SEC Football Annual Opponents: Protected Rivalries, Rotational Games, and Big Takeaways. No LSU vs. Alabama?

When the SEC confirmed it would move to a nine-game college football conference schedule, fans immediately worried about which annual rivalries might be lost. Now, we finally have clarity — and plenty of hot takes are already flying.

On Tuesday night, the conference will air a television special officially announcing the opponents for each team over the next four years. 

But Chris Low reported the annual opponents early, giving fans a preview of what’s ahead.

• Alabama: Tennessee, Auburn and Mississippi State
• Auburn: Alabama, Vanderbilt, Georgia
• Arkansas: Texas, Missouri and LSU
• Florida: South Carolina, Georgia and Kentucky
• Georgia: Florida, Auburn and South Carolina
• Kentucky: Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida
• LSU: Ole Miss, Arkansas and Texas A&M
• Mississippi State: Ole Miss, Alabama and Vanderbilt
• Missouri: Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Arkansas
• Oklahoma: Ole Miss, Missouri and Texas
• Ole Miss: LSU, Mississippi State and Oklahoma
• South Carolina: Kentucky, Georgia and Florida
• Tennessee: Alabama, Vanderbilt and Kentucky
• Texas A&M: LSU, Missouri, Texas
• Texas: Texas A&M, Arkansas and Oklahoma
• Vanderbilt: Mississippi State, Tennessee and Auburn

Takeaways: The SEC Got It Right For Most Part

As you can tell, the ole Big-8 is back together in college football, thanks to this scheduling model. 

With this format, schools will have their own ‘protected’ rivalry games, as you can see by the list above. And, because of the annual games, the other six matchups will clearly balance out the schedule. 

That said, some traditional matchups won’t be annual fixtures anymore. Fans won’t see LSU vs. Alabama every year, or Florida vs. LSU and Tennessee on a regular basis. Still, the SEC managed to protect the majority of its historic rivalries without overloading the schedule.

Let me know what you think about the scheduling, email me at Trey.Wallace@OutKick.com

We were always going to have rivalries, like the Iron Bowl, Red River Rivalry, Egg Bowl, with plenty of others. But, it was how each school came to their picks, which is what sets this apart. 

Over the course of the past few years, athletic directors for each school gave the conference office a list of teams they would like to keep on their schedule for annual games. While the SEC could not give every school what they wanted, I think most athletic directors will agree that this is a fair opponents list. 

By the way, none of this is new for school leaders. They've known behind the scenes what this was going to look like for quite some time, even dating back to SEC Spring meetings this past June. 

Making Sure Rivalry Games Stayed Intact For SEC

The biggest hurdle was making sure the rivalry games stayed intact. Now, every four years, the SEC will reevaluate the annual opponents. But, I would not expect much change over that course of time. Now that SEC schools will play six rotational opponents, it will be fascinating to see how the reaction down the road to how many conference home games are presented each year to the fans spending money on season tickets. 

Also, with the SEC implementing a policy that each school must face a Power-4 opponent each season, the conference wanted to make sure these annual games would line up with the scheduling efforts.

Every four years, the SEC will review and adjust annual opponents, though significant changes are unlikely. The format ensures that schools will face all 15 league opponents over a four-year span, while ticket-holders can look forward to more variety in marquee matchups.

This setup also opens the door for new conference clashes that have rarely happened before — like Texas A&M hosting Georgia, which has yet to occur since the Aggies joined the SEC.

At the end of the day, the SEC got this right. Not every fan will be thrilled with losing a traditional annual game, but the new format balances rivalries, rotation, and intrigue. It’s a scheduling model that should deliver big games and even bigger drama every season.