SEC Media Days 2025 kicked off on Monday, and the future SEC football scheduling format was again a primary topic of discussion.
The SEC continues to play an eight-game conference football schedule, as it has in each season since 1992. The league and its member schools have been mulling the possibility of moving to a nine-game league schedule, although a decision does not appear to be imminent.
During his opening statement at SEC Media Days, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey first mentioned that they are still analyzing strength of schedule under the College Football Playoff and a possible new strength of record metric.
Then Sankey moved into the league’s current football scheduling format, with some facts presented first.
“It is absolutely, fully, 100 percent correct that in the SEC we play eight conference games while some others play nine conference games,” Sankey said. “Never been a secret.”
“Second, it’s also correct that last season all 16 members of the Southeastern Conference played at least nine games against what you would label “power opponents.” We had several that played 10 of their 12 games against power opponents. Some conferences have that, some don’t.”
Although it sounds like an argument to keep an eight-game conference schedule, Sankey is merely comparing the total number of power opponents played to other conference schedules. He continued with a comparison for this season.
“The same will be true this year,” Sankey said. “We have Washington State, and we’re obviously transitioning in the Pac-12 that’s included in that group, and we again have several of our football teams that have 10 of those power games embedded in their schedule. I don’t believe there’s anyone looking to swap their conference schedule and its opponents with the opponents played by SEC Conference teams in our conference schedule, be it eight or nine.”
So will the SEC move to a nine-game conference schedule or not? That remains to be seen. As far as the 2026 SEC football schedule, Sankey said there is no set date to announce that format.
“I’ve been careful about giving dates,” Sankey said. “I said repeatedly I learned during COVID that you want to use your time. It won’t linger terribly much longer. We have to make decisions about the ’26 season and adjust. If we’re going to go to nine games, then there have to be games moved or rescheduled. If we stay at eight, probably a little easier on that part of the logistics. Once we make a decision in the conference office, we’re pretty much ready to go. If you go back to when we made our last decision, it was in Destin, and two weeks later we had opponents out. Shortly thereafter, we were prepared with dates and sites sort of thing.
Nine game conference schedule!!!
Nine game conference schedule!!!
Nine game conference schedule!!!
If I had one Big 12-SEC match up that I would really want to see is return of Bedlam Oklahoma State-Oklahoma play every September when OOC games are fully common & very confident it will fit in nine game conference schedule.
Sounds like a blithering lawyer trying to confuse the jury throwing numbers around like a pin ball machine.
Politician speak using a lot words that mean nothing.
Coaches wives of lower echelon teams want 8 games to get the bonus money their husband gets for winning 6 games and a bowl game. Compensation for rarely seeing their husband for about 9-10 months.
If you are a fan of college football and just football in general, there’s no way that you don’t want 9 conference games. With 16 teams, nine games is the only way that teams will rotate to play each other regularly. 9 games also keeps annual rivalries intact. They can talk all they want about other reasons like CFP model, what the B10 wants, strength of schedule, or the same old crap they’ve said for years now. But the main reason should be for SEC teams to have a better rotation of opponents, along with keeping rivalries intact.
Only Mississippi State has 4 non-conf games scheduled for 2026. The rest have 2 or 3. They will be able to get the 9 game schedule going without issue,
I just can’t believe that this hasn’t been done sooner. No doubt should have happened when they went to 16 teams. Best example to cite here is that Texas A&M joined the SEC in 2012 and this upcoming year will be their 14th year in the league. 14 years in the league and the Georgia Bulldogs have never once played a game at Kyle Field. That’s ridiculous! As a fan of the SEC, don’t you want to see your team play everybody more frequently? I can’t see how anybody would be against 9 games. Come on SEC faithful! Make it happen for the fans!
Georgia can’t visii Texas A&M—they have to host Austin Peay and Charlotte.
Come on William—-you’re smarter than that.
all this guy cares about is trying to figure out a way to drop vandy and miss st and destroy smaller leagues so he can get more money
Ahhh….so Washington State is now a P4 school! BS! The SEC OOC schedule is pathetic with 3 or 4 automatic wins for every team to pad it’s won/loss record.
In fairness, Washington State and Oregon State were P5 schools until all the others left the Pac-12.
I hope Big Ten-SEC match ups goes through.
Sankey is a clown–these guys are as bad as partisan politicians. They talk from both sides of theor month and they don’t care about what the fans want. He knows the answer is 9 conference games and bith he and Pettiti know that the 5 plus 12 model for the 16-team playoff is what everybody wants, but they have to grandstand. They have to do. They get paid to grandstand and grandstanding is what they’ll do.
He is a clown. But why does the ACC get away with an 8 game schedule. Why aren’t they taken to task, too? They have a grnadstanding answer as well.
If South Carolina-Clemson goes away for a 9-game SEC schedule, nobody out side of SC will care. That said, they will stay play this game.
They have been screwing around with this playoff format since 2020. Thank God know if these guys were generals in WW2–we’d still be fighting the Nazis.
These guiys make millions of dollars in salaries, yet can’t figure this out—meanwhile, the suckers like us keep waiting and wishing. We buy the tickets, we fly to games, stay at hotels and spend part of of 75K salaries. Yet, Ohio State, a football juggernaut makes us buy the Grambling game as part of our season ticket packagae. How is that even legal?
Sure, we can Texas, and both schools will tell what a sacrifice this is that two juggernauts “have” to play each other in a regular season game. After that, Grambling and the mighty Ohio Bobcats come to town to play for the Ohio State Football championship.
We are suckers–all of us. I admit, I am one. I like fall Saturdays and I like college football fall Saturdays. I wonder if Greg Sankey do?
you are speaking the truth. keep spreading the word. this sport was great for 100 years and it didnt even have a title game. now they have to get involved to use it to enrich themselves. the fanduel ppl might love a 3 loss natty champ but the fans dont