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The Southeastern Conference will go from four non-conference games to three effective 2026. The SEC has added a ninth conference game. Especially following growing speculation the SEC would pivot that direction Thursday morning.
As ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel described it, “the decades long debate is over.” Thamel revealed the conference's move Thursday afternoon.
That means 2025 becomes the final year when each SEC team plays an eight-game conference slate. The conference itself confirmed there'll be an added SEC game for next season.
“Adding a ninth SEC game underscores our universities’ commitment to delivering the most competitive football schedule in the nation,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey in a news release. “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.”
What will 9-team SEC schedule mean moving forward?
Sankey and the conference outlined what comes with this massive move.
There will be no divisional structure still. The power conference got rid of divisions last season for its 16-team league.
Each team plans to play three annual opponents “focused on maintaining many traditional rivalries.” That means Texas versus Texas A&M, Alabama against Auburn, and Florida taking on Georgia will likely be kept. From there, the conference will rotate each team's remaining six games among any remaining conference school.
Lastly, the SEC says each team “will face every other SEC program at least once every two years,” plus every home and away foe in four years.
Adding conference game No. 9 became a major summer topic. This becomes the latest power move by the super conference. The SEC added Texas and Oklahoma via the Big 12 ahead of the 2025 season. Texas emerged as an immediate conference power — playing for the conference title in its first season as a full fledged member.
Now each team's athletic director and head coach won't have many issues filling a non-conference gauntlet. Only needing three contests to fill. Nine conference games can even spark new intrigue for prospects on the college football recruiting trail. Or group of five transfers hoping to land in the SEC via the college football transfer portal.
