The SEC is moving closer to adopting a nine-game conference schedule, a source briefed on the discussions said, after the conference’s athletic directors met this week in Birmingham, Ala.
While the conference’s presidents will still need to give final approval, it’s the closest the conference has been to moving forward with a nine-game schedule — a decision it has been debating for years.
The SEC currently plays eight conference games, while the Big Ten and Big 12 play nine (the ACC also plays eight). ESPN has indicated a willingness to increase its payment to the SEC if the conference were to add a ninth league game, though there was no formal offer at the time.
The eight-or-nine debate comes amid the backdrop of another debate about the future format of the College Football Playoff. The SEC and Big Ten differed on preferred 16-game formats this summer, with the Big Ten pushing for a format that would include more automatic bids. Part of the reason for that was the inconsistent number of league games each conference plays.
In a nine-game conference schedule, every SEC team would have three annual opponents and six new opponents each season. At SEC media days in July, commissioner Greg Sankey said the three annual opponents would not be permanent. The schedules would operate on a four-year cycle, allowing for “look-ins” to revisit the three annual rivalries.
The SEC has not released a 2026 schedule, but only Mississippi State has four nonconference games scheduled for next year, meaning the rest of the league has left at least one spot clear for a possible ninth conference game.
The SEC going to nine games could have a domino effect on the ACC, where commissioner Jim Phillips has said his conference may follow the SEC.
“It’s one of those factors that you just have to keep your ear to the ground and see what happens. And once it does happen, and they’re, you know, their course is set, what does that do within our league?” Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich said Wednesday, before the news out of the SEC. “Of course, we have the Notre Dame (scheduling agreement with the ACC) as well. So, how does that work within the parameters that we have.”
This story will be updated.
(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)