 2024
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The SEC on Thursday announced its football scheduling format for the 2024 season, when Oklahoma and Texas are set to join the league. Next year, SEC teams will play against eight conference games as well as one required opponent from either one of the Power 5 conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 or Pac-12) or a major independent school.
That doesn’t change much for Alabama, at least not the next two seasons, but the Crimson Tide has recently altered its scheduling philosophy, moving from neutral-site games to adding two home-and-home series with non-conference teams from the Power 5 each season beginning in 2025 (Florida State, Wisconsin) and extending through 2034 (Virginia Tech, Boston College).
On Friday, Alabama head coach Nick Saban weighed in on the league’s scheduling decision.
“Look, I think there’s good and bad in both,” said Saban at a dedication for his Nick’s Kids Foundation’s 20th house built with Habitat for Humanity. “I know that there are some issues going to nine games in terms of the future schedules that we’ve put together in terms of trying to play two Power 5 schools each year to go along with the SEC schedule.
“So I think eventually we’ll probably move to more involvement and more SEC games, but I think this just happened so quickly, it was really hard to make a lot of changes that fast, to be honest with you. Whatever it is, we’re excited about the opportunity and the challenges. It’s a tough league, so we’ll play enough really good games against really good teams. Whether we play eight or nine, we’ll just adapt to it.”
The SEC will also eliminate divisional standings beginning in 2024. The SEC Championship Game will feature the two top teams in the conference standings at the end of the regular season. The single-standings format will allow every school to play every other school a minimum of two times in a four-year period, regardless of whether the SEC utilizes an 8-game or 9-game format for future conference competition, the league announced in a release.
Each school’s opponents for the 2024 season will be announced Wednesday, June 14, during a special unveiling on the SEC Network, and dates of games will be announced at a later date.
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