Sources: 3 annual foes for SEC 9-game schedule

The SEC is set on Tuesday to release its new nine-game schedule for 2026, which will feature an overhaul in how the schedule traditionally works.

The biggest mystery hovering over the new nine-game schedule, which will be formally released at 7 p.m. ET (TV: SEC Network/ESPN2), is the three repeat opponents, which are set in place for the next four seasons, sources told ESPN.

The repeat opponents are balanced by the teams playing each league opponent every two years, a far cry from the SEC's old divisional play when teams could go six seasons without playing each other.

The repeat opponents are:

• Alabama: Auburn, Tennessee, Mississippi State

• Arkansas: LSU, Texas, Missouri

• Auburn: Alabama, Georgia, Vanderbilt

• Georgia: Auburn, Florida, South Carolina

• Florida: Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina

• Kentucky: Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee

• LSU: Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Arkansas

• Mississippi State: Alabama, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt

• Missouri: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M

• Oklahoma: Missouri, Ole Miss, Texas

• Ole Miss: LSU, Mississippi State, Oklahoma

• South Carolina: Georgia, Florida, Kentucky

• Tennessee: Alabama, Kentucky, Vanderbilt

• Texas: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M

• Texas A&M: LSU, Missouri, Texas

• Vanderbilt: Auburn, Mississippi State, Tennessee

SEC officials designed the slate by honoring traditional longstanding rivalries -- such as Georgia-Florida -- and attempting to balance schedules as best as possible.

The general format of the new schedule includes nine league games -- three annual opponents, six rotating opponents and an annual power conference/Notre Dame opponent. Along with playing each league team within a two-year span, the SEC teams will visit every venue over the four-year span.

The formula of records the SEC used to calculate how to slot teams came from a combined league record during the past four years. Ole Miss, for example, was fourth among the 16 SEC teams in that time frame and Auburn was 14th. Oklahoma and Texas carried over three seasons from the Big 12 for the purposes of the data.

The schedules are going to be built with a clean slate for the next four years, which means there could be hiccups, such as repeat games from the prior season. Some matchups could also be attributed to the unbalanced schedule -- five home and four road games or vice versa. A priority for balance was given to teams for 2026 as they'd be more likely to get five home games if they had a power conference game on the road.