The SEC on Thursday announced that starting in 2026, member programs will play nine conference games instead of the previous eight. With the new model, SEC teams will play a same three opponents every year to help maintain traditional rivalries that we grew to love in college football, but have become almost extinct because of conference realignment.
With the Oklahoma Sooners just now entering Year 2 in the SEC alongside long-time rival Texas, one annual opponent is already a lock, but the conference newbies have to find two more and maybe even create new annual rivalries with it.