Will announced SEC reveal be Christmas or April Fools for Hogs?

League has history of not using logic, hanging Arkansas Razorbacks out to dry on big changes

Arkansas Razorbacks running back Mike Washington celebrates after scoring against the Ole Miss Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss. | Ted McClenning-allHOGS Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — According to numerous reports, the SEC has tabbed next Tuesday as the day it will reveal next season's nine-game SEC schedule and also reveal the three permanent opponents for each school.

The SEC will reveal Tuesday *all* opponents for every team in its new 9-game schedule for football in 2026, sources tell @CBSSports. The 3 "permanent" rivals will be referred to as "annual opponents," which will be reviewed every 4 years. pic.twitter.com/yOf21Sdx4T

— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) September 18, 2025

This is the day Razorbacks fans have been waiting for since the announcement of the new format first came down a few weeks ago. For them, it's being anticipated in a manner similar to Christmas day.

However, as those who have followed the Hogs in their 30+ years in the SEC, it's common knowledge that big decisions by the conference rarely go in favor of the Razorbacks. Case in point would be when the league decided to play a conference only schedule during COVID and handed an Arkansas team with four wins over the previous two years and a new coach in Sam Pittman extra games against No. 1 Georgia and No. 6 Florida.

There are plenty of ways to handle this. There are logical divisions and then there's throwing a lot of stuff against the wall with what the league perceives to be games people want to see that often don't pan out that way, especially for Arkansas.

Here is what we said earlier this year when addressing how things might play out if the SEC applies logic to its choices for permanent opponents.

If only the SEC were logical

After kicking the can down the road so many times it's no longer fit for recycling, the SEC came out with a major schedule announcement Thursday afternoon.

The SEC is going to nine conference games with assignments of three opponents per team. That immediately sent every Arkansas fan into a ravenous frenzy as they need to know who their three opponents are going to be and they need that information a week before the announcement it's so important to them.

Well, the good news is it's pretty easy to ascertain the most likely grouping of pods. Commissioner Greg Sankey went on the Paul Finebaum Show Thursday afternoon and outlined the general criteria.

They want to maintain as many natural rivals as possible, consider geography, and account for traditional competitive balance. That's more than enough to project with a relative level of certainty the groupings that make the most logical sense, especially if they are willing to go with the pod method.

Which of these teams are you most OK with not being in the Hogs' SEC pod?

— allHOGS (@hogsonsi) August 22, 2025

The Little 12

Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, Missouri 

This one maintains two of the biggest rivalries in all of college sports while providing Oklahoma and Missouri a chance to play the current SEC teams they have faced the most throughout program history.

Let's go ahead and address the first point of contention. Arkansas vs. Texas doesn't hold a candle to the Red River Rivalry, nor the bitter hatred involved in the Texas vs. Texas A&M game.

Also, Arkansas vs. Missouri has none of the history compared to Missouri vs. any of the three former Big 12 schools, especially Oklahoma.

Being back in an abbreviated version of the original Big 12 should fit like a glove for these four teams. Factor in Missouri getting its shots in on hated rival Kansas, and this truly has a throwback feel.

The SEC West

Arkansas, LSU. Ole Miss, Mississippi State 

LSU and the Mississippi schools have played each other since the earliest days of the SEC and this provides Arkansas it's best natural fit.

The Hogs have a rivalry game with LSU for the Golden Boot that annually defies records of each team and the Razorbacks should have long since had their own named rivalry game with Ole Miss in lieu of the Battle Line Rivalry. The two have played each other forever, serving as annual out of conference opponents dating back to the Razorbacks' old Southwest Conference games before playing annually as conference foes in 1992. 

As for Mississippi State, the Hogs and Dogs need each other for when times get rough. There's also the preservation of the Egg Bowl that caps off this most logical grouping.

The SEC Central 

Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Vanderbilt 

Everyone wants to keep the Iron Bowl and also preserve Alabama vs. Tennessee, so this makes good sense. However, Alabama fans are going to be uneasy about it because to keep Tennessee's other rivalry game intact, the Tide find themselves staring across the field at the Vanderbilt Commodores.

That must be a terrifying feeling for them, but that's the price that must be paid if playing the Vols every year really means that much to Alabama.

The SEC East

Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky

The obvious connection is these are all original former SEC East members. To make this an even bigger no-brainer, Kentucky vs. Florida is a highly underrated rivalry.

Sames goes for Georgia and South Carolina in the Battle of the Hedges. Of course, Florida and Georgia form one of the most festive rivalry games in all of college sports.

So, that's it. There are scenarios that try to shoehorn in Arkansas with Texas or Missouri in with Arkansas, but to do so creates much less natural groupings that, just like trying to force the Battle Line Rivalry, just don't feel right.

These are the best, most logical pairings that preserve balance and the most legitimate rivalries. Stringing it together any other way would be a disservice overall to the SEC as a whole.