Alabama’s New SEC Rivals Leave LSU Off the List
It looks like one of the biggest shakeups in SEC football scheduling has finally arrived, and Alabama is right in the middle of it. For years, fans circled the Alabama–LSU matchup on their calendars. It was a game that often carried championship implications, fueled incredible storylines, and felt like must-see TV every single season. But under the SEC’s new scheduling model, that yearly meeting is gone.
Instead, Alabama’s three annual opponents will now be Auburn, Tennessee, and Mississippi State. Auburn and Tennessee make perfect sense—those are historic rivalries that go back generations. The Iron Bowl against Auburn is legendary, and the “Third Saturday in October” with Tennessee is one of the South’s most celebrated football traditions. Losing either of those would have felt almost unthinkable.
Also Read:The surprise here is who replaced LSU. Rather than keeping that heavyweight showdown, the SEC decided Alabama will face Mississippi State every year. Now, Alabama has played Mississippi State more than any other SEC school, and geographically the two campuses are the closest pair in the conference. But historically, this rivalry hasn’t exactly been even. Mississippi State has only won 17 games in the entire series, compared to Alabama’s 88, with three ties. In fact, the Bulldogs haven’t beaten the Tide since 2007, which was Nick Saban’s very first year in Tuscaloosa. So while there’s familiarity, the drama just isn’t the same as the Alabama–LSU battles fans have grown used to.
Interestingly, this move seems to reflect something Saban himself pointed out a couple of years ago. Back in 2023, when talk of expanding to a nine-game SEC schedule surfaced, there was speculation that Alabama would be locked into LSU, Auburn, and Tennessee as permanent opponents. Saban went on record saying that didn’t feel fair, because it loaded Alabama with three of the toughest draws in the league. He argued that if the SEC wanted to expand conference games, then the “fixed three” opponents had to be balanced properly. Well, it appears his concerns were eventually heard.
As for LSU, they’ll have their own trio of annual rivals: Arkansas, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M. That lineup keeps plenty of spice for their schedule, but it also frees Alabama from what used to be a brutal yearly test.
It’s worth noting that the SEC isn’t calling these “permanent” matchups anymore. Commissioner Greg Sankey explained that the league will review the setup after four years, meaning nothing is locked in forever. The conference wanted balance, and the nine-game format was designed to create more fairness across the board.
At the end of the day, Alabama keeps its two fiercest rivalries intact and trades LSU for Mississippi State. Some fans will miss the yearly drama of Alabama versus LSU, but others will see this as a fairer slate for the Tide. Either way, the schedule is set, and the next chapter of SEC football is about to begin.
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