What could nine-game SEC schedule mean for Alabama football going forward? Early takeaways

After years of publicly floating the idea, the SEC on Thursday announced it would add a ninth conference game to the schedule beginning with the 2026 college football season.

The shift to a nine-game regular season schedule, which matches the Big Ten and Big 12, is something former Alabama football coach Nick Saban first advocated for as far back as 2012 when Texas A&M and Missouri joined the SEC to bring conference membership to 14 teams.

Saban appeared to backtrack somewhat on that in 2023, citing Alabama's marquee nonconference opponents from other Power Four leagues. He wasn't alone. At SEC Spring Meetings just this past May, South Carolina coach Shane Beamer appeared hesitant on moving past eight conference games since his team already plays in-state rival Clemson from the ACC.

Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said in 2023 that he favored staying at eight games for the same reason: his school's annual rivalry with Louisville. Florida and Georgia are the two other SEC programs with annual in-state rivalry games against in-state opponents from the ACC.

Nevertheless, the times are always a-changin' in the world of college football, and the SEC has decided to adapt with its scheduling move. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement:

"Adding a ninth SEC game underscores our universities' commitment to delivering the most competitive football schedule in the nation. 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."

Here are our initial takeaways on what a nine-game SEC schedule could mean for Alabama going forward.

Alabama football's three permanent rivalries are likely already set

As part of Thursday's scheduling announcement, the SEC said in its press release: "Each school will play three annual opponents focused on maintaining many traditional rivalries."

After conference schedules for the 2024-25 seasons were announced for Texas and Oklahoma's first waltz as SEC members, it was pretty apparent which annual opponent was being prioritized with regard to Alabama outside of its rivalries with Auburn and Tennessee.

While Alabama's annual matchup with LSU is less of a rivalry than either Auburn or the Vols, it's far more lucrative to advertisers, to ESPN as the SEC's exclusive media rights holder, and to the league itself than two other schools the Crimson Tide and their fans have enjoyed longtime series' with: Mississippi State and Ole Miss.

If I were a betting man, I'd say Alabama and LSU will be announced as permanent rivals moving forward.

Alabama rivalries with Mississippi State, Ole Miss should resume soon

Another bulletin point from the SEC's press release: "Each team's remaining six games will rotate among the remaining conference schools; and each team will face every other SEC program at least once every two years and every opponent home and away in four years."

This is reassuring news for fans who may have felt a bit strange watching Alabama play Missouri and Oklahoma rather than either of the SEC's Magnolia State schools in 2024.

Last year marked the first time since 1947 that the Crimson Tide and the Bulldogs hadn't met on the gridiron, and only the second time since the 80s that Ole Miss didn't appear on Alabama's schedule. The Tide hold a commanding lead in the all-time series with both schools, but that isn't the point.

Tuscaloosa and Starkville are the closest SEC towns in geographical proximity, and preserving longstanding conference series -- no matter how lopsided they are historically -- is important. The SEC seems to grasp this with its scheduling announcement, even if Alabama-Mississippi State becomes less frequent than Alabama-LSU.

What nine-game SEC schedule means for future Alabama nonconference opponents

One last announcement from Thursday's release: "SEC teams are required to schedule at least one additional high quality non-conference from the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten or Big 12 conferences or Notre Dame each season."

In this regard, Alabama's nonconference's slate in the coming years is as impressive as any team in the nation. The Crimson Tide are scheduled to open 2026 against West Virginia in Morgantown, in addition to hosting South Florida and welcoming Florida State to Bryant-Denny Stadium on the back-end of a home-and-home series.

Alabama also has marquee nonconference opponents lined up with Ohio State (2027-28) and Notre Dame (2029-30), plus Oklahoma State from the Big 12 and Georgia Tech from the ACC before 2030.

Given that the SEC and Big Ten both want a scheduling agreement, don't expect Alabama's upcoming regular season home-and-home series with Ohio State to go anywhere. For a way-too-early read on things, I would say the same for Notre Dame. There's too much money involved for either school to walk away from, and no one wants to wear the "coward" label (fairly or not).

As for games against Group of Five schools and FCS opponents? With a nine-game conference slate, plus the aforementioned teams already on the nonconference schedule, 2026 should be a good starting point for how Alabama and other SEC schools begin to evaluate things going forward -- if not sooner.

Follow us at @RollTideWire on X and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Alabama Crimson Tide news, notes and opinions.

This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Alabama football reactions to SEC nine-game conference schedule news