Bill Connelly names the 5 best SEC games of the 2026 college football season
By David Wasson
Published:
The 2026 college football season is right around the corner, which means looking ahead to identify the best games within each conference’s schedules.
ESPN’s Bill Connelly has delivered a conference-by-conference glimpse at the best games of 2026, identifying five games from each of the Power 4 leagues – including a handful of potential classics from the SEC – that expect to deliver both the highest combined SP+ ratings for both teams and a projected scoring margin under eight points.
Although Connelly says LSU’s Week 3 trip to Oxford to take on Ole Miss might be more intense off the field, LSU’s Sept. 26 home matchup against Texas A&M is the first game he is targeting as an early barometer in the SEC title picture.
It comes as little surprise that Georgia’s Oct. 10 trip to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama also holds special significance, as the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide seem to turn in annual classics. Georgia also hits the list with its Nov. 7 journey to play Ole Miss – as the Bulldogs and Rebels played two great games last season are primed for the trilogy matchup.
The Texas Longhorns round out Connelly’s list with a pair of November matchups – Nov. 14 at LSU and Nov. 27 at Texas A&M. Steve Sarkisian’s Longhorns play eight games in 2026 against projected top-20 teams, with these two being special within the SEC.
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. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
