Overview

• The SEC’s 2026 format features three annual opponents per team with the rest of the league rotating home-and-home over a four-year cycle.
• SEC schools will still schedule at least one nonconference opponent from the Power Four or Notre Dame under league requirements.
• Sankey outlined three potential approaches to nonconference matchups: school-arranged, conference-assisted coordination, or a conference-established model.
• He cautioned that existing contracts, game dates and other obligations complicate any formal SEC–Big Ten arrangement.
• Ideas under discussion range from a full-season slate pairing SEC and Big Ten teams to a small set of showcase games, with no agreement in place.