Alabama to face LSU, Vanderbilt on the road in back-to-back weeks in 2026
By David Wasson
Published:
The Crimson Tide will face consecutive stern road trips in 2026, taking on LSU in Baton Rouge on Nov. 7 and traveling to play Vanderbilt on Nov. 14.
Those dates, which were released Thursday during the 2026 SEC schedule reveal, is part of the conference’s first-ever 9-game league format. The SEC announced in August it would begin playing 9 conference games for each school beginning in 2026, and that each program will continue to be required to schedule at least 1 opponent from the ACC, Big Ten, or Big 12, or Notre Dame.
The consecutive road trips are a part of a monster closing month for Alabama. The Crimson Tide will go to Death Valley to take on Lane Kiffin and the Tigers before heading to Nashville to take on the Commodores in a rematch of the 2024 upset victory by Vanderbilt that knocked Alabama out of its No. 1 national ranking.
Alabama is 58-27-5 all time against LSU, and the Tide holds an impressive 30-10 record against the Tigers in games played in Baton Rouge. Alabama is 61-20-4 all time against Vanderbilt.
After a tune-up Week 12 matchup against Chattanooga, Alabama will finish the 2026 regular season Nov. 28 against arch-rival Auburn in Tuscaloosa.
Under the new format, the SEC will continue with a single-standings, non-divisional structure. Each school will play 3 annual opponents, focused on maintaining many traditional rivalries. Each team’s remaining 6 games will rotate among the remaining conference schools and each team will face every other SEC program at least once every 2 years and every opponent home and away in 4 years.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
