Greg Sankey says SEC has paused discussions about 2026 schedule

It remains to be seen whether the SEC will remain at eight league games or move to nine in 2026.

Before the SEC announced its scheduling format for a post-expansion reality, there were a lot of questions about what a 16-team conference schedule would look like.

Some thought the league would move to a nine-game conference slate, as several other leagues such as the Big Ten have done. But while that remains a possibility in the future, the SEC opted to remain at eight games for at least the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

When it comes to 2026, though, a lot is still up in the air. Speaking at SEC spring meetings in Destin, Florida, this week, commissioner [autotag]Greg Sankey[/autotag] said scheduling would continue to be a topic of conversation this week.

“Given all that’s happening around us, scheduling kind of is out there (to be determined later), and we continue to talk about it,” Sankey said, per On3.

Sankey also seemingly implied that part of the hangup is getting more money from ESPN for an extra conference game, something the league has clearly been working on a pitch for.

“We had conversations with ESPN’s leadership a couple weeks ago just to re-engage, to help them understand that if we stay at eight what’s absent from the schedule,” Sankey said.

It’s yet to be seen what the future will hold for this conference, but it’s clear that with so many moving parts, there is an element of improvisation going on. We’ll see if this week’s meetings lead to any further clarity.

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