Last week, the SEC officially announced it will begin playing a nine-game conference football schedule in 2026. The schedule will feature three permanent rivals for each team as well as six opponents that will rotate annually.
When will the SEC release the permanent opponents and the complete 2026 football schedule? We assumed the SEC would accomplish that in two stages — opponents in the next few weeks and the full schedule in mid-December.
Over the weekend, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey provided the answers to those questions on a recent episode of The Paul Finebaum Show.
“We anticipate presenting the 2026 football schedule mid-season to our schools,” Sankey said. “We think that December announcement date has worked great. … We’ll continue to look at that December for the full release. But a lot of work to be done between now and then.”
The past two years, the SEC has announced its league football schedule on the second Wednesday of the month. With that in mind, we would expect the 2026 SEC football schedule to be revealed on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025.
Ahead of that release, the SEC will announce the opponents for next season, which will include the new permanent rivalries. That should be sometime in September in a primetime reveal on the SEC Network.
“There’s been a lot of pre-work,” Sankey said. “We have had great work among our staff. … We’ll be rapid, but remember, when we went in Destin two years ago, we took a couple more weeks and we had that mid-June announcement of opponents. And then, we had a later announcement of the schedule. So we want to create opportunities for interest and celebration, and we’ll do much the same in the weeks and months ahead.”
As for each SEC teams’ three permanent rivals, Sankey provided more detail on how the league will make that determination.
“So what we’ll do is, we’ll look at historic rivalries – that’s a really important component,” Sankey said. “We have a lot of those. In fact, in many ways, we’re uniquely positioned to honor those historic rivalries. So those become annual opponents on a schedule. Not everyone has three, but that’s the basis is three annual opponents. Geography may dictate some of that, and then as you go down the line, the remaining opportunities to have annual opponents kind of fill out the roster. And then, you look at the six. Remember, they’ll rotate more quickly. Our fans will see their team play every conference member every two years, and every four years, our fans will be able to see their team play at home against every conference opponent. Those are great things.”
Below is a prediction of the three permanent opponents for each SEC team beginning 2026, via Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports (again, just a prediction):
Alabama – Auburn, Tennessee, LSU
Arkansas – Missouri, Texas, Kentucky
Auburn – Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina
Florida – Georgia, South Carolina, Oklahoma
Georgia – Auburn, Florida, Kentucky
Kentucky – Mississippi State, Arkansas, Georgia
LSU – Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama
Mississippi State – Ole Miss, Kentucky, Texas A&M
Missouri – Oklahoma, Arkansas, Vanderbilt
Oklahoma – Texas, Missouri, Florida
Ole Miss – Mississippi State, LSU, Vanderbilt
South Carolina – Florida, Auburn, Tennessee
Tennessee – Vanderbilt, Alabama, South Carolina
Texas – Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Arkansas
Texas A&M – LSU, Texas, Mississippi State
Vanderbilt – Tennessee, Ole Miss, Missouri
View Comments (27)
Sankey talked about historical Rivalries and Geographical. I would be surprised if Auburn isn't matched with Florida as 1 of it's 3 along. really the reason we ended up with LSU before was due to Georgia having the Deep South's oldest rivalry with Auburn. Oklahoma doesn't make much sense. I'm thinking it'll likely be Georgia, Tennessee and Auburn. although that does lead to a problem for South Carolina maybe. so maybe we lose Tennessee and end up with Georgia, Auburn South Carolina.
Tennessee must play Kentucky, the number one overall sports rivalry of the Vols. The Wildcats are first rival in basketball, 2nd in football. Alabama is1st in football and 3rd in basketball. Vanderbilt is 2nd on basketball, 1st in baseball 3rd in football.
All three are much more important than South Carolina since the Vols didn't start playing the cocks regularly 1992.
Shouldn't Arkansas-Texas A&M be a protected rivalry? Also, while South Carolina might not have a true rival, Georgia is pretty close. And Tennessee-Kentucky should be protected. Tough to protect them all while trying to maintain balance. This would be my preference:
Alabama--Auburn, LSU, Tennessee
Arkansas--Missouri, Texas, Texas A&M
Auburn--Alabama, Florida, Georgia
Florida--Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina
Georgia--Auburn, Florida, South Carolina
Kentucky--South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt,
LSU--Alabama, Mississippi, Texas A&M
Mississippi--LSU, Mississippi State, Oklahoma
Mississippi State--Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri
Missouri--Arkansas, Mississippi State, Oklahoma
Oklahoma--Missouri, Texas, Mississippi
South Carolina--Florida, Georgia, Kentucky
Tennessee--Alabama, Kentucky, Vanderbilt
Texas--Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M
Texas A&M--Arkansas, LSU, Texas
Vanderbilt--Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee
Does Arkansas really need to make an annual trip to the Lone Star State?
This is a really good list. However, under Miss St, you have Kentucky. But you don’t have Miss St under Kentucky. I think you meant Vandy under Miss St.
Tennessee-Kentucky should definitely be protected.
This is a much better version than Dellenger's. Protects history (TAMU is Arkansas' #1 most-played opponent, Kentucky is Tennessee's #1 most played opponent) and gives South Carolina it's 'primary' rival in UGA.
The only thing I might also suggest is prioritizing Bama-Mississippi State due to history (Bama's #1 most-played opponent) and proximity (two closest campuses in the conference), not that it makes a ton of sense from a competitive balance standpoint - as I'm sure that MSU would rather play Mizzou or Vandy each year.
Here are my four protected SEC rivalries: Georgia-South Carolina, Florida-LSU, Missouri-Kentucky & Arkansas-Oklahoma & they would make excellent Thanksgiving weekend games just in case SEC wants to go all conference games however I am optimistic that Georgia-Georgia Tech, Florida-Florida State, Kentucky-Louisville & South Carolina-Clemson will continue to play Thanksgiving weekend.
Bottom Line: I want what will be best for SEC.
You guys are spending too much time on this------they'll figure it out.
Give this a read...
https://johnny228.wordpress.com/2025/08/23/good-luck-to-fbs-newcomer-delaware/
I agree John. I enjoy reading your blog articles.
Those predictions are awful. Florida should definitely have Georgia, Tennessee and either Auburn or LSU as their protected rivals.
Rob I would take LSU over Auburn for Florida.
One of the worst lists I've seen. I pray the league doesn't follow an approach of someone who clearly has no clue about the history of sec or swc rivalries, such as yourself. Here is how they should go:
Alabama: Auburn, Tennessee, LSU
Arkansas: LSU, Texas, Texas A&M
Auburn: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi State
Florida: Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky
Georgia: Auburn, Florida, South Carolina
Kentucky: Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Florida
LSU: Alabama, Arkansas, Ole Miss
Mississippi State: Ole Miss, Missouri, Auburn
Missouri: Oklahoma, Mississippi State, South Carolina
Oklahoma: Texas, Texas A&M, Missouri
Ole Miss: Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, LSU
South Carolina: Georgia, Florida, Missouri
Tennessee: Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Alabama
Texas: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas A&M
Texas A&M: Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma
Vanderbilt: Kentucky, Tennessee, Ole Miss
I think every four or eight years, they should re-evaluate the annual rivalries to ensure strength of schedule/viewership/etc.
those predictions are ludicrous.
Agreed, and I´m not even an SEC fan
That Ross Dellenger "prediction" for SC is asinine. Georgia and SC, border states, have played 78 games .... more than most any other SEC rivalry than just a few. They are both geographically and historically connected ... yet he has SC playing Florida, Tennessee and Auburn. Lol. Florida, okay, maybe. Tennessee yeah, I get it. But Auburn, puhleaze. Georgia will play Auburn, Florida and SC. Tennessee has to play Bama, Vandy and either KY or SC. Auburn has to play Georgia, Bama and either Florida or ... who knows? Bama has to play Tennessee and Auburn and either LSU or, who knows, probably Ole Miss. If Dellenger is going to predict something, the least he can do is put in some sold effort. Ole Miss has to play Miss State, Vandy, and probably Bama. LSU has to play A&M, Bama and probably Kentucky. And so on and so forth.
Georgia has played Kentucky every year since 1956.
I think that series continues going forward.
Tennessee needs to make Kentucky permanent instead of Sourh Carolina