Predicting Florida’s Three Permanent Opponents Starting in 2026

On Thursday, the Southeastern Conference announced that starting in 2026, the league will move from an eight-game schedule to nine. With the move, the SEC will play the same number of conference games as the Big Ten and Big 12.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey released a statement about the big move.

“Adding a ninth SEC game underscores our universities’ commitment to delivering the most competitive football schedule in the nation,”  Sankey said. “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.”

With the addition of an extra game, the SEC will follow the 3-6 model going forward. The three represent the three permanent opponents a team will have based on maintaining traditional rivalries. Along with keeping rivalries alive, the SEC will also take into account geography and balance.

The six refers to the remaining six conference games that will rotate among the rest of the remaining schools. An important note with this is that each team will face every other SEC program at least once every two years and every opponent home and away in four years.

With that in mind, let’s predict Florida’s three opponents.

Georgia

You really cannot talk about Florida football without mentioning one of its fiercest rivals, Georgia. The Gators and Bulldogs have been clashing at the border for over a century, with Georgia leading the all-time series 57-44-2. Since 1933, Jacksonville has hosted the ‘World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party,’ and it will do so again this fall.

With the rivalry moving to Atlanta in 2026 and Tampa Bay in 2027 due to stadium renovations, expect this to be a no-brainer permanent move.

South Carolina

Given the SEC’s criteria for scheduling permanent teams, don’t be surprised if the South Carolina Gamecocks become one of Florida’s three opponents. 2024 was the first year since 1992 that these two longtime SEC East rivals did not meet. The Gators and the Gamecocks have squared off 44 times, with Florida leading the series 31-10-3.

While Tennessee and LSU typically line themselves up as the more traditional teams with Florida, going off the SEC’s criteria of geography, South Carolina and Florida are roughly 360 miles apart of each other – close than either of the other schools. This close distance makes it easy for the two teams to consistently share similar recruitment battles with each other.

It also does bring a little bit of history, with legendary head coach Steve Spurrier representing both sides of the battle.

LSU

Things always get interesting when the Bayou Bengals and Gators meet either at the Swamp or Death Valley – making it one of the more exciting games to look forward to each year. Florida holds a narrow 34‑31‑3 edge over LSU in what has been one of the most tightly contested series of all time.

Florida snapped a five-game losing streak in 2024, but since 2020, the average margin of victory is seven points – making it one of the most balanced rivalries out there.

Separated by a little over eight hours, this year’s meeting in Baton Rouge will be the 55th consecutive time LSU and Florida have met. That sounds good enough to meet the “maintaining long-lasting rivalries” standard.

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