OU Football Rearranges Nonconference Schedule Ahead Of Impending Move

The Southeastern Conference and the University of Oklahoma released complementary statements Wednesday about the Sooners' future nonconference football schedules.

The SEC's statement, which was first reported by ESPN, said Georgia and Tennessee have been asked to postpone all of their nonconference matchups against OU as the Sooners transition into the league.

Oklahoma was set to host Georgia in 2023 and face the Bulldogs in 2031.

OU's home matchup against the Volunteers was postponed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but no makeup date in Norman had been scheduled. Oklahoma's true road game at Tennessee would have taken place in 2024.

Because those games against Tennessee and Georgia were set to take place after 2025, OU's expected SEC arrival date, the league wants those games to be played "until such time that those matchups become part of the Conference rotation of games in future years."

In response, OU announced a home-and-home series against SMU. The Sooners will host the Mustangs in 2023, replacing the Georgia home game. OU is expected to make a return trip down Interstate 35 to Dallas in 2027.

"We recognize the original excitement in hosting Georgia next season and traveling to Knoxville in 2024, and the short-term disappointment this news may bring, but the circumstances obviously dictated a change in our schedules," OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said in a statement. "The good news is that future SEC schedules will provide a reasonable rotation whereby Georgia and Tennessee come to Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, and we will also play on those great campuses."

Perhaps the OU-SMU series will happen as announced, and perhaps the Sooners and Texas Longhorns will officially join the SEC in 2025. Perhaps not.

If there's anything college football during the pandemic taught us, it's that time and rules are arbitrary.

In 2020, there were examples of football hastily forging new home-and-home series with new opponents (see: BYU-Coastal Carolina) because an opponent was likely not going to have enough players dress due to COVID-19 protocols or a virus outbreak.

Last July, a report leaked regarding OU and Texas' desire to leave the Big 12 Conference for the SEC during SEC Media Days, of all places. Two months later, the Big 12 responded by adding BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston.

Do these announcements mean the Sooners and Longhorns are inching closer to an earlier exit from the Big 12?

Perhaps.

Perhaps not.