The SEC will move to a nine-game conference schedule in 2026, it said Thursday, ending years of debate about whether it should add another conference game.
The decision came after the conference’s athletic directors met this week in Birmingham, Ala. Each school will play three annual opponents “focused on maintaining many traditional rivalries,” the conference said, and six rotating games among the conference schools.
“Adding a ninth SEC game underscores our universities’ commitment to delivering the most competitive football schedule in the nation,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “This format protects rivalries, increases competitive balance, and paired with our requirement to play an additional Power opponent, ensures SEC teams are well prepared to compete and succeed in the College Football Playoff.”
For now, the SEC will maintain its mandate that each school also play one other power-conference opponent in a non-conference game. The conference said Thursday in a statement it “will continue to evaluate its policies to ensure the continued scheduling of high-quality non-conference opponents.”
The SEC currently plays eight conference games, while the Big Ten and Big 12 play nine (the ACC also plays eight). ESPN has previously indicated a willingness to increase its payment to the SEC if the conference were to add a ninth league game, though there was no formal offer at the time.
The eight-or-nine debate came amid the backdrop of another debate about the future format of the College Football Playoff. The SEC and Big Ten differed on preferred 16-game formats this summer, with the Big Ten pushing for a format that would include more automatic bids. Part of the reason for that was the inconsistent number of league games each conference plays.
The news also comes a day after the CFP announced it would be tweaking a schedule strength formula it gives members of the selection committee. Sankey and others in the SEC have been pushing for the conference’s schedule strength to get more respect, with Sankey putting out an eight-page booklet on the last day of spring meetings in May, which he argued “showed there is a rigor here that is unique.”
“What I described the last two days to the athletic directors is the CFP’s made progress. We’re not at perfection. The full clarity on how strength of schedule will be honored will be important to us,” Sankey said on “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Thursday. “We’re at an eight-game schedule this year. We’ll have a second opportunity to see how selection decisions are made.”
The SEC schedule became a front-burner debate four years ago, when the SEC invited Oklahoma and Texas. That was also when the SEC decided to do away with divisional play, as a way to get more matchups between teams that had been in opposite divisions. Divisions went away last year upon the Sooners and Longhorns joining the conference.
