Takeaways from Kentucky's three permanent 2026-29 SEC opponents and schedules

The SEC announced the permanent opponents in football for each team in the conference over the next four seasons on Tuesday, and Kentucky's opponents are very familiar for fans. Kentucky's three permanent opponents for the next four years are Tennessee, Florida, and South Carolina.

This comes after the league passed the decision to adopt a format where teams play three permanent conference opponents over the next four seasons, with the other six conference foes rotating each year. Let's dive into some takeaways on Kentucky's three permanent opponents.

Kentucky's path through the SEC just got harder

Kentucky's three permanent opponents didn't include a bottom-tier SEC team, so to speak, so the three permanent conference foes are not easy for the Wildcats, three teams where wins historically have been hard to come by. Kentucky has recently had Florida's number, winning three of the last four matchups against the Gators, but they're on the wrong side of history against Tennessee, only defeating the Vols twice in thec last 10 years. As for South Carolina, that matchup is becoming more and more like an SEC rivalry by the day.

Kentucky's 2026-29 schedules feature some TOUGH matchups

On top of revealing each team's permanent SEC opponents, the conference also unveiled Kentucky's 2026-29 schedules. Unfortunately for Kentucky, that includes some really tough road matchups. Beginning next season, the Wildcats will take on road games at South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma, and home against Florida, Alabama, LSU and Vandy. Believe it or not, it gets even tougher in 2027, but what really stands out is Kentuckys absolutely brutal road schedule in 2028. Kentucky will have to travel to LSU, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina and Vanderbilt, with home stands against Texas A&M, Florida, Missouri and Oklahoma.

Kentucky's road in the SEC will be even tougher over the next few years, especially a program looking to take a step up in the conference, let alone get things on track this year with the already brutal schedule awaiting them the rest of this season. What this really means for Kentucky is an extra SEC game, but one less "cupcake" game, as they will only have two each season over the next four years.

Mark Stoops and the Wildcats certainly have a tough challenge ahead over the next few years, especially considering how hard the conference already is. Now, it just got even harder. You can check out Kentucky's 2026-29 schedules below.

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