SEC Will Play Nine Conference Games for First Time in 2026

Fans of Southeastern Conference football will get to see more of it beginning in the 2026 season.

The SEC will play nine conference games for the first time next season, it announced Thursday afternoon. The decree breaks with longstanding league tradition; each SEC team has played eight conference games since 1992.

The decision aligns the SEC with the Big Ten, its de facto duopoly partner in the modern game, which has played nine conference games since 2016. The Big 12 also plays nine conference games per year, while the ACC plays eight.

In addition to its new schedule, the SEC will require its teams to play at least one "high quality" non-conference opponent from the ACC, Big 12 or Big Ten. Notre Dame also counts toward this requirement.

“Adding a ninth SEC game underscores our universities’ commitment to delivering the most competitive football schedule in the nation,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey. “This format protects rivalries, increases competitive balance, and paired with our requirement to play an additional (major conference) opponent, ensures SEC teams are well prepared to compete and succeed in the College Football Playoff.”

The SEC has long played conference scheduling fast and loose. It famously did not standardize its conference slate until 1974; as a consequence teams in the league could, and occasionally did, go a decade or more without playing each other.

Those days, now more than ever, belong to the past.