Fans of the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge and around Louisiana are gearing up for a big football game this Saturday night in Tiger Stadium. No, it won't be big as in "impact on the national rankings landscape" but it will be a big game for more than a few reasons.

Mississippi State v LSU
Sean Gardner, Getty Images
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The first reason it's a big game is the opponent. No, they're not a vaunted football powerhouse but they do represent one of the most powerful "units" in the entire world. The Tigers will host the United States Military Academy or as college football fans know them, the Black Knights of Army. Ask any college coach, they'll tell you what an honor it is to play a game against any of our nation's military academies.

Not only will Tiger fans get the honor of watching their team compete with a team of men who have taken an oath to defend all of us on the battlefield, but it will be Homecoming 2023 at LSU. So, there will be that additional pageantry to Saturday night's festivities.

Florida v LSU
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If you recall, fans found out about the 2023 Tiger Football Schedule in mid-September of last year. In fact, the Southeastern Conference usually releases the entire slate of schedules for all of its member teams long before now. So, what's going on with the SEC? Why haven't they released the Tigers' or any other SEC team's schedule for 2024?

The reason could be the addition of Oklahoma and Texas to the conference. Or it could be that the SEC is looking to make a media splash right in the middle of the college football bowl season.

Now let's clarify some information here. It's true Tiger fans do know who their opponents will be in 2024. But what is not known is when they will face those opponents, so technically there has not been a schedule released. However, some information about the 2024 season has been made available.

LSU v Auburn
(Photo by Brandon Sumrall/Getty Images)
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The website FBSchedule.com is reporting through its network of sources that the "official" schedule for all SEC teams including opponents, dates, and times will be released between the end of the regular season and the beginning of the college football bowl season. Again, that's a departure from normal since the complete schedules are usually published in mid-September.

Southeastern Conference via Twitter
Southeastern Conference via Twitter
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If the report is true then we should find out more specific details about the LSU schedule sometime between December 4th and December 15th. The SEC has announced that during the 2024 season, each member school will play eight conference games and four non-conference games. One of the four non-conference games is required to be against a member school of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, or be a major independent such as Notre Dame.

Damone Clark #18 of the LSU Tigers tackles Slade Bolden #18 of the Alabama Crimson Tide
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
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In the meantime, you can peruse this list of opponents the Tigers and the other schools of the SEC will face in 2024 but you're going to have to wait to see when those games will be played. Traditionalist fans of the SEC might have to walk back their emotions when the schedules are officially released because there is a very good chance that some traditional rivalries will not be played next year.

The way we see it, it just opens up the opportunity to create new rivalries as the conference brings in new teams. And who knows by this time next year the college football world as we know it could look totally different again. And we all know that the almighty dollar will be leading the charge into those new traditions.

LSU v TCU
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And we'll drink to that, no matter what state the game is played in.