Editing Southeastern Conference (section)

===Scheduling===
SEC teams did not play a uniform number of conference games until 1974. Prior to that, the number of conference games teams played ranged from four to eight, but most played a 6- or 7- game schedule. The league adopted a uniform 6-game schedule from 1974 to 1987, and added a seventh conference game from 1988 to 1991. Through this period and through the earlier years each SEC school had five permanent opponents, developing some traditional rivalries between schools, and the other games rotated around the other members of the conference.

After expansion to twelve programs in 1992, the SEC went to an 8-game conference schedule, with each team playing the five other teams in their division and three opponents from the other division. The winners of the two divisions would then meet in the [[SEC Championship Game]].

From 1992 through 2002, each team had two permanent inter-divisional opponents, allowing many traditional rivalries from the pre-expansion era (such as Florida vs. Auburn, Kentucky vs. LSU, and Vanderbilt vs. Alabama) to continue. However, complaints from some league athletic directors about imbalance in the schedule (for instance, Auburn's two permanent opponents from the East were Florida and Georgia – two of the SEC's stronger football programs at the time – while Mississippi State played Kentucky and South Carolina every year) led to the SEC reducing the number of permanent inter-division opponents to one starting in the 2003 season. The TV networks televising SEC games were also pressuring for the change so attractive match-ups between non-traditional opponents would happen twice every five years instead of twice every eight years. With the subsequent expansion to 14 members in 2012, non-permanent cross-division opponents face each other in the regular season twice in a span of twelve years.

Under the format used from 2012 to 2023, each school played a total of eight conference games, consisting of the other six teams in its division, one school from the other division on a rotating basis, and one school from the other division that it plays each year. The permanent cross-division matchups were: [[Third Saturday in October|Alabama–Tennessee]]; [[Battle Line Rivalry|Arkansas–Missouri]]; [[Deep South's Oldest Rivalry|Auburn–Georgia]]; [[Florida–LSU football rivalry|LSU–Florida]]; Mississippi State–Kentucky; [[Ole Miss–Vanderbilt football rivalry|Ole Miss–Vanderbilt]]; Texas A&M–South Carolina.

The then-current scheduling arrangement was originally set to expire after the 2015 season, but the SEC presidents voted 10–4<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nola.com/lsu/index.ssf/2014/04/sec_sticking_with_eight_game_f.html |title=LSU AD Joe Alleva blasts SEC decision on permanent cross-division foes in football |first=Jim |last=Kleinpeter |newspaper=[[The Times-Picayune]] |location=[[New Orleans]] |date=April 27, 2014 |access-date=April 27, 2014}}</ref> in April 2014 to keep the current format for an additional six to eight seasons beyond 2015.<ref name="SEC 2016 FB schedules">{{cite press release|url=http://www.secdigitalnetwork.com/NEWS/tabid/473/Article/250851/sec-announces-format-for-future-football-schedules.aspx |title=SEC Announces Format For Future Conference Schedules |publisher=Southeastern Conference |date=April 27, 2014 |access-date=April 27, 2014}}</ref> Additionally, since 2016, SEC teams have been required to schedule at least one opponent each season from the other so-called [[Power Five conferences|"Power Five" conferences]] (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, or Pac-12); games against select [[NCAA Division I FBS independent schools|football independent]] schools also qualify, including [[Army Black Knights football|Army]] (which no longer counts as of 2024 due to it joining the [[American Athletic Conference]], a [[Group of Five conferences|Group of Five]] conference), [[BYU Cougars football|BYU]] (before it joined the Big 12 in 2023), and [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Notre Dame]].<ref name="SEC 2016 FB schedules"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/sec-announces-continuation-of-8-game-conference-schedule-004745559.html |title=SEC to continue eight-game conference schedule |first=Nick |last=Bromberg |work=Dr. Saturday |publisher=Yahoo! Sports |date=April 27, 2014 |access-date=April 27, 2014}}</ref><ref name="SEC 2016 Adjustments">{{cite news|url=http://www.fbschedules.com/2015/03/sec-adjusts-power-5-scheduling-requirements/|title=SEC Adjusts Power 5 Scheduling Requirements|first=Brian|last=Wilmer|publisher=FB Schedules |date=March 19, 2015 |access-date=March 20, 2015}}</ref>

In 2023, the SEC announced the divisional split would be scrapped when Oklahoma and Texas join in 2024. The conference schedule will remain at 8 games in the 2024 and 2025 seasons while the SEC determines its long-term football scheduling format. Teams will play the same opponents in both seasons on a home-and-home basis. Each of the 14 members in the conference in 2023 will play either Oklahoma or Texas in 2024 and '25, but not both. Whether the conference schedule stays at 8 games or expands to 9 after 2025, each team will be guaranteed of playing all other conference teams home and away in a four-year cycle. The requirement of scheduling at least one Power Four (the Pac-12 lost all but two of its members, [[Oregon State Beavers football|Oregon State]] and [[Washington State Cougars football|Washington State]], before the 2024 season; the Beavers have meetings with Ole Miss scheduled in 2027 and 2030, while the Cougars are slated to face Mississippi State in 2030 and '31) team or Notre Dame remains in place. The championship game will feature the top two teams in the conference standings, with tiebreakers as needed.<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://www.secsports.com/article/37776145/sec-establishes-2024-football-schedule-format |title=SEC Establishes 2024 Football Schedule Format |publisher=Southeastern Conference |date=June 1, 2023 |access-date=June 24, 2023}}</ref>