Gators’ SEC Schedule for 2026-2029 Released
Florida football fans now know who the Gators are facing in the coming years.
The SEC released every school’s nine-game conference schedules for each of the 2026 through 2029 seasons Tuesday night. The announcement came a day after On3 leaked each school’s three permanent annual opponents and ESPN later confirmed the report. Florida ended up with Georgia, South Carolina and Kentucky as its three yearly foes for the next four years.
Here’s who the remaining schools will be year-by-year:
2026 opponents: Oklahoma, Ole Miss, at Kentucky, Georgia (in Atlanta), at South Carolina, at Auburn, Vanderbilt, at Missouri, at Texas
2027 opponents: at Texas A&M, Georgia (in Tampa), Kentucky, South Carolina, at Tennessee, LSU, at Mississippi State, at Alabama, Arkansas
2028 opponents: Georgia (in Jacksonville), South Carolina, at Kentucky, Auburn, Missouri, Texas, at Ole Miss, at Vanderbilt, at Oklahoma
2029 opponents: at South Carolina, Georgia (in Jacksonville), Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi State, Tennessee, at Arkansas, at LSU, at Texas A&M
With the new 3-6 (three set conference opponents, six rotating every other year) model, the remaining six SEC teams Florida doesn’t face in 2026 will be it’s six new opponents in 2027. Those six teams will rotate the remaining two years before the next schedules are released prior to 2030. Every conference team will play one another twice within the four-year window — both at home and on the road.
The SEC made the move from eight to nine conference games Aug. 21 in hopes of improving its members’ College Football Playoff resumes via evening the level of competition each team faces year over year.
“Adding a ninth SEC game underscores our universities’ commitment to delivering the most competitive football schedule in the nation,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement at the time. “This format protects rivalries, increases competitive balance and paired with our requirement to play an additional Power opponent, ensures SEC teams are well prepared to compete and succeed in the College Football Playoff.”
In addition to an expanded conference schedule, the SEC required that members schedule at least one Power Four non-conference opponent each season (or Notre Dame).
The rule doesn’t shift UF’s yearly landscape, as the school will maintain its annual contest with ACC member and in-state rival Florida State. However, the Gators cancelled future matchups with Arizona State (2028 and 2031), North Carolina State (2026 and 2032) and California (2026 and 2027). Florida coach Billy Napier reaffirmed that the FSU rivalry wouldn’t join the mass exodus.
“That game is historical in relevance and certainly it’s not going away. Not only would our people not let that happen but I know their administration, their alumni, their fanbase would feel the same way,” Napier said in August. “I mean we’re going to play that game regardless. If they told us we had 11 conference games we would still play Florida – Florida State.
It’s one of the, if not the greatest, one of the greatest rivalries of all time and a pretty special opportunity for both teams each year.”
Category: College Football, Feature Sports News, SEC
