ATHENS — Georgia’s 2026 football schedule is going to look different on a number of fronts.

One change was already announced on Wednesday, as Georgia and Louisville agreed to cancel their previously scheduled home-and-home series against each other. Louisville had been set to host Georgia on Sept. 19 of 2026, with the Cardinals then visiting Georgia in 2027.

The two schools mutually agreed to cancel the series in part because both the SEC and ACC will expand to nine conference games next season.

Georgia has known since August that it would play an additional SEC game over the previous eight-game model.

But head coach Kirby Smart waited until this past Saturday, just minutes after his team had won the SEC once again, to share how he really felt about a longer SEC schedule.

“That was the ninth game of our SEC schedule,” Smart said. “Just imagine that was the ninth game of the season for everybody in the SEC. Everybody played another SEC game. I’m not saying it was on this week. I’m saying it was on a previous week.

“That’s eight more losses, right? 16 teams. Eight more losses in our league.”

Georgia is one of the few programs in the league that understands the reality of what playing a ninth SEC game is like. Smart has led his team to eight SEC championship games during his time at Georgia. The rest of the league’s coaches have been to just two.

Injuries were a major talking point for both Georgia and Alabama in the run-up to the game. That isn’t a one-off either, as the Bulldogs can point to injuries impacting the 2018, 2019 and 2023 SEC Championship Games in a negative aspect. Even in a winning effort in 2024, Georgia saw its starting quarterback and punter suffer season-ending injuries.

“Those two teams were beat up tonight. That was the ninth game of the year. We’re looking at next year having another game,” Smart said following this year’s SEC championship. “I mean, the coaches in our league are concerned about it, very concerned about it. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t speak my piece and say it’s concerning.”

Despite Smart’s warnings, the SEC will move ahead with eight extra conference games.

The league announced back in September every member’s SEC foes for the next four seasons.

In 2026, Georgia will have road games against Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas and South Carolina. The Bulldogs will host Missouri, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and Auburn.

Those eight games will all be given dates, with the league set to announce the 2026 schedules in full on Thursday. Game times and television networks will come at a later date.

We know that Georgia’s game against Florida will be played on Oct. 31, as the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party moves to Atlanta because of stadium construction in Jacksonville, Florida.

As for Georgia’s nonconference slate, the Bulldogs will host Georgia Tech on the final week of the college football season. After being played in Mercedes-Benz Stadium this year, the game returns to Sanford Stadium in Athens. The last two years the game has been played on a Friday, which would be Nov. 27, 2026. If it were to return to being played on a Saturday, the game would take place on Nov. 28.

The other two nonconference games are against Tennessee State and Western Kentucky. The former will double as Georgia’s season-opener on Sept. 5, while the latter will take place on Sept. 12.

While we don’t officially know when the bye week will fall, traditionally it has come before Georgia’s game against Florida. That would mean Oct. 24 for the Bulldogs. Because of when Labor Day falls next year, and thus the season starts, Georgia and everyone else will have just one bye week. The last two seasons have seen teams enjoy two off weeks over the course of the year.

From a national perspective, Georgia’s games against Oklahoma and Alabama figure to draw the most attention. Those are national brands and all three teams made the College Football Playoff this season.

But don’t overlook Georgia’s game against Vanderbilt and when that might fall on the schedule. Vanderbilt went 10-2 this season and recently flipped Georgia’s longtime quarterback commit, Jared Curtis. The No. 1-ranked quarterback in the country going into Athens will certainly attract a lot of eyeballs.

Especially after Smart’s recent comments about Clark Lea and Vanderbilt’s dashed hopes to add a 13th game to this year’s schedule in hopes of impressing the College Football Playoff committee.

“Probably depends on what seat you sit in, right? So everybody on the outside looking in wants another game and people would argue you had plenty of games,” Smart said. “Everybody on the inside looking out say I’m good. I’ll stay right where I’m at. I’m OK. I played well enough.”

We’ll find out for certain what Georgia’s schedule will look like on Thursday night. The SEC Network televised schedule release begins at 8 p.m. ET.

Georgia football 2026 schedule, opponents