SEC adopts 9-game conference schedule after years of debate

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.

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“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.”

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.

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But getting to a consensus on a nine-game schedule was harder. Sankey privately supported it, and many of the bigger schools (Georgia, Florida, Texas A&M, LSU) did as well. But what appeared to be majority support for nine games peeled away. Financial concerns from some schools about not getting enough money from ESPN to make up for one less home game every two years. Competitive concerns from others, such as Alabama, when it saw its three annual opponents might be Auburn, LSU and Tennessee. (At SEC media days in July, Sankey said the three annual opponents in a nine-game schedule would not be permanent. The schedules would operate on a four-year cycle, allowing for “look-ins” to revisit the three annual rivalries.)

Since there wasn’t enough support for a permanent decision either way, the SEC opted for a stopgap schedule in 2024, eight games without divisions, while keeping every team’s main annual rival, and in many cases what could be the two additional rivalries as well. The conference decided to do the same for 2025, keeping the 2024 schedule and flipping the home sites.

As the SEC debated what to do for 2026, the main sticking point became maximizing the number of teams in the CFP, especially after only three SEC teams made the first 12-team field last year. Coaches and athletic directors expressed concern that adding another conference game would essentially mean beating up on each other more.

But with the future of the CFP format up in the air, and the SEC schedule intertwined as an issue, the SEC made the first big move.

The SEC going to nine games could have a domino effect on the ACC, where commissioner Jim Phillips has said his conference may follow the SEC.

“It’s one of those factors that you just have to keep your ear to the ground and see what happens. And once it does happen, and they’re, you know, their course is set, what does that do within our league?” Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich said Wednesday, before the news out of the SEC. “Of course, we have the Notre Dame (scheduling agreement with the ACC) as well. So, how does that work within the parameters that we have?”

(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)

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