How many teams are in the SEC now? Explaining the new-look conference for 2024 college football season

2024-08-29
5 min read
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The SEC likes to roll with the mantra, "It just means more." 

In this case, that applies to two more teams for the 2024 college football season. Texas is tied for fourth in NCAA history with 948 wins. Oklahoma is sixth with 944 wins. Those two blue bloods have turned the SEC into a 16-team conference. 

With that, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey had added more to the most-competitive conference in college football. Nine SEC teams were ranked in the Preseason AP Top 25, and the conference should have the inside track on the most berths in the first 12-team College Football Playoff. 

What does the SEC look like now? A view of the new-look conference here.

MORE: Picks, predictions for expanded SEC for 2024

How many teams are in the SEC now? 

The SEC will have 16 teams in 2024 with the addition of Oklahoma and Texas from the Big 12. The SEC will still play an eight-game conference schedule for the next two seasons.  

SEC teams 2024

A look at the 16 schools in the SEC (in alphabetical order)               

Alabama Missouri
Arkansas Oklahoma
Auburn Ole Miss
Florida South Carolina
Georgia Tennessee
Kentucky Texas
LSU Texas A&M
Mississippi State Vanderbilt

Will the SEC have divisions in 2024? 

The SEC will not have divisions for the 2024 season. The SEC moves to that format for the first time since the 1991 college football season. The 1992 season featured the first FBS college football conference championship game. Florida beat Alabama 28-13. 

Now, the top two teams in the standings will meet in the SEC championship game at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Dec. 7. The SEC has a six-step tie-breaker procedure in place in the event that multiple teams are tied with a chance to go to the SEC championship game. 

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Why are Oklahoma, Texas in the SEC? 

The realignment shuffle began in earnest on July 30, 2021. That is when Oklahoma and Texas formerly accepted invitations into the SEC. 

They left eight Big 12 schools behind at the time and ventured into an agreement that shook up the college football world. 

"This is an important moment for the long-term future of the Southeastern Conference and our member universities," SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. "Oklahoma and Texas are outstanding academic institutions with two strong athletics programs, which will add to the SEC's national prominence.

The SEC brought in $852.6 in revenue in the 2022-23 fiscal year. That number figures to increase with the addition of the Longhorns and Sooners

Will that mean more national championship shots for Oklahoma and Texas? The Sooners won their last national championship in 2000. The Longhorns won their last national title in 2005. The schools were a combined 0-5 in CFP semifinals the last 10 seasons. 

SEC expansion history 

Three schools have left the SEC, a list that includes Sewanee (1940), Georgia Tech (1964) and Tulane (1966). 

Ten original members – Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt – have been with the conference since it was founded in 1932. 

The SEC has added in pairs three times since. Arkansas and South Carolina arrived in 1992 and were part of that first season with divisions. The SEC added Texas A&M and Missouri from the Big 12 in 2012 as part of the last mass realignment. Oklahoma and Texas arrive for their first season in 2024.