Auburn soon to host Sooners in first face-off as conference foes in 2024

The covered wagons will be heading east in 2024, as Auburn is scheduled to host Oklahoma at Jordan-Hare Stadium in the programs’ first face-off as Southeastern Conference foes, the league announced Wednesday. It was reported earlier in the day that Texas and Oklahoma, who are both joining the conference in ’24, would combine to face every SEC program in their first season. This will be Auburn’s second-ever contest against the Sooners, with both previous matchups coming in the Sugar Bowl, first in 1972 then in 2016. Both of those games were losses, making Oklahoma the only SEC school that Auburn has yet to log a win against. The latest installment of Auburn vs. Oklahoma saw quarterback Sean White suffer a broken forearm on the first drive of an eventual 35-19 defeat, and Sooner quarterback Baker Mayfield throw for 296 yards and tossed two touchdowns. Fourty-five years earlier, in 1972, a Ralph “Shug” Jordan-led Auburn team suffered the same result in the same bowl game. While Auburn lost 40-22, its offense was led by legendary Tiger quarterback Pat Sullivan, who won the Heisman Trophy that season. He threw for 250 in the game. The bulk of Auburn’s 2024 slate is now set with Wednesday's SEC schedule announcement. The Tigers are set to host Arkansas, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt along with Oklahoma, and they'll make trips to Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Missouri. Auburn reportedly has three nonconference contests also scheduled in Cal, New Mexico and Louisiana-Monroe. It'll need to schedule one more to complete its season.