Life is about to get even harder for SEC teams with a new nine-game SEC schedule, plus at least one other Power Four opponent in nonconference play, beginning in 2026, and about all Auburn coach Hugh Freeze can do is make light of the situation.
“Were the Packers available? Can we get them and maybe the Chiefs?” Freeze said, sarcastically referencing how demanding the slate will be each week.
The SEC’s nine-game schedule pairs each team with three annual opponents while the remaining six games rotate. Auburn’s set opponents — Alabama, Georgia and Vanderbilt — likely guarantee two of the toughest matchups in the league every season. Some top programs, like Alabama and Georgia, won’t face each other each year, giving certain teams occasional scheduling relief. The SEC will also reassess permanent opponents every four years, meaning the current slate could shift by 2030 to keep future rotations fresh.
Still, the demanding slate isn’t unique to Auburn.
“Every one of the schedules is equally hard and difficult,” Freeze said. “It’s kind of exciting. I think it’s going to be exciting for fans. I say this all the time, and I know people may say it’s a cop-out or whatever, but I do think the mindset of everybody has to be more like the NFL. … I think you have to start having the mindset: ‘8-4 is good, 9-3 can be really good, 10-2 is off the charts.'”
With the expanded slate, each SEC loss carries more weight in College Football Playoff positioning. Starting in 2025, the CFP selection committee will use a new “record strength” metric that emphasizes performance against tough schedules, giving teams extra credit for beating quality opponents while softening the impact of losses to top programs.
“I keep clamoring, as do the other 15 coaches — how do you decide who the best 12, 16 teams are at the end of the year to get a shot, like baseball, basketball, and what are the metrics that decide that?” Freeze said. “Certainly, we think we’ve got a league that is gonna several teams at the end of the year that need to be considered heavily, particularly with the schedules that we play.”
Freeze remains under a lot of pressure with a 14-15 overall record since taking over at Auburn in 2023 — including a 3-1 mark so far this season.
The new nine-game SEC slate could also make reaching contract incentives more difficult. According to the full contract obtained by AL.com, Freeze can earn $150,000 for reaching five SEC wins, $200,000 for making the SEC Championship Game and another $200,000 for winning the conference title. Postseason bonuses climb steeply: $750,000 for a College Football Playoff berth, $1 million for a semifinal win and $2 million for a national championship.
With the SEC packing the slate with high-stakes matchups, those benchmarks could be far tougher to hit, raising the stakes for wins and Freeze’s job security.
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