STARKVILLE — Coming out of last week’s Southeastern Conference spring meetings in Destin, Florida, Mississippi State Athletic Director Zac Selmon feels confident in the path the league chose for next year’s football schedule format.
MSU was one of nine SEC schools who voted to retain an eight-game league schedule for the 2024 season. LSU, Georgia, Florida, Missouri and Texas A&M all voted in favor of a nine-game league format. Texas and Oklahoma, who had representatives at last week’s meetings, did not have a vote because the institutions aren’t official members yet.
“We felt with the information we had, clearly wanted to maintain our rivalry with Ole Miss and still think down the road, favor nine games,” Selmon told The Dispatch during a recent phone call. “Right now, we just didn’t feel like we had enough information to make that decision.”
Selmon said the department’s decision to support the eight-game conference schedule model was based on several factors, including maintaining a pathway for MSU to get to the postseason, guaranteeing quality opponents and protecting the fan experience in making sure there is a fair rotation of games and venues.
“It is really exciting the teams we have coming into the league, but also how the college football landscape is shifting,” Selmon said. “This is going to continue to be the marquee conference, and we wanted to make sure we have the ability for our fans to travel around to different venues. Don’t look at it as one thing, but as a holistic perspective.”
A nine-game format would have given each program three annual opponents with six rotating matchups, compared to one annual opponent, seven rotating games in the current eight-game model.
“Eight games put us in the best position as far as quality opponents we will have and look forward to seeing who those opponents will be, but also the best path for us to make it to the postseason,” Selmon said.. “(Just) really excited about where we are at, and just continuing to evaluate the nine-game format down the road.”
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey noted to reporters in Destin that 2024 league opponents will be based off of traditional rivalries as well as “fairness and balance.”
For the Bulldogs, the eight-game model guarantees their annual Egg Bowl rivalry game against the Rebels, which is the 10th longest uninterrupted rivalry in college football, will remain on the schedule.
After that, it is up in the air. With divisions eliminated, MSU may lose some of its other annual SEC West games against LSU, Arkansas, Alabama, Auburn and Texas A&M going forward. The SEC plans to release the 2024 league schedule June 14.
One significant change agreed upon as part of the eight-game model is the requirement that each SEC team schedule a Power Five non-conference opponent. MSU is currently tied into home-and-homes through the 2031 season against Arizona State (2024-25), Minnesota (2026-27), Texas Tech (2028-29) and Washington State (2030-31).
A nine-game league schedule would likely force the athletic department to reschedule some of these matchups with no monetary penalty, or cancel them all together, costing the athletic department upwards of $1 million in each case.
Though the financial aspects of a nine-game format was something he had to consider, Selmon noted it did not play into the athletic department’s or the conference’s decision.
“I think the primary focus was what is the best for the Southeastern Conference and all of our member institutions,” Selmon said. “After that, we knew we could work through anything.”
Justin Frommer is the Mississippi State sports reporter for The Dispatch.
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