{"id":6674,"date":"2026-07-21T20:34:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T20:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674"},"modified":"2026-07-21T20:34:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T20:34:48","slug":"secs-move-to-9-game-conference-schedules-pauses-some-rivalries-and-awakens-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674","title":{"rendered":"SEC\u2019s move to 9-game conference schedules pauses some rivalries and awakens others"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>TAMPA, Fla. (AP) \u2014 It used to be the biggest rivalry game of the week, the month \u2014 maybe the entire season.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6672\">Cold front brings threat of storms and flooding rain in central NC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In 2026, Florida and Tennessee will be complete strangers.<\/p>\n<p>Their once-a-year matchup that, back in the day, featured Steve Spurrier, Peyton Manning, Phil Fulmer and snark that sometimes even outweighed the stakes \u2014 \u201cYou can\u2019t spell Citrus without \u2018U-T&#8217;\u201d \u2014 is absent from the schedule for the first time in 37 seasons.<\/p>\n<p>Alabama-LSU \u2014 that\u2019s gone too, for the first time since 1963.<\/p>\n<p>The Gators and LSU \u2014 they\u2019ll miss each other for the first time since 1970.<\/p>\n<p>Such is the price of progress in the Southeastern Conference, which has grown from 10 teams in the old days to 16 now.<\/p>\n<p>The league is introducing a nine-game league slate this season in an attempt to boost strength of schedule for what is now a playoff system that has a committee awarding seven at-large spots in the 12-team field.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you look at our schedule, no one has created the kind of weekly competition that exists in the Southeastern Conference,\u201d commissioner Greg Sankey said.<\/p>\n<p>The divisions that once made Florida-Tennessee such a big deal \u2014 winner had an inside track for the East, a spot in the conference title game and maybe the national championship \u2014 are gone, another product of expansion.<\/p>\n<p>Under the new system, in place through 2029, each school will play three \u201cannual\u201d foes. Some of the SEC\u2019s most ancient rivalries, like Alabama-Auburn, Florida-Georgia and Auburn-Georgia, were preserved.<\/p>\n<p>Others are now less-permanent affairs. Another oldie but goodie that\u2019s missing this year, Georgia vs. Tennessee, first played in 1899 and became an annual event in 1992. The Volunteers got the best of the Bulldogs early, but Georgia has won nine in a row and 14 of the last 16 \u2014 a run that prompted a question to Georgia coach Kirby Smart on Tuesday about feeling like he has \u201cone less win\u201d on the schedule.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou said that; not me,\u201d Smart responded. \u201cI got a lot of respect for Josh (Heupel) and their staff. I mean, they\u2019re a tough prep. I\u2019m glad other teams get an opportunity to do that, and then we get some new teams to play.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some new teams, yes. Some old rivalries will return, too.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, Arkansas-Texas, a must-see game on the old Southwestern Conference schedule that produced the Game of the Century, attended by President Nixon in 1969, is an annual affair again. Two years ago, Missouri renewed acquaintance with Oklahoma, reupping a rivalry that meant a lot in the Big Eight for a time in the 1970s. And Texas-Texas A&amp;M, the \u201cLone Star Shootout\u201d and a game held every year between 1915 and 2011, will now be played annually.<\/p>\n<p>Asked about rivalries being renewed and others that, in another effect of realignment, are changing dates \u2014 Missouri\u2019s season-ending tradition against Arkansas has been moved to Week 8 \u2014 Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz said: \u201cI don\u2019t worry about that. I know each and every game in the SEC is extremely difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6661\">Kirby Smart knows his voice as the dean of SEC coaches only gets heard if Georgia keeps winning<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The SEC also mandated its teams play a 10th game against a Power Four opponent, which led Kansas and Missouri to renew their so-called \u201cBorder War\u201d and created other early season matchups like Oklahoma-Michigan, Clemson-LSU, Ohio State-Texas, Auburn-Baylor, Arkansas-Utah and Arizona State-Texas.<\/p>\n<p>SEC coaches believed moving to a nine-game league schedule would coincide with College Football Playoff expansion, which didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n<p>Now, they have tougher schedules, no increased access to the 12-team playoff and a few less rivalries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what our conference looks like,\u201d Oklahoma coach Brett Venables said. \u201cEach and every week, you\u2019re not going to sneak up on anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>A brief look at the Tennessee-Florida series<\/h3>\n<p>The Tennessee-Florida rivalry decided the SEC East a dozen times between 1993 and 2009. Spurrier got under Fulmer\u2019s skin with his \u201cCitrus Bowl\u201d comments. Manning, despite all his accolades, went 0-4 against the Gators. The importance of the rivalry diminished beginning in 2011, with both schools falling behind Georgia in the East.<\/p>\n<h3>A brief look at the Florida-LSU series<\/h3>\n<p>The Florida-LSU matchup has been filled with chaos, controversy and close games. Among the most memorable one: LSU upset No. 1 Florida in 1997, stormed the field and tore down goal posts; the top-ranked Tigers won another close one a decade later by converting five fourth-down plays; in 2020, unranked LSU stunned the sixth-ranked Gators in Gainesville on Cade York\u2019s 57-yard field goal through heavy fog after cornerback Marco Wilson inexplicably threw an opponent\u2019s shoe and kept alive the game-winning drive.<\/p>\n<h3>A brief look at the LSU-Alabama series<\/h3>\n<p>Alabama and LSU played 12 times between 2008 and 2021 with one of them ranked first or second. It often had Western Division and national title implications. Few matchups outweigh the 2011 showdown in which top-ranked LSU knocked off No. 2 Alabama 9-6 in overtime. The Crimson Tide won the rematch in New Orleans two months later for the national championship.<\/p>\n<h3>Could current rivalries be affected beyond 2029?<\/h3>\n<p>The SEC has been adamant that each team\u2019s annual opponents will be revisited and potentially realigned to maintain competitive balance before the 2030 season. Of course, by then, there\u2019s no telling what the SEC or college football will look like.<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>Long reported from Gainesville, Florida.<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/college-football<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6659\">NFL training camps set to open with 10 new head coaches, several QB changes and plenty of hope<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TAMPA, Fla. (AP) \u2014 It used to be the biggest rivalry game of the week,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>SEC\u2019s move to 9-game conference schedules pauses some rivalries and awakens others - Raleigh Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SEC\u2019s move to 9-game conference schedules pauses some rivalries and awakens others - Raleigh Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"TAMPA, Fla. (AP) \u2014 It used to be the biggest rivalry game of the week,...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Raleigh Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-21T20:34:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6674#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6674\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\"},\"headline\":\"SEC\u2019s move to 9-game conference schedules pauses some rivalries and awakens others\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T20:34:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6674\"},\"wordCount\":959,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6674#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/14ea0fb19377fa05e05afe499bf7d5e6.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6674#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6674\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6674\",\"name\":\"SEC\u2019s move to 9-game conference schedules pauses some rivalries and awakens others - Raleigh Moving News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6674#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6674#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/14ea0fb19377fa05e05afe499bf7d5e6.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T20:34:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6674#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6674\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6674#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/14ea0fb19377fa05e05afe499bf7d5e6.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/14ea0fb19377fa05e05afe499bf7d5e6.webp\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":1147},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=6674#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"SEC\u2019s move to 9-game conference schedules pauses some rivalries and awakens others\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Raleigh Moving News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"SEC\u2019s move to 9-game conference schedules pauses some rivalries and awakens others - Raleigh Moving News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"SEC\u2019s move to 9-game conference schedules pauses some rivalries and awakens others - Raleigh Moving News","og_description":"TAMPA, Fla. (AP) \u2014 It used to be the biggest rivalry game of the week,...","og_url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674","og_site_name":"Raleigh Moving News","article_published_time":"2026-07-21T20:34:48+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60"},"headline":"SEC\u2019s move to 9-game conference schedules pauses some rivalries and awakens others","datePublished":"2026-07-21T20:34:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674"},"wordCount":959,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/14ea0fb19377fa05e05afe499bf7d5e6.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674","url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674","name":"SEC\u2019s move to 9-game conference schedules pauses some rivalries and awakens others - Raleigh Moving News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/14ea0fb19377fa05e05afe499bf7d5e6.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-21T20:34:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/14ea0fb19377fa05e05afe499bf7d5e6.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/14ea0fb19377fa05e05afe499bf7d5e6.webp","width":1280,"height":1147},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6674#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"SEC\u2019s move to 9-game conference schedules pauses some rivalries and awakens others"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/","name":"Raleigh Moving News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}