Ranking SEC football schedules for 2026, from Missouri (hardest) to Alabama (easiest)

Ranking SEC football schedules for 2026, from Missouri (hardest) to Alabama (easiest) originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The SEC is moving to a nine-game conference schedule in 2026. 

How much tougher will that make the road to the College Football Playoff for schools within the conference? The SEC had five playoff teams in 2025-26, and Ole Miss was the only school from the conference to reach the semifinals. 

Georgia has won back-to-back SEC championships, and the Bulldogs are the only SEC team to make the CFP each of the last two seasons. Kirby Smart is outspoken about the tough environments SEC schools have to play through in order to get to the playoff. The Bulldogs, however, have an easier schedule this year. Six SEC schools will play five teams ranked in Sporting News’ Post-Spring Top 25. 

We put our strength-of-schedule formula to work. All you have to do is look at the tough games. Sporting News sorted out those schedules by each team based on three factors. 

• Ranked opponents. This is the easiest metric. How many opponents in Sporting News’ Post-Spring Top 25 does each team face this season? Then we gave points for each opponent in AP Poll style (25 for No. 1, 1 for No. 25). So, Texas plays No. 2 Ohio State on Sept. 12. That’s 24 points toward the Longhorns’ strength of schedule. 

• Home or road games? We added four points to a school’s total for each road game against a ranked opponent. We subtracted four points from that total for a home game against a ranked opponent. Neutral-site games are zero points.

• Totals from hardest to easiest. We totaled those two columns and ranked the 18 Big Ten teams. Teams with the highest point total have the toughest schedules. Teams with the lowest point total have the easiest schedules.

MORE: Ranking all 138 college football coaches ahead of 2026 season

SEC’s toughest schedules in 2026 

Missouri 

Missouri had the easiest schedule in the SEC by our metrics each of the last two seasons. That changes in 2026. The Tigers play five ranked teams and four playoff teams from last season, and that includes a brutal November with matchups against Texas, Georgia and Oklahoma. Texas A&M and Ole Miss also are on the October schedule. Missouri finished 0-5 against ranked teams last season. 

Oklahoma 

We’ll know what the Sooners are about within the first five games this season. Oklahoma faces September road trips to Michigan and Georgia, and the Oct. 5 matchup against Texas at the Cotton Bowl will be another challenge. Oklahoma also has back-to-back home games against Texas A&M and Ole Miss in November. The Rebels beat the Sooners 34-26 in a wild back-and-forth game in Norman last season. 

Arkansas 

The Razorbacks begin a new era with Ryan Silverfield, and the first test is a non-conference road trip to Utah. Arkansas also faces Georgia and LSU at home and has road trips to Texas A&M and Texas. Fringe top-25 teams Tennessee and Vanderbilt also are on the schedule. Arkansas was 2-7 on the road the last two seasons. 

MORE: Ranking Big Ten schedules, hardest to easiest

SEC’s easiest schedules in 2026 

Alabama 

Georgia and Texas A&M come to Bryant-Denny Stadium, and there is the standard road trip to Tiger Stadium to take on LSU. Kalen DeBoer, however, has arguably the Crimson Tide’s easiest schedule since arriving. Florida State visits Alabama this year. The road trips to Vanderbilt and Tennessee will be interesting. 

Vanderbilt 

The Commodores are coming off a 10-win season under coach Clark Lea, and the schedule features just three ranked teams in Georgia, Ole Miss and Alabama. The Rebels and Crimson Tide come to Nashville, too. The Commodores also visit Florida, where they haven’t won since 2013. 

Georgia 

Georgia does have to travel to Alabama and Ole Miss. The Bulldogs have lost three of the last five meetings against the Rebels, and they haven’t won in Tusacloosa since 2007. Those are the high-visibility games. Oklahoma is the only ranked team that comes to Sanford Stadium as of now, and the Florida matchup will be at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. 

MORE: Ranking the SEC quarterback situations for 2026

SEC 2026 football schedule rankings 

Using that formula, here are the SEC schedule rankings for the 2026 season, which includes a look at those games against ranked opponents. We ranked those scheduled from the hardest to easiest: 

RANKSCHOOLTOTALRANKED OPPONENTS1Missouri93vs. No. 11 Texas A&M, at No. 8 Ole Miss, vs. No. 4 Texas, at No. 3 Georgia, vs. No. 9 Oklahoma2(t)Oklahoma90at No. 14 Michigan, at No. 3 Georgia, vs. No. 11 Texas A&M, at No. 4 Texas, vs. No. 14 LSU2(t)Arkansas90at No. 16 Utah, vs. No. 3 Georgia, at No. 11 Texas A&M, at No. 4 Texas, vs. No. 14 LSU4Florida84at No. 8 Ole Miss, at No. 4 Texas, vs. No. 3 Georgia, vs. No. 9 Oklahoma5Ole Miss82vs. No. 18 Louisville, vs. No. 14 LSU, at No. 4 Texas, vs. No. 3 Georgia, at No. 9 Oklahoma6Mississippi State79vs. No. 12 Alabama, at No. 14 LSU, vs. No. 9 Oklahoma, vs. No. 4 Texas, at No. 8 Ole Miss7Texas78vs. No. 2 Ohio State, vs. No. 9 Oklahoma, vs. No. 8 Ole Miss, at No. 14 LSU, at No. 11 Texas A&M8Auburn75at No. 3 Georgia, vs. No. 14 LSU, at No. 8 Ole Miss, at No. 12 Alabama9Texas A&M73at No. 14 LSU, at No. 12 Alabama, at No. 9 Oklahoma, vs. No. 4 Texas10South Carolina69at No. 12 Alabama, at No. 9 Oklahoma, vs. No. 11 Texas A&M, vs. No. 3 Georgia11Kentucky62vs. No. 12 Alabama, at No. 11 Texas A&M, vs. No. 14 LSU, at No. 9 Oklahoma, vs. No. 18 Louisville12LSU61at No. 8 Ole Miss, vs. No. 11 Texas A&M, vs. No. 12 Alabama, vs. No. 4 Texas13Tennessee55vs. No. 4 Texas, vs. No. 12 Alabama, at No 11 Texas A&M, vs. No. 14 LSU14Georgia53vs. No. 9 Oklahoma, at No. 12 Alabama, at No. 8 Ole Miss15Vanderbilt51at No. 3 Georgia, vs. No. 8 Ole Miss, vs. No. 12 Alabama16Alabama46vs. No. 3 Georgia, vs. No. 11 Texas A&M, at No. 14 LSU

Five more SEC schedule takeaways 

– Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, South Carolina and Vanderbilt have the extra road game as a part of the SEC’s move to a nine-game schedule this season. 

– How will Arch Manning’s second season turn out? Texas has the return game against Ohio State in Week 2, and the Longhorns also have road trips to Tennessee – where his uncle Peyton played – and a home game against Ole Miss – where his uncle Eli played. There also is the Red River Rivalry with Oklahoma and road games at LSU and Texas A&M. 

– LSU had a 25-3 record at home the last four seasons. Clemson visits Baton Rouge in the opener, and Alabama and Texas will come to Death Valley in back-to-back weeks in November. The road trips to Ole Miss and Tennessee, however, will get far more attention.

– Florida ranked among the toughest schedules in the SEC the last two seasons, and first-year coach Jon Sumrall won’t have it easy in Year 1. The Gators face four top-10 teams in Ole Miss, Texas, Georgia and Oklahoma. Florida does not play Tennessee – one of the casualties of the new SEC schedule. 

– Auburn coach Alex Golesh faces road trips to Georgia and Alabama in Year 1 with the Tigers. Auburn has not won at Georgia since 2005 or at Alabama since 2010.

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