There wasn't a lot of intrigue surrounding the SEC's future scheduling announcement for Alabama football or any other school. On3's Chris Low scooped the annual rivals for each team on Monday, spoiling the suspense of the Tuesday night reveal.
As expected, Alabama's annual rivals, for the next four years at least, are Auburn, Tennessee, and Mississippi State. But along with that reveal, the Crimson Tide now knows which teams it will play home and away from 2026-2029.
The surprising part of the reveal is that your non-annual opponents will rotate on an every other year basis. So Alabama's 2026 road opponents will be home games in 2028. The 2027 road opponents will be home games in 2029.
Here's a look at Alabama's announced conference opponents for the next four years:
2026:
Home: Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas A&M
Away: Mississippi State, Tennessee, Kentucky, LSU, Vanderbilt
2027:
Home: Mississippi State, Tennessee, Florida, Missouri, Texas
Away: Auburn, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Oklahoma
2028:
Home: Auburn, Kentucky, LSU, Vanderbilt
Away: Mississippi State, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas A&M
2029:
Home: Mississippi State, Tennessee, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Oklahoma
Away: Auburn, Florida, Missouri, Texas
Takeaways from Alabama's future SEC schedules
The SEC promised balance, and at least from Alabama's perspective, it feels like they delivered. Mississippi State as the third annual opponent always made more sense than LSU; the Tide has played the Bulldogs more times than any other team in college football. It's the second most common matchup in SEC history behind Auburn and Georgia.
Alabama unfortunately draws the short straw next season with five SEC road games and only four at home, but that was always likely to be the case with Florida State and the Crimson Tide's other two non-conference opponents next season traveling to Tuscaloosa.
But if Alabama had to play five conference road games next season, you could do worse than three of them being at Mississippi State, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt. Drawing Georgia for the third year in a row is less than ideal, but at least that game will happen in Tuscaloosa, much to the chagrin of the Bulldogs faithful.
The new SEC scheduling model will ensure that Alabama plays every other SEC team in the next two seasons. In a rolling four-year period, Alabama will visit every other SEC stadium. Trips to Florida and Texas in 2029 will be the last major gaps between opponents. Alabama last traveled to Gainesville for a matchup in 2021, meaning it will have been eight years between those trips by the time Alabama heads there in 2029.
2029 will be Alabama's first trip to Austin since Texas became a conference mate. The Crimson Tide played the Longhorns on the road in 2022 as part of a home-and-home series.