ESPN’s Bill Connelly is already circling the 2026 SEC schedule for the games that should matter most, and the league’s top matchups are packed into a few familiar spots.
Connelly’s conference-by-conference look at the best games in the Power 4 is built around a simple formula: the matchups that combine the highest projected SP+ ratings and a scoring margin under eight points. In the SEC, that turns up a slate with plenty of heavyweight showdowns.
LSU makes the list first with its Sept. 26 home game against Texas A&M, which Connelly views as an early read on the SEC title race. He notes that LSU’s Week 3 trip to Oxford to face Ole Miss could be more intense off the field, but the Texas A&M game is the one he points to as the first true barometer.
Georgia is on the board twice. The Bulldogs travel to Tuscaloosa on Oct. 10 for another meeting with Alabama, a matchup that has become one of the SEC’s annual headliners. Georgia also shows up again on Nov. 7 at Ole Miss, after the Bulldogs and Rebels played two great games last season and are headed for a trilogy matchup.
Texas closes out Connelly’s SEC list with a pair of November games: Nov. 14 at LSU and Nov. 27 at Texas A&M. The Longhorns are set to play eight games in 2026 against projected top-20 teams, and those two SEC road trips stand out as the biggest ones on the schedule.
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Jimbo Fisher has kept backing Reed as the starter, which only raises the stakes on what comes next. Around college football, there is already talk about Reeds ceiling, from Heisman buzz to eventual NFL questions, but the immediate pressure is simpler and harsher: if he can translate camp progress into production once the games count, Texas A&Ms optimism can keep building. [Read more 🡒]