On Tuesday, ESPN announced the approximate start times for the entire 2024 SEC football season, and a few of those games pertain to matchups with Big 12 opponents.
In total, we will see four matchups between the two conferences in 2024—three of which will be played in Week 2 and the other in Week 4.
With ESPN’s announcement on Tuesday, we now have a complete look at the schedule and kick times for these key nonconference matchups.
Here’s a look at each of the matchups with a little context on the upcoming game.
Arkansas at Oklahoma State | Sep 7 (Sat) | 11:00 a.m. CT | FS1
This will be the first matchup between Oklahoma State and Arkansas in more than 40 years, with the most recent matchup taking place on September 20, 1980.
Arkansas dominates the series’ most recent history—which is hardly recent—winning 20 of the last 24 meetings. They also lead the all-time series record, 30-15-1.
Quite a lot has changed in Stillwater since the last time these two programs met up. The Pokes have been one of the winningest programs in college football under Mike Gundy, and they’ll enter this game as the favorite at home. While official odds haven’t been released, projections show the Cowboys floating around a touchdown favorite over the visiting Razorbacks.
Houston at Oklahoma | Sep 7 (Sat) | 6:45 a.m. CT | SECN
Oklahoma and Houston will meet in a Week 2 clash on the SEC Network in just the Sooners’ second game as a member of the Southeastern Conference.
The Sooners and Cougars have met just four times in their history, most recently in 2019. Oklahoma won that matchup, 49-31, avenging their only loss to the Cougars in series history—a 33-23 upset at the hands of Tom Herman’s Coogs.
OU and UH shared the Big 12 for a single season in 2023 but did not meet on the football field during that time. The Cougars’ first year in the league was also Oklahoma’s last after being a founding member of the league back in 1994.
The matchup will also be just the second game of the Willie Fritz era at Houston following the season opener against UNLV.
Mississippi State at Arizona State | Sep 7 (Sat) | 9:30 p.m. CT | ESPN
Arizona State and Mississippi State will face off for the first time in Week 2 of the 2024 season, with the Sun Devils hosting the Bulldogs in Tempe (AZ).
This will be the first nationally televised game of the Jeff Lebby era at Mississippi State, while Arizona State is heading into its second year under Kenny Dillingham.
The Sun Devils and Bulldogs are both coming off disappointing seasons, with MSU finishing 5-7 and 1-7 in SEC play, and ASU going 3-9 and 2-7 in the Pac-12.
Whoever wins this game will get an early boost to their hopes of getting bowl-eligible in 2024, and the matchup should be a fun one with Lebby and Dillingham squaring off against one another.
UCF at Florida | Sat, Oct 5 | 6:00-8:00 p.m. ET | ESPN
This prime-time game in The Swamp is destined to have an electric environment, and for that alone, it will be must-see TV.
UCF Football added that the official kick time will be announced on September 23, just two weeks ahead of the game.
Despite their proximity, this will be just the fourth matchup between Florida and UCF all-time. The Gators hold the series lead with two wins—a 58-27 victory in 1999 and a 42-0 shutout in 2006.
Meanwhile, it’s UCF that has the winning streak coming into this game, as the Knights beat UF 29-17 in the 2021 Gasparilla Bowl.
FanDuel currently has Florida as a 2.5-point home favorite over UCF, which says a lot about where these two programs are now compared to the last time the Knights traveled to Gainesville.
