Arkansas, Ole Miss and Texas A&M will reportedly be LSU’s three annual opponents when the SEC moves to a nine-game conference schedule in 2026.
On3 and The Advocate both reported the news Monday morning ahead of an anticipated release Tuesday by the SEC.
“It’s been an open conversation in every meeting that we’ve had with the athletic directors and any of our SEC meetings,” coach Brian Kelly said Thursday. “Whether it’s the fall meeting or the spring meeting or the summer meeting, it’s been constantly at the top of the agenda, so everybody’s quite aware of what is out there. The athletic director here knows what it is, but the head coach doesn’t.
“And, look, I’ve said this since Day One: I think you could make a case for a half-dozen teams that would be that natural rival, but there’s other teams that want those games as well. So I think they’ll come up with a pretty good rationale for it. But, you know, I’ll take Alabama, and I’ll take Georgia, and I’ll take — no, I’m kidding. I mean, we’ll play whoever the tell us play.”
The SEC’s new scheduling system will rotate the 12 remaining league opponents every other year, as well as include a reevaluation every four years of the three annual opponents.
So the Tigers would face the Razorbacks, Rebels and Aggies every season from 2026 through 2029, while facing each of Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Vanderbilt twice in that span.
The SEC will then reevaluate whether to continue with its initial alignment of annual opponents or make possible adjustments.
Notably, either 2026 or 2027 will become the first regular season that LSU and Alabama have not faced since 1963.
The news marks another step away from the annual ties of the old SEC West division, which has already seen Auburn and Mississippi State fall from the Tigers’ annual schedule — including playing neither this season.
The new trio of annual opponents maintains longstanding “Golden Boot” and “Magnolia Bowl” rivalries with Arkansas and Ole Miss, as well as the geographic proximity with Texas A&M that has gradually developed into a more prominent game in recent years with chaotic and heated battles on the field and on the recruiting trail.
“I’ve been in every one of those meetings, and I’ve heard everybody talk about what they would prefer,” Kelly said. “For me, I just want to play what would naturally be our rivals, but I don’t have a vote in this. This is the athletic directors and our commissioner.”
