Greg Sankey Sends Clear SEC Message for Alabama, Georgia and Others After ESPN Analyst Raises Serious Rivalry Questions

A ninth conference game is officially coming in 2026, and it isn’t just about shuffling schedules—it’s about shaking the very ground the sport stands on. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey didn’t step up to the mic before Alabama-Wisconsin to sugarcoat it either. He gave his league a straight shot: the rivalries you know, the rivalries you love—they’re all under review.

On September 13, Sankey made it to the presser and clarified that no so-called “permanent” rivalry is really permanent.“It’s not permanent. … These are annual rivalry games, and we’ve acknowledged that we’ll go through a four-year cycle, then take an examination, look deeply,” he spilled. Translation? Don’t get too comfortable, because what looks set in stone today could be cracked wide open by 2029. Alabama fans already sweating bullets about the LSU clash have good reason—because while Auburn and Tennessee are locks, LSU’s spot in that holy trinity feels shaky.

The stakes run deeper than bragging rights. A ninth SEC game means more meat on the bone, fewer filler matchups, and schedules that put programs like Alabama and Georgia under the kind of weekly stress test Wall Street execs wouldn’t survive. For Sankey, this is all about competitive balance. “We understand the importance of some of these longstanding rivalries, and we’ll work to have as equitable a schedule as possible, given that things change competitively,” he added. Balance is the word, but in SEC country, balance usually comes with someone’s tradition tipping over.

Under the leading model, each SEC team keeps three permanent rivals while rotating six other league opponents. The upside? It keeps fire matchups like Georgia–Florida and Texas–Oklahoma alive. It also kills off the cupcake complaints, where powerhouse schools spend a Saturday flexing against FCS squads. And let’s be honest—that’s a win for fans, TV execs, and playoff committees all at once. Nobody’s buying tickets for blowouts; they’re buying into chaos, and Sankey just sold them the premium package.

But the playoff angle might be the spiciest wrinkle in this whole nine-game plotline. The Big Ten has been chirping for years about tougher schedules, pushing a playoff format that rewards leagues with heavyweight slates. With this move, the SEC just told the Big Ten to quit crying. Now every Power 4 conference is aligned at nine games, and that unity could be the gasoline poured on the fire for a 16-team playoff. Sankey has wanted this shift for months, telling ESPN back in July, “I think we should be working towards that.”

So here’s the bottom line: nine SEC games don’t just reshape Saturdays in the South, they pull the whole sport into a new orbit. More marquee matchups. More playoff credibility. And one more reminder that the SEC isn’t just running college football—it’s redefining it. But the cost of that power might be blood spilled on the altar of tradition.

Rece Davis on Alabama’s football rivalry

ESPN’s Rece Davis didn’t dodge when asked which rivalry Alabama can’t afford to lose. His answer was quick and sharp: Tennessee. Period. On September 12, DawgNation posted the clip of Davis answering what three set rivalries Tennessee should keep under the new SEC schedule. He didn’t mince words. “You’ve got to keep Alabama because while that’s the most important rivalry to Tennessee, got to keep Alabama. So that’s off the table. That’s done. That has to happen,” Davis said. And he’s right—the ‘Third Saturday in October’ isn’t just a game, it’s a holiday dressed up as a football fight.

The tradition is so baked in that it carries its own name. Alabama and Tennessee first locked horns back in 1901, and ever since, fans have circled that October clash on the calendar like it’s Thanksgiving. The game typically falls on—you guessed it—the third Saturday in October, a branding move so perfect it stuck for over a century. Only in rare cases, like 2021 when it slipped to the fourth Saturday, has the calendar betrayed it. This season, it lands on October 18. Mark it down.

Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama squad holds the upper hand in the series, leading 60-39-8 and winning 8 of the last 10 matchups since 2015. But let’s not forget the latest twist—on October 19, Tennessee cracked the Tide 24-17, a loss that stung deeper than most because it flipped the script on recent history. That’s the beauty of rivalry games—they don’t care about rankings or records, they live on emotion, mistakes, and big moments. And Davis nailed it: Alabama-Tennessee is one of those rivalries too important to ever mess with.

When Sankey talks about balance, and when ESPN analysts talk about preservation, this is the clash sitting at the center of it all. If the SEC is going to roll into the nine-game era with its crown intact, it can’t gamble away the fire that makes college football different from every other sport. Alabama-Tennessee isn’t just a rivalry; it’s SEC oxygen. Take it away, and the whole room suffocates.