Retour
The Southeastern Conference has been even wilder than normal in the 2026 season, with so many teams capable of beating anyone else in the league on a week-to-week basis. With a stunning amount of good teams all over the conference, and the addition of a ninth league game this year, the SEC is beginning to cannibalize itself further and further as each week of the season passes.
Using ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI), we can take a snapshot of the SEC through Week 8 action to see who has played the hardest schedule, and who has played the easiest schedule. Six teams (Alabama, Kentucky, LSU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt) haven't had their bye week yet, but that will change in Week 9. Everyone else has already made it through the bye, meaning those 10 schools have no byes from here on out. No teams will have an open date in November.
Four schools (Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss) still have a FCS team left on the schedule, while four other schools (Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, and South Carolina) still have a rivalry non-conference game against an ACC team left on the schedule. The remaining eight schools are all in SEC play from here on out.
Here are all 16 SEC teams ranked by strength of schedule as we enter Week 9.
13th-highest remaining strength of schedule overall (7th-highest in the SEC)
30th-highest remaining strength of schedule overall (15th-highest in the SEC)
24th-highest remaining strength of schedule overall (12th-highest in the SEC)
19th-highest remaining strength of schedule overall (11th-highest in the SEC)
25th-highest remaining strength of schedule overall (13th-highest in the SEC)
39th-highest remaining strength of schedule overall (16th-highest in the SEC)
10th-highest remaining strength of schedule overall (6th-highest in the SEC)
16th-highest remaining strength of schedule overall (8th-highest in the SEC)
4th-highest remaining strength of schedule overall (3rd-highest in the SEC)
3rd-highest remaining strength of schedule overall (2nd-highest in the SEC)
17th-highest remaining strength of schedule overall (9th-highest in the SEC)
6th-highest remaining strength of schedule overall (4th-highest in the SEC)
18th-highest remaining strength of schedule overall (10th-highest in the SEC)
Highest remaining strength of schedule overall (Highest in the SEC)
7th-highest remaining strength of schedule overall (5th-highest in the SEC)
26th-highest remaining strength of schedule overall (14th-highest in the SEC)