Although the Southeastern Conference (SEC) is not scheduled to release the permanent opponents for SEC football teams until next week, confirmed sources, according to On3.com reporter Chris Low, have already identified the matchups.
The official announcement of football opponents of every league school for the next four years will come on Tuesday in an hour-long television special at 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network and ESPN 2.
In the new nine-team league schedule, each school will have three annual opponents that will be re-evaluated every four years and six rotational opponents, meaning each school will play every other SEC school at least once every two years and every opponent home and away in a four-year span.
The three annual opponents for each school, sources told On3, are as follows:
Alabama – Auburn, Tennessee, Mississippi State
Arkansas – Missouri, Texas, LSU
Auburn – Georgia, Alabama, Vanderbilt
Florida – Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky
Georgia – Auburn, Florida, South Carolina
Kentucky – South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida
LSU – Arkansas, Ole Miss, Texas A&M
Mississippi State – Ole Miss, Alabama, Vanderbilt
Missouri – Arkansas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma
Oklahoma – Texas, Ole Miss, Missouri
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Ole Miss – Mississippi State, LSU, Oklahoma
South Carolina – Georgia, Kentucky, Florida
Tennessee – Alabama, Vanderbilt, Kentucky
Texas – Texas A&M, Arkansas, Oklahoma
Texas A&M – Texas, LSU, Missouri
Vanderbilt – Tennessee, Mississippi State, Auburn
The priorities in creating the schedules were protecting traditional rivalries, competitive fairness, rotational frequency and ensuring a home and away balance with a Power 4 non-conference opponent for the 2026 season.
While some Vol fans have expressed disappointment that traditional rivalries against Georgia and Florida have been left on the sidelines, others should acknowledged that Vanderbilt and Kentucky are certainly worthy and long time adversaries. With the resurgence of 4-0 Vanderbilt, there are definitely no “easy wins“ in the SEC. Unlike other conferences, there are no cupcakes in the SEC, certainly not any longer. And with nine conference games, each season, undefeated seasons in the conference will remain unlikely.
