As the college football world changes, so does the conference that Mississippi State and Ole Miss are members of. Following in the footsteps of power conference peers, the SEC announced in August that it would be moving to a regular season schedule that features nine games versus conference opponents beginning in 2026. Now, we have a better look at who Mississippi’s SEC programs will be facing.
Though the conference will make an official announcement on the nine-game format on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2 and the SEC Network, On3’s Chris Low provided an early scoop. What we know now is that the format will run for four years and will be evaluated ahead of the 2030 campaign.
BREAKING: Annual SEC College Football opponents for the next 4 seasons per @clowfb👀 https://t.co/nm9NpSUTc2 pic.twitter.com/G0X3qkgJq7
— On3 (@On3sports) September 22, 2025
Each SEC team will face three annual opponents, along with six others on a rotating basis. The purpose of the rotating schedule is to ensure that every SEC team has faced all of its conference counterparts at least once, and over the four-year stint, each team has played all of its conference foes at home and on the road. In addition, all SEC schools will be required to face at least one opponent from the ACC, Big Ten, or Big 12 each year.
Keeping traditional rivalries alive, the yearly conference slate for both the Rebels and the Bulldogs will be the highly anticipated Egg Bowl matchup. Along with Ole Miss, Mississippi State’s two other annual opponents will be Alabama and Vanderbilt. For Ole Miss, Oklahoma and LSU will join the Bulldogs on the schedule moving forward.
Per sources, conference officials leaned on data modeling and analytics to ensure parity in upcoming schedules, meaning the SEC is working to eliminate overly easy or difficult schedules to create a competitive balance for all of its member institutions.
