As SEC leaders prepare for the conference’s annual spring meeting in Florida, there are many changes on their minds. At the top of the agenda: adjusting the football schedule to include nine conference games in league play.
As of the 2024 college football season, teams played an eight-game schedule before the playoffs. The SEC has mulled a nine-game schedule for many years, but the recent addition of the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma to the 16-team conference has increased the desire for an additional game.
According to Sports Illustrated, the SEC drafted a nine-game schedule a few years ago that would have included “three annual opponents and a rotating group of six more teams.” Each school would have played four or five home games, and the annual opponents would have been reevaluated every few years.
However, some SEC leaders have voiced opposition to the nine-game schedule when CFP has yet to announce a format for the 2026 season. Leaders from all four power conferences have met several times this spring to discuss changes to the CFP, including increasing the field size to 16 teams and granting automatic bids to the Big Ten and SEC, but nothing has been made official.
Broadcasting rights are also weighing on the decision to create a nine-game schedule. According to Sports Illustrated, “ESPN has given an indication to the conference that it has softened its stance on increasing the rights fees paid to the league with a move to adding a ninth conference game.”
One SEC athletic director told Sports Illustrated, “It’s time. I feel like there’s a pretty good consensus now.”
The upcoming conference meeting in Florida will include coaches, athletic directors and school presidents. While there are many changes to college athletics that the group can’t control, like the House settlement and the impending CFP changes, business decisions will still be made.
