9 SEC games, starting in 2026

#151
#151
Here's a list I came up with a few years ago. I tried to take into account tradition and geography. I looked at a all time head to head list for each team to determine some opponents (Bama vs Miss St at least at the time was one of the most played games).
No consideration was given to "strength" of opponents as that can swing over time.

Tennessee: Vandy, Ky, Bama
Alabama: Aub, Miss St, Tenn
Arkansas: Mizz, Texas, TXA&M
Auburn: Bama, Fla, Ga
Florida: Aub, Ga, SC
Georgia: Aub, Fla, SC
Kentucky: SC, Tenn, Vandy
LSU: Mizz, Miss St, Ole Miss
Miss St: Bama, LSU, Ole Miss
Missouri: Ark, LSU, Okla
Oklahoma: Mizz, Tx, TXA&M
Ole Miss: LSU, Miss St, Vandy
South Carolina: Fla, Ga, Ky
Texas: Ark, Okla, TXA&M
Texas A&M: Ark, Okla, Tx
Vanderbilt: Ky, Ole Miss, Tenn
 
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#154
#154
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
I'll never get this loser mentality where yall are scared of competition.
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I see it as more about having a manageable schedule for making the playoffs. Last seasons playoff picks showed that strength of schedule didn't matter as much as W/L's. Having a couple of easy wins can be beneficial. I bet most every SEC coach would like Vandy or KY as a permanent opponent.
 
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#155
#155
OrangeBeachVol said:
I see it as more about having a manageable schedule for making the playoffs. Last seasons playoff picks showed that strength of schedule didn't matter as much as W/L's. Having a couple of easy wins can be beneficial. I bet most every SEC coach would like Vandy or KY as a permanent opponent.
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the CFP has changed their calculations for SOS and it is going to have even more empahsis. It is one reason that SEC decided to go to nine.
 
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#157
#157
strkr said:
Also you better have quality depth as injuries can ruin a team's season. With playoff expanding to 16 teams - you will have to win two to three games and those will not be cupcake games. Championship games need to be dunzo.
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That's the unsaid but clearly implied part of this - playoff expansion is all but guaranteed starting in 2026, despite them not coming to some agreement of the format yet. 12 is already at least 4 teams too many, but greed begets greed.

I'm certainly not holding my breath, but I really hope Sankey draws the line on his (and the Big 12 and ACC's) 5 + 11 format for a 16-team playoff. The Big 10 commissioner is insisting on 4 auto qualifiers for them and the SEC because he damn well knows that in any season he might only have 2-3 from his schitty top-heavy league.

The SEC might have 5-6 every season with 'strength of schedule' being emphasized and a 9-game schedule, and Sankey knows it. This imagined equalization by the national media of the SEC and Big 10 makes me crazy.
 
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#158
#158
While I agree our natural rivals are Bama, Vandy and KY, I have a suspicion it won't go that way. It won't surprise me if it's Bama, Vandy and Florida. Other than Georgia, Florida does not have a history of strong rivalries with other SEC teams. There still is a bit of a carryover rivalry from the Fulmer-Spurrier days and I think others in the league would complain so much about our getting Bama, Vandy and KY that the powers that be would look to force another tougher opponent on us.
 
#160
#160
vols 30 said:
Yeah, that's it. 😆

You think the rest of the league is also goinh to play that kind of schedule?
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They should have all the top programs play each other every year. I would make the 3 permanent opponents this:

Tennessee: Alabama, Florida, Georgia
Georgia: Florida, Auburn, Tennessee
Florida: Georgia, Tennessee, LSU
Alabama: Tennessee, Auburn, LSU
LSU: Alabama, Florida, Auburn
Auburn: Alabama, Georgia, LSU

Those are the 6 historically elite programs in the SEC. They are the most natural of rivals and should play each other every year. Then you can let the scrubs play each other every year creating their own rivalries. And finally have Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, and Arkansas reignite the old southwestern conference rivalries.

This setup makes the most sense from a fan enjoyment perspective. I don't want to see them trying to pair the top teams with scrub teams for competitive advantage reasons.
 
#161
#161
Vol_guy said:
Yall are focused too much on the 3 permanent opponents.

I'm more concerned about the rotating 6.

Could you imagine playing Texas, Georgia, LSU and Florida all in the same season?
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I can't wait. It'll be wonderful to watch.

Stop being scared losers. If you want to be the best you gotta beat the best.
 
#162
#162
Vol865 said:
Posted before. I'll post again.

UT: Bama, UF, UK
UF: UT, LSU, UGA
AUB: Bama, UGA, Miss St
Bama: UT, LSU, AUB
LSU: Bama, UF, Ole Miss
UGA: UF, AUB, SCar
UK: Vandy, UT, SCar
SCar: UGA, UK, Arkansas
Mizzou: Arkansas, A&M, OU
Vandy: Ole Miss, UK, Miss St
Ole Miss: Vandy, Miss St, LSU
Miss St: Ole Miss, Vandy, AUB
Arkansas: Mizzou, Texas, SCar
A&M: Texas, OU, Mizzou
Texas: OU, A&M, Arkansas
OU: Texas, Mizzou, A&M
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Or

UT: Bama, UF, Vandy
UF: UT, LSU, UGA
AUB: Bama, UGA, Miss St
Bama: UT, LSU, AUB
LSU: Bama, UF, Ole Miss
UGA: UF, AUB, SCar
UK: Vandy, SCar, Miss St
SCar: UGA, UK, Arkansas
Mizzou: Arkansas, A&M, OU
Vandy: Ole Miss, UK, UT
Ole Miss: Vandy, Miss St, LSU
Miss St: Ole Miss, AUB, UK
Arkansas: Mizzou, Texas, SCar
A&M: Texas, OU, Mizzou
Texas: OU, A&M, Arkansas
OU: Texas, Mizzou, A&M
 
#163
#163
I'm not convinced that they give us Bama Vandy and UK. I bet they try and screw us over and give us Bama Vandy and UF.

I know that we already play all these teams every year but all else being equal it will increase our schedule difficulty permanently going forward with the permanent P4 non con game and 9 total SEC games.

But my question is who would Kentucky's big 3 rivals be without Tennessee on the list?
 
#164
#164
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
Hell no. Our 3 better be Bama, Florida, and Georgia. Those are our actual rivals. Not scrubs we beat up on every year.
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this is the dumbest thing I've read on the internet all morning so far.

Having UK and Vandy on our schedule has been critical to Tennessee's ability to even make bowl games some years.

BTW Florida would be licking their chops to have Tennessee be a permanent rival just like Tennessee does with Vandy. Florida would love to play a team that they don't really consider a rival that they beat 95% of the time 😂

The three teams Tennessee has played the most all time are Vandy UK and Bama.

for Florida it's Georgia Auburn and Kentucky
 
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#165
#165
UTFranklinVol said:
I'm not convinced that they give us Bama Vandy and UK. I bet they try and screw us over and give us Bama Vandy and UF.

I know that we already play all these teams every year but all else being equal it will increase our schedule difficulty permanently going forward with the permanent P4 non con game and 9 total SEC games.

But my question is who would Kentucky's big 3 rivals be without Tennessee on the list?
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How is it getting screwed when there are 6 other games that will vary from team to team that will balance it out?
 
#166
#166
UTFranklinVol said:
this is the dumbest thing I've read on the internet all morning so far.

Having UK and Vandy on our schedule has been critical to Tennessee's ability to even make bowl games some years.

BTW Florida would be licking their chops to have Tennessee be a permanent rival just like Tennessee does with Vandy. Florida would love to play a team that they don't really consider a rival that they beat 95% of the time 😂
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And this is why I said you lot have a loser mentality. The main reason I want us to keep Florida as a permanent rival is because I'm confident the series has shifted. We've won 2 of the last 3. I could see us ripping off a streak on them now that our program is back to being elite. Scared folk like you would rather beat up on weak competition rather than get revenge for the teams that have been beating up on us for the last couple of decades we've been down.

Imagine in 2007 if Alabama fans said they didn't want to play Tennessee anymore cause they've been beat by them for most of the last decade? They woulda missed out on getting us back with a 15 year win streak. I don't want Florida to get off the hook against us. A real competitor wants to play them every year for the next 20 so we can put a 18-2 streak on them too.
 
#167
#167
Vol865 said:
Or

UT: Bama, UF, Vandy
UF: UT, LSU, UGA
AUB: Bama, UGA, Miss St
Bama: UT, LSU, AUB
LSU: Bama, UF, Ole Miss
UGA: UF, AUB, SCar
UK: Vandy, SCar, Miss St
SCar: UGA, UK, Arkansas
Mizzou: Arkansas, A&M, OU
Vandy: Ole Miss, UK, UT
Ole Miss: Vandy, Miss St, LSU
Miss St: Ole Miss, AUB, UK
Arkansas: Mizzou, Texas, SCar
A&M: Texas, OU, Mizzou
Texas: OU, A&M, Arkansas
OU: Texas, Mizzou, A&M
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Supposedly, the SEC will USE Everyone’s number one rival. Tennessee is Kentuckys top rival.
 
#168
#168
give_him 6 said:
Didn’t all the coaches say they didn’t want a 9th game? Thought Big 10 commish was pushing this on us and we resisted so he wouldn’t sign off on new CFP format. Just seems like we kneeled to Big 10 demands. Maybe I’ve got that wrong and probably do. It’s been a long week at work.
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This comes down to revenue.

Reason we didn’t do it in the past was no additional $$$ from broadcasters for the 9th game. The additional in-conference game would add viewership $$$ vs a FCS school.

I believe ESPN finally said they would increase the contract $$$ for us to go to a 9th game.

Could be 100% wrong. But you always follow the money.
 
#169
#169
Vol865 said:
How is it getting screwed when there are 6 other games that will vary from team to team that will balance it out?
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because Tennessee has been plagued for years having to play both Florida and Bama on the road the same season which is almost always two automatic losses. we need to break that up.
 
#170
#170
bamawriter said:
My suggestions (yes, some aren't perfect, but it's not gonna be):

Alabama - Auburn, Tennessee, Mississippi St
Arkansas - Missouri, Texas A&M, LSU
Auburn - Alabama, Georgia, Florida
Florida - Georgia, South Carolina, Auburn
Georgia - Florida, Auburn, South Carolina
Kentucky - South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Tennessee
LSU - Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Arkansas
Mississippi St - Ole Miss, Missouri, Alabama
Missouri - Arkansas, Mississippi St, Texas
Oklahoma - LSU, Texas, Texas A&M
Ole Miss - Mississippi St, LSU, Vanderbilt
South Carolina - Kentucky, Florida, Georgia
Tennessee - Vanderbilt, Alabama, Kentucky
Texas - Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Missouri
Texas A&M - Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma
Vanderbilt - Tennessee, Kentucky, Ole Miss
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Dang…who did Auburn pi$$ off in the corporate office?
 
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#172
#172
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
And this is why I said you lot have a loser mentality. The main reason I want us to keep Florida as a permanent rival is because I'm confident the series has shifted. We've won 2 of the last 3. I could see us ripping off a streak on them now that our program is back to being elite. Scared folk like you would rather beat up on weak competition rather than get revenge for the teams that have been beating up on us for the last couple of decades we've been down.

Imagine in 2007 if Alabama fans said they didn't want to play Tennessee anymore cause they've been beat by them for most of the last decade? They woulda missed out on getting us back with a 15 year win streak. I don't want Florida to get off the hook against us. A real competitor wants to play them every year for the next 20 so we can put a 18-2 streak on them too.
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you're the kind of idiot that thinks jumping out of an airplane without a parachute is macho.

we will never go on an 18-2 streak against Florida.

Florida was never even a rival until the 90s and Tennessee has only won a few games ever.

part of the reason Tennessee was down for 15 years was having to play Bama Florida and Georgia every damn year.

it's never made us more competitive playing an absolutely brutal schedule
 
#173
#173
If we can get Bama, UK, and Vandy then I will be very happy with this change.

We get 2/3 very winnable match ups each year, and keep the 3rd Saturday in October alive.

We would still play Florida every other year.
 
#174
#174
Vol_guy said:
Yall are focused too much on the 3 permanent opponents.

I'm more concerned about the rotating 6.

Could you imagine playing Texas, Georgia, LSU and Florida all in the same season?
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Would make the opposite season pretty sweet.

They gotta balance it out. If you have one brutal season because of the six rotational, the next year would be a walk in the park. So they will have to do some balancing.
 
#175
#175
Volinnooga said:
While I agree our natural rivals are Bama, Vandy and KY, I have a suspicion it won't go that way. It won't surprise me if it's Bama, Vandy and Florida. Other than Georgia, Florida does not have a history of strong rivalries with other SEC teams. There still is a bit of a carryover rivalry from the Fulmer-Spurrier days and I think others in the league would complain so much about our getting Bama, Vandy and KY that the powers that be would look to force another tougher opponent on us.
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If they choose UF, then they really are denying UFs traditional rivals. UGA, LSU and Auburn
 
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