MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla.—The SEC may ultimately go to a nine-game conference football schedule for the 2026 season, but commissioner Greg Sankey said if the conference sticks with eight games. it could still continue to protect “key” rivalries.
For Georgia football, that would be Auburn in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, along with the annual game against Florida. Just like the league did in 2024 and will in 2025.
“We have a variety of alternatives,” Sankey said on Tuesday May 27 after the first day of the SEC spring meetings. “An alternative we presented is to protect those in an eight-game schedule going forward as well.”
That could mean games like Alabama-Tennessee and Texas-Texas A&M could also be preserved.
“I’m not committing to that,” Sankey said. “We’re attentive to really key rivalries and have models that can accommodate those.”
To keep games like Georgia-Auburn annually, that would mean not every school would play every other school in the league twice over a four-year period.
“Depending on timing and eight vs. nine, we’ll have the opportunity to decide,” Sankey said.
The SEC will be making its decision on its 2026 schedule against the backdrop of what the College Football Playoff will look like with an expansion to 16 teams having momentum.
Sankey isn’t certain when that may be.
“We may not be able to meet our optimal time-frame,” Sankey said. “It’s kind of life.”
Source link : https://www.onlineathens.com/story/sports/college/bulldogs-extra/2025/05/27/georgia-football-greg-sankey-sec-football-auburn-rivalry/83821313007/
Author :
Publish date : 2025-05-27 23:48:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
