The SEC will begin playing a nine-game conference schedule in football during the 2026 season, a new format that includes three annual opponents for every team and was favored by LSU.
The decision was approved by the league's presidents and chancellors Thursday after a recommendation from the athletic directors. It followed a change to the strength of schedule metric used by the College Football Playoff that was supported by the SEC.
LSU administrators and coach Brian Kelly wanted the nine-game schedule, which was debated for years within the conference.
"I just always thought it was for the best of the game, and I think best for our fans wanting to see competitive games," LSU athletic director Scott Woodward told The Advocate.
"I think there's a huge fall-off on some of our nonconference games that fans viewed as not good competition. I think that this will really help continue to foster and continue to get fans' support when they have a strong home schedule and a strong conference schedule."
Under the new format, the SEC will continue to play without divisions, which it scrapped last year with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma. It will set three annual opponents for every team, and the other six games will rotate among the remaining schools.
Teams will play everyone else in the SEC at least once every two years and every opponent home and away over a four-year period, correcting an issue that arose because of conference expansion. Texas A&M, which joined the league in 2012, has never hosted Georgia.
SEC teams are also required to schedule at least one non-conference opponent every year from either the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 or Notre Dame.
"You have a schedule that prepares you for postseason play," Kelly said on his radio show. "Others look at it as, 'Well, you're just knocking each other off.' I don't see it that way. I see it as you're going to prepare yourself playing the very best week-in and week-out."
A couple of years ago, the expectation was LSU's three annual opponents in a nine-game schedule would be Alabama, Texas A&M and Ole Miss. Whether or not that changes is to be determined. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said on the Paul Finebaum Show that the schedule would be released in December.
The SEC began playing eight conference games per season when it implemented divisions in 1992 after the additions of Arkansas and South Carolina expanded the conference to 12 teams. The only exception was in 2020, when the SEC played a 10-game conference-only schedule because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“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," Sankey said in a statement.
Now at 16 teams, the SEC continued to play an eight-game schedule in 2024 and 2025. The Big Ten and the Big 12 already switched to a nine-game conference schedule, and ACC leaders said they would likely follow suit if the SEC changed its format.
"It affects our positioning in the CFP, it affects our fan attendance," Woodward said. "It affects everyone in our conference. Everyone had to take a look at it differently."
Kelly credited the timing with changes to the way the CFP committee judges strength of schedule. The committee said Wednesday strength of schedule has been adjusted to "apply greater weight to games against strong opponents." It also added a record strength metric designed to reward teams for beating high-quality opponents and not penalizing as much them for losses in those games.
"We didn't go to nine today by accident," Kelly said. "We went to nine today because (yesterday), the College Football Playoff said we're looking at how teams get in differently than we have in the past."
Next season, LSU has two non-conference games scheduled against Clemson and McNeese State. It will need to add one more opponent to fill out its schedule.
The only upcoming season that will need to be adjusted is 2029, when the Tigers are currently scheduled to play Arizona State, Rice, McNeese State and SMU.
"We want to have good games, but we also want to be smart on how we schedule our team and how we do it," Woodward said. "We'll continue to have an emphasis on in-state teams. Obviously, to not only selfishly help our attendance, but also to help their programs come in and play in Tiger Stadium."
LSU has at least one power conference opponent scheduled every year through 2032. It opens next season at home against Clemson, and it plays the 2027 season opener against Houston in NRG Stadium.
The Tigers have home-and-home series scheduled against SMU (2028-29), Arizona State (2029-30) and Utah (2031-32).
"The fans are paying the bills here," Kelly said. "So, let's give them a schedule they can be excited about."
