SEC schedule bombshell provides excellent news for fans of the Tennessee Vols and Alabama Crimson Tide for years to come
A banner day for those who cherish the tradition of college football
If there’s one thing that’s constant about college football over the last 15 years, it’s change. From conference realignments to playoff format changes to NIL money, the sport has undergone some sea changes.
The SEC is not immune from that, most recently adding Oklahoma and Texas last year to bump up the membership to 16 schools. And the changes kept coming on Thursday, as the conference announced it will be shifting from an 8-game to a 9-game SEC schedule starting in 2026.
The new rule puts in place, first and foremost, three annual opponents that each school will face every year. That’s being done specifically to help protect traditional rivalries.
There are few traditional rivalries as historic as The Third Saturday in October between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Tennessee Vols. Thursday’s news all but seals that game will be continued to be played every year and should continue to hold its annual slot in mid-to-late October every season. With how exciting that series has become now that the Vols have improved under Josh Heupel – and Alabama starting to appear more mortal over the last three years – it’s one that the SEC will especially want to keep putting on television every year.
As far as the remaining rivalries, it seems like a lock that in-state Vanderbilt will be one of the Vols’ three opponents. The other is likely Florida – if we’re talking about traditional rivalries – but Kentucky and Georgia are also in the conversation, although giving Tennessee Alabama and Georgia every year feels a bit heavy handed (and yes, I know that’s how things have gone for Tennessee for years before anyways).
In any event, we all just got one more week of SEC football. And Vol fans are all but assured to see Tennessee take on Alabama in perpetuity. Not too shabby.
