Sony Michel took a direct snap in front of a packed stadium in Pasadena, Calif. With Jake Fromm blocking in front of him, Michel crossed the goal line to earn Georgia a spot in the national championship game and cap off one of the most memorable games in Georgia football history: the Bulldogs’ 54-48 double-overtime win over Oklahoma State in the 2018 Rose Bowl.
With Oklahoma and Texas officially joining the Southeastern Conference this year, games like the 2018 Rose Bowl could become the norm.
“This is the greatest football game I’ve ever seen,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said of the Bulldogs-Sooners matchup. “Imagine playing that game over and over again on Saturdays in the fall.”
The additions of Texas and Oklahoma further strengthen an already strong football conference: The Longhorns boast one of the SEC’s top offensive threats with quarterback Quinn Ewers and wide receiver Isaiah Bond, while Sooner head coach Brent Venables has stabilized a defense that struggled under previous head coach Lincoln Riley.
Joining a conference like the SEC can be unsettling for many programs, but Texas and Oklahoma have combined to win seven of the last nine Big 12 Conference championships and have no lack of confidence.
“It’s definitely another level,” Ewers said of joining the SEC. [the reporter] “We’re the biggest game for everybody,” he said.
With the addition of the two teams, the SEC will eliminate divisions, and instead of the East and West division winners meeting in the SEC Championship in Atlanta, the top two teams will be selected based on conference record.
The SEC opted to maintain an eight-game conference schedule instead of the controversial nine-game schedule, with teams getting two regular opponents and six rotating opponents. Sankey said the schedule was based on “fairness and balance,” with “traditional rivalries” being a major factor.
The Bulldogs will host Florida and Auburn as regular opponents, and will visit Alabama, Texas and Ole Miss in 2024. Georgia’s schedule, one of the toughest in the country, also includes a season-opening game against Clemson.
Despite the strong opponents, the Bulldogs still have a great chance to make the College Football Playoff. The NCAA expanded the playoff from four teams to 12, a change that gives conference champions an automatic berth and opens the door for teams with weaker records. For head coaches, the extra games also raises questions about practice strategies.
“In the playoffs, will they start conserving guys for bye weeks and home games,” head coach Kirby Smart said. “It’ll be interesting to see what a 12-team playoff brings. Coaches are already talking about it around the country. Do they change how they practice? It’s a longer season. Do they hold back more? How do they manage the extra games?”
The impact of Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC goes beyond basketball, where the Longhorns made their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and the Sooners made their third consecutive appearance in the women’s tournament.
Oklahoma is also known as a softball powerhouse, with the Sooners having won the last four women’s college world championships. The new SEC team also won two of the last three gymnastics titles before LSU hoisted the trophy.
Texas and Oklahoma have also been strong on the field. Both schools made the NCAA Tournament but lost in their respective regional rounds. The Longhorns’ hiring of former Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle has fully ignited the rivalry between the SEC schools.
The University of Texas and University of Oklahoma joining the SEC are just the latest examples of the “new era” movement in college sports. With expanded playoffs, expanded conferences and the elimination of the Pac-12 at night, the new era will be unknown but exciting for fans across the country.