No escape: Lincoln Riley was going to face a challenging 2024 schedule no matter what
We live in a world where Lincoln Riley coaches at USC, and we’re very happy we live in such a world. Yet, with the 2024 Southeastern Conference football schedule being released on Wednesday evening, it is impossible to not devote at least a little time and thought to the subject of what life would be like for Riley if he had stayed at Oklahoma.
Sooners Wire has you covered, providing Oklahoma football’s SEC schedule for 2024.
Sooners Wire’s Bryant Crews wrote this in reaction to the announcement that Oklahoma would host Alabama in the 2024 SEC season:
“The Sooners hold the all-time lead at 3-2-1 with their most recent win in the 2014 Sugar Bowl.
“These are two schools that are in the top 10 all-time in wins. Every time they meet, it’s a heavyweight battle. The Sooners handed the Crimson Tide a 37-27 loss in Bama’s last trip to Norman in 2002. It will be just the third time they have played on either school’s campus and the first time since 2003 when Oklahoma visited Bryant-Denny Stadium.
“Brent Venables has some success against the Crimson Tide, helping Clemson win two national championships against Alabama in the College Football Playoff.”
Imagine if Riley, not Venables, was coaching OU this season. Just how different would his world have been compared to his current life in Los Angeles? It’s worth taking a look in the middle of June, before we all focus on August camp and the 2023 USC season:
CHANGE OF CONFERENCES
Riley and USC will go from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten in 2024. Had Riley stayed at Oklahoma, he would have made a change in conferences as well, going from the Big 12 in 2023 to the SEC in 2024.
Either way, Riley was going to have to make some very big adjustments in terms of the opponents he faced. Familiar scouting reports, either in the Pac-12 at USC or in the Big 12 with OU, were going to matter a lot less. He was going to face a largely new slate of opponents in 2024. No escape.
BRIAN KELLY AND LSU
Brian Kelly left Notre Dame the day after Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma for USC. How fascinating is it that Riley and Kelly would have met in the 2024 SEC schedule? When USC and LSU agreed to play early in the 2024 season in Las Vegas, and Riley and Kelly both took over at those programs, it was known they would meet in 2024.
Oklahoma playing LSU in 2024 shows that even if Riley hadn’t moved from the Sooners to the Trojans, he was still going to face Kelly. Now we get a meeting of the two coaches who shocked the college football world late in 2021.
Get more LSU news, analysis and opinions at LSU Tigers Wire.
NINE VERSUS EIGHT
One way in which life in the Big Ten is tougher than life in the SEC: nine conference games instead of eight. That’s one way in which the Big Ten schedule offers more obstacles than the SEC football schedule. As Sooners Wire noted weeks ago, the SEC did not move to a nine-game schedule.
HAPPY VALLEY OR OXFORD?
Riley, had he stayed at Oklahoma, would have had to take the Sooners into Oxford for a date with Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin in 2024. As is, Riley will lead USC into Happy Valley for a game against James Franklin and Penn State. Which is the tougher road assignment? We have 15 to 16 months to kick around that question.
Get more Penn State news, analysis and opinions at Nittany Lions Wire.
SABAN OR HARBAUGH?
If Riley stayed at Oklahoma, his toughest SEC home game in 2024 would have been against Nick Saban and Alabama.
As is, Riley’s toughest Big Ten home game in 2024 is against Michigan and Jim Harbaugh.
Either way, Riley was in for a challenge in 2024. No escape.
Get more Alabama news, analysis and opinions at Roll Tide Wire.
HEUPEL OR FICKELL?
If Riley stayed at Oklahoma, his second-toughest SEC home game in 2024 would have been against Josh Heupel’s Tennessee Vols.
At USC, Riley’s second-toughest SEC home game in 2024 is against Wisconsin and Luke Fickell.
Get more Tennessee news, analysis and opinions at Vols Wire.
Get more Wisconsin news, analysis and opinions at Badgers Wire.
SARK OR CHIP?
If Riley had stayed at Oklahoma, his SEC rivalry game would have been against Texas and Steve Sarkisian.
In the Big Ten at USC, Riley’s annual rivalry game is against Chip Kelly and UCLA.
Get more Texas news, analysis and opinions at Longhorns Wire.
THE NOTRE DAME FACTOR
One way in which USC’s schedule is regularly tougher than the vast majority of other college football programs: Notre Dame is on the slate. That’s not a Big Ten game, but it is a game Riley courted by moving to USC and leaving Oklahoma.
Get more Notre Dame news, analysis and opinions at Fighting Irish Wire.
HOME-ROAD SPLITS
Where Oklahoma’s 2024 SEC schedule is undeniably tougher than USC’s 2024 Big Ten schedule is in the home-road splits. USC’s Big Ten slate has just one really daunting road game: at Penn State. Oklahoma’s SEC road schedule next year has the trips to LSU and Ole Miss plus a third thorny game at Auburn. It’s tough enough for OU to host Alabama and Tennessee, but at least those games are at home, giving the Sooners a fierce crowd to back them up.
Three really challenging SEC road trips? That’s where the Oklahoma SEC schedule becomes extra challenging.
Get more Auburn news, analysis and opinions at Auburn Wire.
