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Who will be Georgia’s Rivals in 2026 and Beyond?

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It just means more….conference games. That was the news on Thursday night from the Southeastern Conference. The SEC will be adding a ninth conference game in 2026. Three of those games will be locked in as “rivalry” games for the SEC. Who will be considered Georgia’s rival in 2026 and beyond? Well, Sankey and the league haven’t said yet, but they did leave a few bread crumbs. Ross Dellenger reported on Friday that the SEC has three criteria for selecting each team’s rival.

  1.  Geography
  2. Rivalries
  3. Balance
Using that criterion, we will give our best guess at who will be Georgia’s SEC rivals in 2026 and beyond.

Who will be Georgia’s Rivals in 2026 and Beyond?

Long Live the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry 

Opponent: Auburn Tigers
Series Record: Georgia leads the series  65-56-8; the Dawgs are on an eight-game winning streak.
Geography ✅
Rivalries ✅
Balance ✅

Lock it in. Even with the Miracle at Jordan-Hare, we can’t say now. It’s tradition!

Photo Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Let the Cocktail Party Continue 

Opponent: Florida Gators
Series Record: Georgia leads the series 56-44-2; the Dawgs have won the last four matchups.
Geography ✅
Rivalries ✅
Balance ✅

Jorts and cocktails? Who could ask for more? Okay, well, maybe this game can be moved to Between the Hedges and The Swap. Let’s face it, it isn’t going anywhere.

Three Likely  Candidates for the Third Spot

Tennessee Volunteers
Series Record: Georgia leads the series 29-23-2; the Dawgs have won the last eight games.
Geography ✅
Rivalries ✅
Balance ✅

This surely wouldn’t be on Josh Heupel’s secret ballot. Tennessee beat Georgia on a crazy Hail Mary play in 2016. Since then, it has been ugly for the Vols. The Dawgs’ average margin of victory in that span: 22.8 ppg. The Vols make a lot of sense otherwise.

Kentucky Wildcats
Series Record: Georgia leads the series 64-12-2; Georgia has 15 reasons to hope the SEC picks someone else.
Geography ✅
Rivalries ❌
Balance ✅

Kentucky keeps popping up as a likely third opponent. All we have to say is “that’s a hard pass.” Thanks, David.

South Carolina Gamecocks
Series Record: Georgia leads the series 55-19-2; the Dawgs have swarmed the Gamecocks in each of the last four meetings.
Geography ✅
Rivalries ❌
Balance ✅

Little brother. Our Columbia friends may not like the sentiment, but if the shoe fits. This makes a lot of sense geographically, even if the scoreboard is rather lopsided.

Three Out-of-the-Box  Candidates for the Third Spot

Ole Miss Rebels
Series Record: Georgia leads the series 33-14-1; the Rebels topped the Dawgs in Oxford last year.
Geography ❌
Rivalries ❌
Balance ✅

Can we have an asterisk that this should be a rivalry only as long as Lane Kiffin is the head coach in Oxford? Speaking of Oxford, what Georgia fan wouldn’t want to hit up The Grove and City Grocery every other year?

Alabama Crimson Tide
Series Record: Alabama leads the series 44-26-4; the Tide have won the last two matchups.
Geography ✅
Rivalries ✅
Balance ❌

Cue the Michael Scott meme about being ready to be hurt again. Alabama has been a thorn in Kirby Smart and Georgia’s side. That is why the 2021 National Championship game was so sweet. But let’s face it, the game pits two of the top SEC programs against each other. It feeds the ire of both fan bases and also gives the television ratings folks plenty to grin about.

Texas Longhorns
Series Record: Texas leads the series 4-3; Georgia won both SEC matchups last year against the Longhorns.
Geography ❌
Rivalries ❌
Balance ❌

Why are we keeping Texas when it doesn’t check any of the boxes? Because it is Georgia and Texas. Georgia and Texas sit atop the conference and are must-see TV. The regular-season matchup in October drew 12.9 million viewers on ABC, the most-watched game of the season and the biggest regular-season audience since 2016. Their SEC Championship rematch on December 7 averaged 16.6 million viewers. Forget logic, and give us eyeballs.

Save Room for Some Clean Old Fashioned Hate

Opponent: North Avenue Trade School (aka Georgia Tech)
Series Record: Georgia leads the series 72-41-5; the Dawgs have won the last seven in a row.

In addition to the nine conference games, Sankey is requiring teams to play a 10th game against a P4 opponent, something they don’t have to bother with in Bloomington. “SEC teams are required to schedule at least one additional high-quality non-conference game from the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, or Big 12 conferences or Notre Dame each season.” That should protect Georgia’s rival in Atlanta. Let’s just hope the game can return to Bobby Dodd Stadium instead of staying at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, as it will this year.
Main Photo: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

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