The Southeastern Conference will announce the full 2026 conference schedule on Tuesday as the league moves to a nine-game format for next season. The move to nine games comes after the SEC added both Oklahoma and Texas and did away divisions following the 2023 season. A two year band-aid schedule featured eight games in 2024 and 2025, but a move to nine was inevitable.
The SEC will assign each school three protected opponents in an attempt to protect rivalries across the region. Those three protected opponents will also
be announced on Tuesday.
Brett McMurphy had the news this afternoon.
Of course, the league won’t be able to please everyone here. In Tennessee’s case, two of those protected opponents are obvious — in-state rival Vanderbilt and the Third Saturday in October with Alabama. What will the third be?
Kentucky is the obvious answer in terms of Tennessee getting the easiest route each year. Florida is probably the next most obvious answer, followed by Georgia. Other projections have even tossed out an option like South Carolina. Some teams have an obvious five or six options, others may only have one or two tops. That’s where things get interesting.
Which third team do you want to see Tennessee land on Tuesday?
