They finally landed the plane.
Four years since the debate over going to nine games heated up, and more than two years after SEC commissioner Greg Sankey compared the decision to landing a plane and saying he hoped to do it that week, they finally did.
The SEC announced on Thursday that it is officially going to nine games, ending a long-running saga with a vote of school presidents. Now comes the saga within the saga: Who are each team’s three annual rivals?
The nine-game format has two main components:
This format will begin in 2026 and will be on a four-year cycle. Sankey said over the summer, and sources reiterated Thursday, that the three annual rivals could be revisited. That gives the conference flexibility to change those annual opponents — either because rivalries evolve, or because competitive or financial needs evolve.
