Alabama Football's three annual SEC opponents for next four years revealed
The SEC will announce the football opponents for the next four years for every SEC school on a one-hour television special on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network and ESPN2.
In August, the SEC announced it would start playing a nine-game football schedule beginning in 2026. The league had previously played eight conference games in each season since 1992.
Under the new format, each school will play three annual opponents, focused on maintaining many traditional rivalries, and each team’s remaining six games will rotate among the remaining conference schools. On3’s Chris Low revealed each team’s three annual foes Monday.
According to Low, Alabama will play Auburn, Mississippi State and Tennessee each of the next four seasons. It was initially believed that the Crimson Tide would face LSU, instead of State, on an annual basis, but the conference gave Alabama the Bulldogs as an annual opponent.
The Tide has faced Mississippi State more than any other team in program history, playing 107 times in the all-time series history. Alabama holds an 86-18-3 edge over Mississippi State.
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Alabama and Tennessee will continue to play the Third Saturday in October rivalry game, and the Volunteers are the team the Crimson Tide has faced the second-most times (106). The Iron Bowl, of course, will also continue. Alabama and Auburn have played 89 times all-time.
Annual opponents for each school, per Chris Low:
Alabama – Auburn, Tennessee, Mississippi State
Arkansas – Missouri, Texas, LSU
Auburn – Georgia, Alabama, Vanderbilt
Florida – Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky
Georgia – Auburn, Florida, South Carolina
Kentucky – South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida
LSU – Arkansas, Ole Miss, Texas A&M
Mississippi State – Ole Miss, Alabama, Vanderbilt
Missouri – Arkansas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma
Oklahoma – Texas, Ole Miss, Missouri
Ole Miss – Mississippi State, LSU, Oklahoma
South Carolina – Georgia, Kentucky, Florida
Tennessee – Alabama, Vanderbilt, Kentucky
Texas – Texas A&M, Arkansas, Oklahoma
Texas A&M – Texas, LSU, Missouri
Vanderbilt – Tennessee, Mississippi State, Auburn
The rest of the Crimson Tide’s 2026-29 football opponents will be unveiled on Tuesday evening on SEC Network/ESPN. The new format will allow each team to play every other SEC program at least once every two years and every opponent home and away in four seasons.
The show will provide the matchups and sites of SEC football games for the next four years. The dates of games for the 2026 SEC football season will be announced in December.
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