A week before the 2025 season began the Southeastern Conference announced intentions to move to a nine-game conference schedule beginning in 2026. The conference announced new scheduling guidelines requiring its member schools to also play one Power Four non-conference game in addition to the new SEC schedule.
Alabama Football to Play Additional Conference Game Starting in 2026
On Tuesday, the conference office confirmed the reporting, which detailed each program's three permanent SEC opponents, while announcing who the Crimson Tide and the other conference members would face for the upcoming season.
The Crimson Tide is scheduled to play Florida State, East Carolina, and USF in non-conference action. Alabama will play rivalry games against Auburn, Tennessee, and Mississippi State for each of the next four seasons as previously reported. Additionally, the Crimson Tide will take on Georgia, Texas A&M, Kentucky, LSU, South Carolina and Vanderbilt in conference play in 2026.
The SEC will rotate the pool of six opponents across four years' time, with each program going to and hosting all 12 remaining league members in opposite years throughout the cycle.
Report: Alabama Football's Permanent SEC Opponents for Next 4 Seasons Revealed
Alabama and Auburn have squared off 89 times in their program's history, while the Crimson Tide has played Mississippi State 108 times and Tennessee 107 times, making the conference's choice of Alabama's annual opponents fairly straightforward.
The LSU Tigers is the program most fans expressed disappointment in losing from Alabama's annual schedule, however the Bayou Bengals will be on Alabama's 2026 schedule, easing the decision to choose Mississippi State over LSU.
The dates for the upcoming games will be revealed in December.
The SEC office will reevaluate the annual opponents after the four-year cycle is complete.
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