The 35th SEC Championship Game is Saturday, December 5, 2026 at 4 p.m. ET on ABC, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The two teams are simply the top two in the SEC standings by winning percentage. There are no divisions and no other path in.
| Date | Saturday, December 5, 2026 |
| Kickoff | 4 p.m. ET |
| TV | ABC |
| Venue | Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta |
| Who qualifies | The top two teams in the SEC standings by winning percentage |
| Edition | The 35th, and the first decided by a nine game conference schedule |
How Teams Qualify
Two teams, chosen by winning percentage in conference play. That is the whole rule. The SEC scrapped divisions after the 2023 season and runs a single standings table, so there is no East winner, no West winner and no requirement that the two finalists come from different parts of the map.
Because every team now plays nine conference games instead of eight, the standings are a larger sample than they have ever been, and ties are less likely to need breaking than they were under the eight game format. When records do finish level, the conference tiebreakers decide it, starting with head to head results.
What Changed in 2026
This is the first season of the nine game SEC schedule, and it reshapes how the championship field is decided.
- Nine conference games, not eight. Seventy-two league games in total across the season.
- Three annual opponents per team, which preserves the traditional rivalries, with the other six rotating.
- Everyone plays everyone at least once every two years, and home and away within four years.
- Three non-conference games, down from four, and at least one still has to come from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 or Notre Dame.
The practical effect is that a team can no longer duck the top of the league for years at a time. Strength of schedule inside the SEC is flatter, which makes the standings a cleaner measure of who actually deserves the two spots in Atlanta.
The Venue and the History
Mercedes-Benz Stadium hosts for the tenth time. Atlanta hosts for the 34th, which is nearly the entire history of the game.
From 1992 through 2023 the format was East champion against West champion, and across those years the West holds a 19-13 edge in title games. Georgia won the 2025 title here, beating Alabama.
The Bottom Line
Saturday, December 5, 4 p.m. ET, ABC, Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The top two teams in a single sixteen team standings table, decided over nine conference games for the first time. Track who is in position on our SEC standings page.