SEC’s Going to 9-game schedule, Will feature 3 contests vs. annual rivals: Here’s how it will work

[MisterGopher]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6568408/2025/08/22/sec-football-annual-rivals-schedule/

They finally landed the plane.

Four years since the debate over going to nine games heated up, and more than two years after SEC commissioner Greg Sankey compared the decision to landing a plane and saying he hoped to do it that week, they finally did.

The SEC announced on Thursday that it is officially going to nine games, ending a long-running saga with a vote of school presidents. Now comes the saga within the saga: Who are each team’s three annual rivals?

The nine-game format has two main components:

• Three games against annual opponents.
• Six games against non-annual opponents, rotated such that everybody plays each other twice in four years, home and away. (Other than neutral-site games: Georgia-Florida and Oklahoma-Texas.)

This format will begin in 2026 and will be on a four-year cycle. Sankey said over the summer, and sources reiterated Thursday, that the three annual rivals could be revisited. That gives the conference flexibility to change those annual opponents — either because rivalries evolve, or because competitive or financial needs evolve.

 

[Some guy]

Would prefer this model of scheduling for the big ten.

Play 5 every year. Play the other 12 home and home over 6 years.

would hope gophers would get iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois, northwestern

Penn state, Ohio state, Michigan, Michigan state, Indiana, Purdue, Rutgers, Maryland, Oregon, USC, UCLA, Washington.
Visit them all once every 6, host them once every 6

If you went to 10 conference games. Play 3 every year. Host the other 14 once every 4 years.

 

[GopherGrit]

Important point that I don't see on OP: they're also requiring every team to schedule a 10th P5 game (non-conf) every eyar.

To me this is clearly to force things to be even when you're talking about the Florida-FSU, SC-Clemson, UGA-GT, etc. type of games being scheduled every year.


Big Ten needs to do this. We're covered this year with the Cal game, and I believe after that we have Mississippi State?

Iowa already has Iowa State and others could probably find some good matchups. Penn State Pitt?

 

[pharmacygopher]

Important point that I don't see on OP: they're also requiring every team to schedule a 10th P5 game (non-conf) every eyar.

To me this is clearly to force things to be even when you're talking about the Florida-FSU, SC-Clemson, UGA-GT, etc. type of games being scheduled every year.


Big Ten needs to do this. We're covered this year with the Cal game, and I believe after that we have Mississippi State?

Iowa already has Iowa State and others could probably find some good matchups. Penn State Pitt?

Additional P4 game the next few years

25 Cal
26 Miss State
27 Miss State
28 Cal

Schedules after that are mostly empty. Alabama on the distant schedule in 32/33

 

[Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0]

Important point that I don't see on OP: they're also requiring every team to schedule a 10th P5 game (non-conf) every eyar.

To me this is clearly to force things to be even when you're talking about the Florida-FSU, SC-Clemson, UGA-GT, etc. type of games being scheduled every year.


Big Ten needs to do this. We're covered this year with the Cal game, and I believe after that we have Mississippi State?

Iowa already has Iowa State and others could probably find some good matchups. Penn State Pitt?

Yeah I remember PSU and Pitt used to be a good rivalry in the 70s and 80s. Foge Fazio had some really good teams then for Pitt.

 

[2nd Degree Gopher]

Additional P4 game the next few years

25 Cal
26 Miss State
27 Miss State
28 Cal

Schedules after that are mostly empty. Alabama on the distant schedule in 32/33

Mississippi State doesn't have another P4 game on its schedule for '26 and '27, so likely those games will still be played. (Yea!) Alabama has Arizona scheduled for '32 and '33. Those games might be in danger of being cancelled or re-scheduled. (Boo!)