SEC going to 9 conference games in 2026. What it means for Gamecocks
The SEC is moving from eight to nine conference games starting in 2026.
This is something that Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer has been asked about repeatedly. And he’s said he’s for it … well, once the future of the College Football Playoff is addressed and schools gain a better understanding of what gets them into the dance.
The future of the playoff is still wildly unclear — yet the SEC went ahead with the nine-game schedule anyway. Perhaps it knows something. Perhaps the league (and its TV partners) felt the time was perfect.
In any case, the move comes with some guidelines from the SEC:
- The SEC will continue with a single-standings, non-divisional structure.
- Each school will play three annual opponents focused on maintaining many traditional rivalries.
- Each team’s remaining six games will rotate among the remaining conference schools.
- Each team will face every other SEC program at least once every two years and every opponent home and away in four years.
- SEC teams must schedule at least one “additional high quality non-conference” opponent, a pool that currently includes any team from the ACC, Big Ten or Big 12 or Notre Dame. That poll is subject to change.
What does it mean for South Carolina?
The Clemson series
Obviously, South Carolina does not have to fret over scheduling a Power 4 opponent every year. Like Florida (Florida State), Georgia (Georgia Tech) and Kentucky (Louisville), there are already built-in, deeply rooted in-state rivalries against ACC opponents. Yet none of those programs is as daunting right now as Clemson. Which turns a nine-game conference schedule into, essentially, 10 SEC games for South Carolina.
One could understand if the Gamecocks had some reservations about this new schedule, but the conference at least built in a guideline to ensure schools couldn’t schedule three FCS cupcakes while Carolina plays Clemson.
And as to the thought that the Clemson rivalry is in jeopardy, athletic director Jeremiah Donati said there’s no need to worry.
“No, not at this point,” Donati told The State earlier this year. “They are our biggest rival. We want to play them every year, just like they want to play us. So whatever the conference schedule is — eight games (or) nine games — we will play Clemson every year. There has been no discussion about not doing that.”
Non-conference scheduling
The addition of a conference game means a non-conference game has to get subtracted.
So, going forward, the Gamecocks will only play three non-conference games annually. If you take Clemson out of the equation, it’s really just two unique non-conference opponents annually. So how does that shake out?
Well, the Gamecocks don’t have to mess with anything next year — though the schedule is a beast with non-con games against Clemson, Miami and Towson. But South Carolina will have to do some shuffling with its 2027 non-conference schedule, which already includes four teams: Clemson, at Miami, Appalachian State and Furman.
No other year has more than three non-conference games scheduled, but that doesn’t mean there still won’t be some changes. Playing nine SEC games, Clemson and another ACC school — such as Miami or North Carolina — is a daunting task, and Carolina has an ACC team (in addition to Clemson) on its schedule for the next six years.
And to get out of some of those games would be costly. If the Gamecocks wanted to cancel their series against Miami, for instance, they would have to pay the Hurricanes $3 million unless both schools agreed to the cancellation — which could be the case if the ACC also moves to a nine-game schedule.
But that contract, signed in Nov. 2019, with Miami didn’t include any language around a nine-game schedule.
South Carolina’s contracts with North Carolina (’28 and ‘29) as well as NC State (’30 and ‘31) — both of which were signed in 2020 — did include provisions. Each contract noted that if either conference changed its amount of conference games three years prior to the matchup, the cancellation fee would drop from $1.5 million to $500,000.
Annual opponents
One of the interesting notes about the nine-game schedule is every school will play three annual opponents every year.
Which begs the question: What three SEC teams is South Carolina going to face off against every year?
If this was all based on history, the Gamecocks would play Florida, Georgia and Tennessee every year. And that could still be the case — but those schools have other rivalries to fulfill, too.
As for other teams that could be in the mix, Missouri, Kentucky and Vanderbilt immediately come to mind.
The Gamecocks are already sort-of rivals with Missouri, battling for the illustrious Mayor’s Cup every year. As for Kentucky/Vanderbilt — well, the Wildcats and Commodores don’t have many other traditional rivals, and Gamecocks fans can drive to both stadiums.
This story was originally published August 21, 2025 at 6:01 PM.
