What does SEC’s move to nine-game football schedule mean for UK-U of L rivalry?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- SEC football will adopt a nine-game conference schedule starting in 2026.
- Kentucky faces scheduling strain as fewer home games may impact finances.
- Louisville rivalry risks cancellation due to reduced nonconference slots.
Mitch Barnhart did not get his way in the long-running debate over the future format of the SEC football schedule.
Starting in 2026, the SEC will begin playing nine conference games on an annual basis, the league office announced Thursday. Kentucky and Barnhart had been among the most outspoken defenders of the current eight-game schedule as the format was debated in the wake of Oklahoma and Texas joining the league.
“Eight is better for Kentucky,” Barnhart said as the football team opened camp in July. “...Obviously there’s financial components to it. There’s competitive components to it. There’s components to it as it relates to our ability to have seven home games or eight home games.”
The SEC will continue to operate without divisions in football as it did last year.
Under the new format, each team will be assigned three fixed opponents. The other six conference games will rotate among the remaining league teams. Each school will play every other SEC school at least once in two years and will play home and away against every school at least once every four years.
The SEC has not announced which teams will be matched as fixed opponents but has said those decisions will be made with the intention of preserving historic rivalries.
The biggest question for Kentucky is what effect the move to nine SEC games will have on the Governor’s Cup rivalry with Louisville.
Because Barnhart has been open about the financial need to play as many home games as possible and the competitive toll a nine-game SEC schedule could take on UK’s path to bowl eligibility, there has been no shortage of speculation that expanding the SEC schedule would lead UK to back out of the Louisville rivalry.
“If we go to nine, that means every other year we have five conference games on the road and four conference games at home,” Barnhart said in July. “You only have three nonconference games. Then when you begin to do the math of how all that comes together for Kentucky, and that’s where we’ve got to be really thoughtful about what we do.”
For now, the rivalry appears safe as the SEC noted schools will continue to be required to schedule “at least one additional high quality non-conference from the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten or Big 12 conferences or Notre Dame each season.” A UK spokesman confirmed to the Herald-Leader Thursday night that the school has no plans to cancel the Governor’s Cup rivalry.
The league said in its announcement it would continue to evaluate nonconference scheduling policies.
“The SEC has established itself as the leader in delivering the most compelling football schedule in college athletics,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a news release. “Fans will see traditional rivalries preserved, new matchups more frequently, and a level of competition unmatched across the nation.”
This story has been updated to note the SEC keeping its nonconference scheduling policy.
This story was originally published August 21, 2025 at 6:03 PM.