On3 Scoop: LSU's three annual SEC matchups have been revealed

On3’s Chris Low has released the the three permanent rivals for LSU over the next four seasons and it may not be who most expected.

LSU is slated to play Arkansas, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M every season as the SEC moves to a nine-game schedule starting in 2026. Last week Kelly made the point that there were a “half-dozen” teams they could potentially play and that he was not kept in the loop in terms of who it would be. Now, his team has an intriguing trio and does not play Alabama or Florida.

“It’s been an open conversation at every SEC meeting with athletic directors and coaches,” Kelly said last week. “It’s been at the top of the agenda, so everyone’s aware of what is out there. The athletic director here knows what it is, but the head coach doesn’t. I’ve said this from day one, you can make a case for a half-dozen teams that would be natural rivals, but other teams want those games as well. They’ll come up with a good rationale for it.

“I’ll take Alabama and I’ll take Georgia… no I’m kidding,” Kelly said with a laugh. “We’ll play whoever they tell us to play but I don’t know who it’s going to be. I’ve been in every one of those meetings and I’ve heard everyone talk about what they would prefer. I just want to play what would be our rivals, but I don’t have a vote in this. This is the athletic directors and our commissioner.”

The three annual opponents for each SEC school, sources told On3, are as follows:

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 priorities in creating the schedules were protecting traditional rivalries, competitive fairness, rotational frequency and ensuring a home and away balance with a Power 4 non-conference opponent for the 2026 season.

The SEC will announce the football opponents of every league school for the next four years on Tuesday in an hour-long television special at 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network and ESPN2. The dates of games for the 2026 season will be announced in December.

The SEC announced in August that it would begin playing a nine-game league schedule starting in 2026 after playing eight league games each year since 1992.