Changes are coming to the Southeastern Conference schedule. In 2026, the SEC will move to a nine-game conference schedule, with three annual opponents and six rotating.
“Adding a ninth SEC game underscores our universities’ commitment to delivering the most competitive football schedule in the nation,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey in a press release. “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.”
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Under the new format, the SEC will remain a “single-standing, nondivisional structure, and Florida will face every other SEC program once every two seasons. Home and away matchups are also guaranteed every four years.
Georgia and Tennessee feel like must-keep rivalries for Florida, but that third spot annual spot is up for debate. Auburn, Kentucky and LSU are all potential options. Keeping up the LSU rivalry would be nice, but it presents a perennial strength-of-schedule struggle. Seeing each other every two years could spice up the relationship even more.
Graham Hall of 247 Sports took a stab at predicting Florida’s 2026 schedule, considering all this and more. Let’s compare lists, take a subjective look at some of the hits and misses.
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Gators Wire |
247Sports |
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Permanent Opponent 1 |
Georgia Bulldogs |
Georgia Bulldogs |
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Permanent Opponent 2 |
Tennessee Volunteers |
Tennessee Volunteers |
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Permanent Opponent 3 |
Kentucky Wildcats |
South Carolina Gamecocks |
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Rotating Opponent 1 |
Auburn Tigers |
Auburn Tigers |
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Rotating Opponent 2 |
Alabama Crimson Tide |
Alabama Crimson Tide |
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Rotating Opponent 3 |
South Carolina Gamecocks |
Arkansas Razorbacks |
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Rotating Opponent 4 |
Ole Miss Rebels |
Missouri Tigers |
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Rotating Opponent 5 |
Oklahoma Sooners |
Oklahoma Sooners |
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Rotating Opponent 6 |
Vanderbilt Commodores |
Vanderbilt Commodores |
Hit: Getting Auburn back on the schedule
Gators Wire agrees with including Auburn on the 2026 schedule. The “rivalry with Florida goes back a long way and only in the last couple of decades has faded,” said Gators Wire managing editor Adam Dubbin, when suggesting the Tigers as a potential annual opponent. Florida and Auburn met each other every season from 1945 and 1999
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Hall echoed a similar sentiment: “Facing each other every other year would be welcomed, given the scarcity of matchups between the two programs over the previous two decades.”
Miss: South Carolina as a permanent opponent
Hall has South Carolina as the third permanent opponent, noting regionality and Steve Spurrier’s tenure as head coach at both programs. It’s not the worst argument, but we’re going with Kentucky this time. The Gators and Wildcats have strong rivalries in both basketball and football. In fact, Kentucky is Florida’s most-frequented opponent on the hardwood.
But this is about football. Spurrier had plenty of influence on the Kentucky rivalry. His teams routinely dominated the Wildcats, and Spurrier didn’t hold back when asked about a program he felt was beneath his own. A 31-game win streak proved as much over the modern era, but Kentucky leads the series 4-3 over the past seven years. There’s no need to end that yearly matchup when it’s starting to get competitive.
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Hit: Yes to Alabama, No to LSU and Texas in 2026
With Georgia and Tennessee taking up two of the assumed permanent slots, adding another major power such as Alabama, LSU or Texas feels like too much. A nice rotation of the three would keep Florida’s strength of schedule high without overwhelming the team each year.
Florida hasn’t faced Alabama since 2021, while Texas will face Florida in each of its first two seasons in the SEC. A year off from the LSU rivalry can’t hurt either. Knowing that bragging rights last for twice as long will only create more tension when the two meet.
Hit: Missouri and Vanderbilt back on the schedule
Vanderbilt was an annual opponent between 1992 and 2023, but the conference expansion has kept the Commodores off Florida’s schedule for two years. Clark Lea actually has something going in Nashville, so why not put them back on the schedule?
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Mizzou was another annual opponent before the expansion, albeit with a shorter history dating back to the last conference expansion in 2012. We put Ole Miss because beating Lane Kiffin is fun and it’s a bit stronger of a matchup on the schedule, but Missouri works just fine.
Hit: First regular-season matchup against Oklahoma
Florida’s 2008 national championship came against Oklahoma, and the Sooners got revenge in the 2020 Cotton Bowl. Those are the only two times these programs have met, though. That feels wrong, and it’s hard to see Oklahoma being left off Florida’s 2026 schedule after seeing the other expansion team, Texas, twice in a row.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida Gators football SEC schedule prediction 2026
