Alabama 2026 Football Schedule: Dates Revealed for the Tide’s SEC Slate

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The SEC officially dropped Alabama’s 2026 conference schedule on Thursday night, giving fans their first full look at what Kalen DeBoer and the Crimson Tide will be navigating that fall. Kickoff times will come later, but for now, we’ve got the dates, and there’s a lot to unpack.

ALABAMA 2026 SCHEDULE

  • Sept. 5 – East Carolina
  • Sept. 12 – at Kentucky
  • Sept. 19 – Florida State
  • Sept. 26 – South Carolina
  • Oct. 3 – at Mississippi State
  • Oct. 10 – Georgia
  • Oct. 17 – at Tennessee
  • Oct. 24 – Texas A&M
  • Oct. 31 – Open Date
  • Nov. 7 – at LSU
  • Nov. 14 – at Vanderbilt
  • Nov. 21 – Chattanooga
  • Nov. 28 – Auburn
  • Dec. 5 – SEC Championship (Atlanta)

The 2026 season will be historic for the league, marking the first year the SEC officially moves to a nine-game conference schedule.

On top of that, every SEC team must still schedule a 10th game against either the Big Ten, Big 12, ACC or Notre Dame. It’s a tougher, more modern format, exactly what fans have been asking for.

Back in September, the SEC revealed each team’s opponents for the 2026–29 cycle, using the new 6+3 model.

For Alabama, that means Auburn, Tennessee and Mississippi State stay on the yearly rotation, while the rest of the league rotates through every two years.

It’s a cleaner, more predictable system that still keeps all the traditional rivalries intact.

Alabama’s non-conference slate also got reshuffled earlier this month. The Tide canceled their home-and-home with West Virginia, which would’ve sent them to Morgantown on September 5.

Now, Alabama will host East Carolina to open the season.

The September 12 matchup with South Florida was pushed all the way to 2032, making room for Chattanooga in their usual spot.

One interesting wrinkle: Alabama will open SEC play incredibly early on September 12 at Kentucky.

It’s the Tide’s earliest conference game since 2007, when they played Vanderbilt in Week 2.

And unlike some recent seasons, every SEC team gets just one bye week in 2026.

Alabama’s falls on Halloween weekend.  The week before the LSU matchup, like most years. 

All in all, 2026 looks like a classic Alabama grind: heavy on rivalry games, full of SEC gauntlets, and packed with meaningful tests long before November arrives.

Roll Tide.

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