The first thing to keep in mind regarding future SEC schedules is that everything is under review.
In other words -- and most coaches and administrators around the league agree, albeit begrudgingly -- that nine conference games are coming at some point. The 2016 season could be the target date.
But in terms of the 2014 season, we now know what the conference schedule looks like.
Some of the more noteworthy things to consider concerning the 2014 schedule:
Florida will play at Alabama on Sept. 20. That's traditionally been the weekend that Florida and Tennessee have played since the 1992 expansion and division split. The Gators will visit the Vols on Oct. 4 in 2014.
LSU will visit Texas A&M on Thanksgiving Day, replacing the Arkansas-LSU game that has traditionally been played Thanksgiving weekend, usually the Friday after Thanksgiving. Arkansas will play at Missouri the final Saturday of the regular season.
The 2014 season will kick off with Texas A&M playing at South Carolina on a Thursday night (Aug. 28) on the SEC Network. Texas A&M will replace Arkansas as South Carolina's permanent cross-divisional foe. Arkansas' new permanent cross-divisional foe will be Missouri.
Arkansas and Texas A&M will move their series back to Arlington, Texas (at AT&T Stadium, formerly Cowboys Stadium). They played in College Station last season and will play in Fayetteville this season. It's a series that was originally scheduled for Cowboys Stadium before the Aggies joined the SEC.
Vanderbilt will end the season at home against Tennessee on Nov. 29. The league had been looking for an attractive season-ending game for the Commodores, who will close with nonconference foe Wake Forest for the sixth time in the last seven years this season.
With the Tennessee-Vanderbilt game moving back to the final weekend of the season (it used to always be played there), that means Kentucky will face nonconference rival Louisville on that final Saturday of the regular season. The Wildcats and Vols have ended the regular season against each other the last 11 years and will do so again this year.
Nobody has to play three SEC road games in three successive weeks in 2014. Texas A&M had to go on the road for three straight league games last season (Auburn, Mississippi State and Alabama), and South Carolina has to do it this season (Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri).
Georgia has the longest stretch of SEC games away from home in 2014. The Bulldogs face Vanderbilt at home on Oct. 4 and don't play another SEC home game until Nov. 15 when they face Auburn. In between, they face Missouri, Arkansas and Kentucky on the road and Florida in Jacksonville, Fla.
Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Missouri are the only four schools that have to play back-to-back SEC road games in consecutive weeks in 2014. LSU probably has the toughest test of the four. The Tigers play at Auburn on Oct. 4 and at Florida on Oct. 11.
Who has the toughest SEC road schedule in 2014? That's probably a close call among Missouri (at South Carolina, at Florida, at Texas A&M and at Tennessee), Auburn (at Mississippi State, at Ole Miss, at Georgia and at Alabama) and Texas A&M (at South Carolina, at Mississippi State, at Alabama and at Auburn).
Here's a team-by-team look at next year's conference slate.
Alabama
9/20: FLORIDA
10/4: at Ole Miss
10/11: at Arkansas
10/18: TEXAS A&M
10/25: at Tennessee
11/8: at LSU
11/15: MISSISSIPPI STATE
11/29: AUBURN
Arkansas
8/30: at Auburn
9/27: vs Texas A&M (Dallas)
10/11: ALABAMA
10/18: GEORGIA
11/1: at Mississippi State
11/15: LSU
11/22: OLE MISS
11/29: at Missouri
Auburn
8/30: ARKANSAS
10/4: LSU
10/11: at Mississippi State
10/25: SOUTH CAROLINA
11/1: at Ole Miss
11/8: TEXAS A&M
11/15: at Georgia
11/29: at Alabama
Florida
9/13: KENTUCKY
9/20: at Alabama
10/4: at Tennessee
10/11: LSU
10/18: MISSOURI
11/1: vs Georgia (Jacksonville)
11/8: at Vanderbilt
11/15: SOUTH CAROLINA
Georgia
9/13: at South Carolina
9/27: TENNESSEE
10/4: VANDERBILT
10/11: at Missouri
10/18: at Arkansas
11/1: vs Florida (Jacksonville)
11/8: at Kentucky
11/15: AUBURN
Kentucky
9/13: at Florida
9/27: VANDERBILT
10/4: SOUTH CAROLINA
10/18: at LSU
10/25: MISSISSIPPI STATE
11/1: at Missouri
11/8: GEORGIA
11/15: at Tennessee
LSU
9/20: MISSISSIPPI STATE
10/4: at Auburn
10/11: at Florida
10/18: KENTUCKY
10/25: OLE MISS
11/8: ALABAMA
11/15: at Arkansas
11/27: at Texas A&M
Mississippi State
9/20: at LSU
10/4: TEXAS A&M
10/11: AUBURN
10/25: at Kentucky
11/1: ARKANSAS
11/15: at Alabama
11/22: VANDERBILT
11/29: at Ole Miss
Missouri
9/27: at South Carolina
10/11: GEORGIA
10/18: at Florida
10/25: VANDERBILT
11/1: KENTUCKY
11/15: at Texas A&M
11/22: at Tennessee
11/29: ARKANSAS
Ole Miss
9/6: at Vanderbilt
10/4: ALABAMA
10/11: at Texas A&M
10/18: TENNESSEE
10/25: at LSU
11/1: AUBURN
11/22: at Arkansas
11/29: MISSISSIPPI STATE
South Carolina
8/28: TEXAS A&M
9/13: GEORGIA
9/20: at Vanderbilt
9/27: MISSOURI
10/4: at Kentucky
10/25: at Auburn
11/1: TENNESSEE
11/15: at Florida
Tennessee
9/27: at Georgia
10/4: FLORIDA
10/18: at Ole Miss
10/25: ALABAMA
11/1: at South Carolina
11/15: KENTUCKY
11/22: MISSOURI
11/29: at Vanderbilt
Texas A&M
8/28: at South Carolina
9/27: vs Arkansas (Dallas)
10/4: at Mississippi State
10/11: OLE MISS
10/18: at Alabama
11/8: at Auburn
11/15: MISSOURI
11/27: LSU
Vanderbilt
9/6: OLE MISS
9/20: SOUTH CAROLINA
9/27: at Kentucky
10/4: at Georgia
10/25: at Missouri
11/8: FLORIDA
11/22: at Mississippi State
11/29: TENNESSEE