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The SEC officially announced the league will be moving to nine conference games starting in the 2026 season. The move was initially reported earlier on Thursday by Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports and On3. The league felt more motivation to do so after the College Football Playoff committee announced a stronger approach to including strength of schedule in the conversation when selecting teams for the playoff.
The SEC has played eight league games since it expanded back in 1992. The SEC now joins the Big 12 and the Big Ten with nine conference games, and the expectation is that the ACC will join them.
In the nine-game schedule, each team will play three teams annually as permanent opponents and the remaining 12 teams on a rotating basis. Over four years, each team will play every team in the conference at least once every two years and will have home and home matchups with every other member over a four-year period.
In the release from the SEC, the conference will still be required to schedule a game against a Power Four team or Notre Dame to maintain the competitive nature of the conference.
“The SEC has established itself as the leader in delivering the most compelling football schedule in college athletics,” SEC commissioner Sankey said in the release. “Fans will see traditional rivalries preserved, new matchups more frequently, and a level of competition unmatched across the nation.”
The Oklahoma Sooners’ nonconference schedule includes a Power Four matchup each of the next five years with Michigan in 2026, SMU in 2027, Houston in 2028, and Nebraska in 2029 and 2030.
The SEC is moving into a new era and the race to the conference championship game just got a whole lot more challenging.
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