LSU has its Southeastern Conference opponents set for the 2024 season, the first with an expanded league and new schedule format.
The Tigers will host Alabama, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt in Tiger Stadium. They travel to Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina and Texas A&M.
The SEC announced matchups Wednesday night. Dates will be revealed at a later time.
With Texas and Oklahoma joining the conference, the SEC scrapped its East and West divisions for 2024 and searched for a new scheduling plan. Earlier this month, SEC presidents and chancellors voted at the league's spring meeting in Destin, Florida, to implement a temporary eight-game format in 2024 while the league tries to determine a long-term solution with 16 teams.
Commissioner Greg Sankey said at the time that every team's games would be chosen for fairness and balance, with consideration given to traditional rivalries.
The home game with Oklahoma marks the first time that the Tigers and Sooners will meet on either school's campus. The previous three meetings between LSU and OU were in bowl games, most recently the Tigers' 63-28 College Football Playoff semifinal win over the Sooners in the 2019 Peach Bowl. All 14 existing SEC schools will play either Texas or Oklahoma, with both continuing to meet in Dallas.
LSU kept traditional SEC West teams Alabama, Arkansas, Ole Miss and Texas A&M. It also retained the previously annual SEC East crossover opponent, Florida. The Tigers won't play fellow SEC West rivals Auburn or Mississippi State.
The absence of those two teams from the Tigers' 2024 schedule marks a break in two of LSU's longest-standing and most deep-seated annual rivalries.
LSU has played Mississippi State 116 times in football, more than any other opponent. The 2024 season will mark the first time since 1943 that the Tigers and Bulldogs will not play in football. State canceled its season that year because of World War II. The teams will play this season on Sept. 16 in Starkville.
LSU and Auburn, which meet Oct. 14 in Tiger Stadium, have played every year since 1992.
The Tigers will travel to South Carolina for the first time since 2008, a 24-17 LSU win. The Tigers were slated to go to Columbia, South Carolina, in 2015, but the game was moved to Tiger Stadium because of widespread flooding in that state. Vanderbilt will visit Tiger Stadium for the first time since 2009.
The continuation of the series with Alabama, Ole Miss and Texas A&M ties into previous indications of SEC scheduling plans. LSU coach Brian Kelly said earlier this year that if the SEC went to a nine-game schedule with three permanent opponents, LSU's would be Bama, Ole Miss and A&M. In an eight-game format with one annual opponent, LSU's was also reportedly to be Texas A&M.
Whether the SEC stays with an eight-game format beyond 2024 or goes to nine games remains unclear. LSU athletic director Scott Woodward has verbalized consistent support for a nine-game SEC schedule.
LSU's trip to Florida marks the continuation of an annual series that began in 1971. The Gators have been the Tigers' permanent opponent from the SEC East since 1992.
LSU opens the 2024 season Sept. 1 against Southern California in Las Vegas. It hosts UCLA in the second half of a home-and-home series Sept. 21, then plays South Alabama a week later.
LSU also announced that Nicholls State will be its fourth nonconference opponent and home opener on Sept. 7 after moving a game with Rice to 2029, which had cleared space for a ninth SEC game.
LSU's 2024 opponents
Home
Alabama
Oklahoma
Ole Miss
Vanderbilt
Away
Florida
Arkansas
South Carolina
Texas A&M
Non-conference
USC - Sept. 1, Las Vegas
Nicholls State - Sept. 7 (home)
UCLA - Sept. 21 (home)
South Alabama - Sept. 28 (home)