On Wednesday night, the SEC released all the dates for the full conference schedule that includes the new arrivals, Texas and Oklahoma.

We already knew the opponents, but the dates of those opponents have brought some big changes. For example, LSU will no longer play Texas A&M on Thanksgiving weekend, instead, they will play Oklahoma (at least for this year, we'll have to see if that changes in 2025).

In my eyes, there's a pretty clear top-four games, but there are probably three others that could sneak into the five spot, it just depends on how good those teams end up being.

So, with that said, let's dive right into it.

These are the three games that I think deserve the No. 5 spot, but all for different reasons.

Texas A&M vs LSU is usually a good game and has provided us with some thrillers over the years, but I think it'll be interesting to see this game played in October instead of on Thanksgiving weekend. A&M has already lost a lot of players in the portal and will likely lose a lot more, so that's one reason I was hesitant to put this game in sole possession of the No. 5 spot.

UCLA is moving to the Big 10 next year and will be the second Big 10 opponent LSU will face in 2024. The last time these two teams met, UCLA embarrassed the Tigers in week one as Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns on just nine completions. Although the Tigers roster is new and didn't play in that game, they'll still want revenge and will want to help show the SEC is still the powerhouse conference in college football.

LSU vs South Carolina is a matchup that has been played just three times since 2012 with the Tigers winning all three of those games (they've actually won seven straight, last SC win was in 1994). That's the main reason it's tied for fifth on this list, but Shane Beamer's squad, no matter what their record says, is always capable of pulling an upset. I think the Tigers could win this one handily, but this should still be a fun game with the Tigers heading to Columbia for the first time since 2008.

After taking on UCLA once and FSU twice in their last three season openers, the Tigers get yet another week one test in 2024 as they'll be making a trip to Las Vegas to face of with the USC Trojans.

If Caleb Williams was still at USC (which he may return, but I seriously doubt it), then this game would skyrocket to No. 2 or maybe even No. 1, but since I don't think he'll be there, it falls to No. 4.

There are a lot of things to like about this game. It's the season opener, it's in Las Vegas and it's against a very historic program. USC will likely not be as good as they've been these past two seasons without Williams at the helm, but they should be able to bring in a solid transfer class alongside a top-20 recruiting class, so they should still be a pretty good football team.

These two teams have met just two times in their storied histories with the last meeting coming in 1984, a game that LSU won 23-3. Currently, the series is split 1-1, so whoever wins this game will hold the all-time series over the other until the two teams meet again.

Again, if Caleb Williams stays another year at USC for some reason, this game will immediately become a lot more interesting, but whether he's there or not, this should still be a very entertaining matchup and one of the best games on the week one slate.

Ole Miss finished this season as a top-15 team and should only get better next season. Quarterback Jaxon Dart is returning as well as a lot of their other starters. Lane Kiffin is also adding a top-25 recruiting class as well as a top-10 transfer portal class.

As I'm sure all of you remember, LSU traveled to Oxford this season and found themselves in a shootout for the ages, but would eventually fall to the Rebels, 55-49 after the defense couldn't stop a nosebleed.

In 2024, Kiffin and Ole Miss will travel back to Baton Rouge in week seven, right after LSU's first bye week, and will have to face a completely new LSU offense which will likely be led by Garrett Nussmeier.

This game has it all. It'll likely be a top-15/top-20 matchup, it'll have two of the presumed best offenses in college football and there's some revenge factor for the Tigers.

We should have a pretty good idea of how good this team is after the USC, South Carolina and UCLA games, but the Ole Miss game will really tell us whether this team is worthy of making the College Football Playoffs or not.

While I do think the Ole Miss game could end up being the better game, this will be the first time Oklahoma and LSU face off as SEC opponents, and it'll be the regular season finale.

The last time these two teams faced off, we all know what happened. Justin Jefferson went off for four touchdowns in the first half and Joe Burrow recorded eight total touchdowns en route to the 2019 national championship game.

In this matchup, both teams could be in the mix for the CFP, and with this game being the last of the regular season, this game could carry massive weight for both teams.

Oklahoma has been one of the biggest losers of the transfer portal so far, losing their starting QB and their entire offensive line so far, but they'll likely bring in a pretty good transfer class to go along with their No. 8 recruiting class.

Unless the Sooners just completely fall off a cliff, there's no reason to think this won't be a hard-fought game between two contenders. It'll be Thanksgiving weekend, but more importantly, it'll likely be Saturday night in Death Valley.

I think everyone knew this was going to be the No. 1 game on this list, but there wasn't really any other option.

Every time LSU and Alabama play it's one of the biggest games of the season, and it'll be no different in 2024. Even though the CFP has expanded to 12 teams and it slightly devalues some of the top-tier matchups, both of these squads should be in the thick of the SEC race, and a win in this game would be the first big step to achieving that goal.

Alabama will return Jalen Milroe while LSU's Garrett Nussmeier will likely take the field for his first career start against Alabama, a game I'm sure he's been waiting for his entire life.

These two teams do not like each other and want to win this game desperately. There is a bit of a revenge factor for LSU who lost this game in 2023 after Alabama's Dallas Turner knocked Jayden Daniels out of the game on a brutal hit.

As always, this game will be played after LSU's bye (their second one of the season with the new rules), and this time they will square off in Death Valley. The last time these two met in Baton Rouge, we were treated to an all-time classic. I think if the Tigers get their defense right, we could see yet another great game come out of this rivalry.

Stay up to date on all the LSU news with your premium subscription

Talk about this story and more in The Quad

Make sure you're caught up on all the latest LSU news

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for video and live streaming coverage