During the first couple of years in Baton Rouge, Brian Kelly wasn’t shy. Back in March 2023, while the SEC brass toyed with the idea of a nine-game gauntlet, the LSU HC made sure everyone knew what he wanted. “I want to play the best,” he said while adding that he moved to the SEC so he could play against some of the top teams in the country. “I want to play those games, and I think playing nine SEC games is great for your schedule, and it prepares you for the opportunity to play for a championship but also play for the national championship.” Now, the SEC just handed him his wishlist. But you know, getting what you want in this league usually comes with a price. 

Louisiana sportscaster Jacques Doucet broke the news on X on August 21. “I’m told #LSU administration wanted the 9th SEC game,” he wrote. “They likewise made an effort to not overschedule in the upcoming years because they had a feeling this was coming. @LSUfootball did not want to have to drop games later and be in that predicament.” That’s the kind of foresight that LSU fans love to hear. But the bigger question is whether Brian Kelly and the Tigers are built to survive a schedule that could chew up and spit out even the most stacked rosters.

The SEC confirmed the change on Thursday. Beginning in 2026, the league is going from eight conference games to nine. It’s a seismic shift that brings the SEC in line with the Big Ten and Big 12. Additionally, each team must schedule a non-conference opponent from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, or Notre Dame, as well as two non-Power Five opponents, each season. 

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey didn’t tiptoe around it. “Adding a ninth SEC game underscores our universities’ commitment to delivering the most competitive football schedule in the nation,” he 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.”

The new format keeps the single-standings, non-divisional structure. But it adds sharper edges with three annual rivals for tradition, six rotating foes for freshness, and every SEC opponent cycled home-and-away within four years. That means no hiding and no breathers, as Georgia’s looming 2027 gauntlet of Florida State, Louisville, Georgia Tech, and nine SEC games proves. Expansion forced the shift, and while it preserves rivalries, it also guarantees that even the best programs will stagger through seasons loaded with landmines. Which brings us to the harsh new reality lurking for everyone, including Alabama.

Brian Kelly is lucky not to have Alabama and Georgia’s plight

Starting in 2026, Alabama isn’t just playing nine SEC games. The Tide has eleven Power 4 opponents locked in every single year through 2034. 11 of 12 games, season after season. Nick Kelly pointed out on X that only Georgia shares that distinction. “Alabama is 1 of 2 SEC schools now with 11 Power 4 games on the schedule every year through 2034. Georgia is the other,” he wrote. Purdue is the lone Big Ten school flirting with that kind of load, and even they tap out after 2028.

Georgia’s non-conference slates aren’t for the faint of heart either, with annual dates against Georgia Tech plus an extra Power 4 game every season through 2034. South Carolina’s got Clemson baked in annually, plus a second Power 4 matchup most years through 2030. By contrast, no Big Ten program has committed to that level of scheduling past 2028.

Alabama AD Greg Byrne admitted they saw this coming. Dating back to 2019, the Tide inserted language into contracts allowing for adjustments if the SEC upped its conference load. Now the time has arrived. The AD told The Tuscaloosa News back in 2022, “We just started thinking about what the different realities are of college athletics, and some of the instability, and then also knowing that there may be a time where we decided we would play more SEC games.” Well, that time is now. And for Alabama and Georgia, the margin for error just shrank to the size of a goal line.