Mississippi State baseball to have familiar permanent SEC opponents

While Southeastern Conference football has struggled with making scheduling changes following the additions of Oklahoma and Texas next season, every baseball team will have two permanent opponents they play annually moving forward.

That had already been announced. But on Thursday, the league released the matchups.

“Beginning in 2025, SEC baseball teams will play a three-game series against two permanent opponents and eight rotating opponents for a total of 30 conference games,” the SEC announced. “Standings will be kept in a single-division format, eliminating divisional standings.”

The opponents were determined based on geography, traditional opponents and strength of schedule.

With that in mind, Mississippi State’s permanent teams are somewhat curious. Ole Miss was a given, considering the rivalry and proximity of the two in-state baseball powers.

However, the other is Texas A&M, which obviously isn’t as close geographically as Alabama and LSU.

Ole Miss also drew Arkansas, while A&M’s other permanent team is LSU. Alabama drew traditional rivals Auburn and Tennessee.

The SEC baseball schedule lasts 10 weekends, so most teams will still face each other on a regular basis, just not every year.

Mississippi State will open the 2024 season against Air Force on Feb. 16-18 at Dudy Noble Field/Polk-Dement Stadium. It’ll begin SEC play at home against LSU on March 15-17. The 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament will be May 21-26, 2024, at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, just outside of Birmingham, Ala.

SEC Baseball Permanent Opponents

Alabama: Auburn, Tennessee

Arkansas: Ole Miss, Missouri

Auburn: Alabama, Georgia

Florida: Georgia, South Carolina

Georgia: Florida, Auburn

Kentucky: South Carolina, Vanderbilt

LSU: Mississippi State, Texas A&M

Ole Miss: Mississippi State, Arkansas

Mississippi State: Ole Miss, LSU

Missouri: Oklahoma, Arkansas

Oklahoma: Missouri, Texas

South Carolina: Kentucky, Florida

Tennessee: Vanderbilt, Alabama

Texas: Texas A&M, Oklahoma

Texas A&M: Texas, LSU

Vanderbilt: Tennessee, Kentucky

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This story was originally published November 10, 2023 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Mississippi State baseball to have familiar permanent SEC opponents."