SEC increases permanent home-and-home rivals in basketball

Kentucky will play Florida, Tennessee and Vanderbilt twice a season every season in the Southeastern Conference's new basketball schedule format that increases the number of permanent home-and-home opponents from one to three.

The SEC announced the tweak to its scheduling Thursday.

Each of the 14 SEC teams will play at each other at least once, and also have five home-and-home opponents. Three will be the same every season and two others will rotate.

Previously, SEC basketball schedules were built around one permanent home-and-home rival with the other four rotating yearly.

Florida also will play Georgia and Vanderbilt every season.

The rest of the SEC's permanent home-and-home rivals:

Alabama: Auburn, Mississippi State, LSU.

Arkansas: Missouri, Texas A&M, LSU.

Auburn: Alabama, Ole Miss, Georgia.

Georgia: South Carolina, Florida, Auburn.

LSU: Texas A&M, Alabama, Arkansas.

Mississippi: Mississippi State, Auburn, Missouri.

Mississippi State: Ole Miss, Alabama, South Carolina.

Missouri: Arkansas, Texas A&M, Ole Miss.

South Carolina: Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi State.

Tennessee: Vanderbilt, Kentucky, South Carolina.

Texas A&M: LSU, Arkansas, Missouri.

Vanderbilt: Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida.