One of the biggest debates all offseason between the Big Ten and SEC surrounded the number of conference games each conference plays every season. The SEC continues to play eight conference games each year while the Big Ten has been playing nine for the better part of a decade.
This fact alone has infuriated Big Ten fans, even though they made the decision to move from eight to nine conference games on their own.
A lot of SEC fans were hoping that their conference would stay strong and stick to eight conference games because SEC teams already face extremely difficult schedules as it is. Unfortunately Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger reported on Thursday that the SEC is inching closer to adopting a nine game conference schedule as well.
NEWS: The SEC is moving closer to adopting a 9-game conference football schedule, @RossDellenger reports👀https://t.co/0edzYj13HI pic.twitter.com/OjyvckL63H
— On3 (@On3sports) August 21, 2025
There are two big reasons why the SEC shouldn't do this, with the biggest being the competitive disadvantage this would give the SEC compared to the Big Ten.
SEC doesn't need to make their schedules more difficult
As mentioned, the Big Ten has already been playing nine conference games while the SEC has remained at eight. Even though this has been the case for awhile now, the SEC still dominates the strength of schedule metrics. In fact, 15 of the 16 most difficult schedules in the country this season belong to SEC teams.
So why does the SEC need to add another difficult conference game when their schedules are already harder than the Big Ten's schedules?
Loss of exciting nonconference matchups
Adding an extra SEC game naturally means every team will play one less nonconference opponent each season. This means that there will be far fewer exciting nonconference games fans get to experience every season because most teams will opt to schedule all easy nonconference opponents instead.
Georgia is the perfect example of this because their future nonconference schedules are already loaded. 2026 already has four nonconfernce games scheduled which includes two power four opponents in Georgia Tech and Louisville. So if they have to drop one of these games they likely will choose Louisville to keep their annual matchup with Georgia Tech in tact.
2027 has three nonconference games scheduled so far and they are all against power four opponents. So if Georgia ends up only playing three nonconference opponents that season, will they keep all three or cancel one to schedule an easier opponent? 2030 might be the most glaring example of all because Georgia already has Clemson, Ohio State and Georgia Tech on their schedule that year, if UGA needs to drop a game they certainly would be choosing one of those.
Overall it would be a shame to see the SEC cave to the Big Ten and play nine conference games every season. Unfortunately it appears that is exactly what is going to happen in the near future.