AUBURN — The next four years of Auburn football‘s SEC opponents are locked in, as the league announced Tuesday, Sept. 23, who the Tigers will face for the 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029 seasons.

Dates are scheduled to be announced in December, according to the SEC, with TV designations to be announced at a later date.

It’s a notable return for some of Auburn‘s mainstay matchups when the SEC was under a two-division format, with contests against LSU, Mississippi State and Ole Miss in 2026, as well as long-dormant rivalries, such as Florida, reigniting in 2026.

Earlier this week, USA TODAY Sports confirmed a report of every SEC school’s three permanent opponents under the league’s new 3-3-6 scheduling model, which listed Alabama, Georgia and Vanderbilt as Auburn’s conference foes year-in, year-out.

Under the new schedule model, SEC schools will play three nonconference games, three permanent conference opponents and six other conference foes on a rotating basis. Under the model, each team will face every other SEC program at least once every two years and every opponent home and away in four years.

Here’s a look at who the Tigers are set to play in each of the next four seasons:

Auburn football’s future schedules, SEC opponents

• 2026
  • SEC
    • Alabama (Road)
    • Arkansas (Home)
    • Georgia (Road)
    • Florida (Home)
    • LSU (Home)
    • Mississippi State (Road)
    • Ole Miss (Road)
    • Tennessee (Road)
    • Vanderbilt (Home)
  • Nonconference
    • vs. Baylor (Aug. 29)
    • vs. Southern Miss (Sept. 12)
    • vs. Jacksonville State (Sept. 26)
• 2027
  • SEC
    • Alabama (Home)
    • Georgia (Home)
    • Kentucky (Road)
    • Missouri (Road)
    • Oklahoma (Home)
    • South Carolina (Home)
    • Texas (Road)
    • Texas A&M (Home)
    • Vanderbilt (Road)
  • Nonconference
    • vs. Middle Tennessee (Sept. 11)
    • vs. Missouri State (Sept. 18)
• 2028
  • SEC
    • Alabama (Road)
    • Arkansas (Road)
    • Florida (Road)
    • Georgia (Road)
    • LSU (Road)
    • Mississippi State (Home)
    • Ole Miss (Home)
    • Tennessee (Home)
    • Vanderbilt (Home)
  • Nonconference
    • vs. North Alabama (Sept. 9)
• 2029
  • SEC
    • Alabama (Home)
    • Georgia (Home)
    • Kentucky (Home)
    • Missouri (Home)
    • Oklahoma (Road)
    • South Carolina (Road)
    • Texas (Home)
    • Texas A&M (Road)
    • Vanderbilt (Road)
  • Nonconference
    • at Miami (FL) (Sept. 1)

These are Auburn football’s 3 permanent SEC opponents

Before Tuesday’s opponent announcement, Auburn already knew its three protected rivalries for the next four seasons, as a source with knowledge of the schedule confirmed to USA TODAY Sports that the Tigers will play Alabama, Georgia and Vanderbilt annually.

The draw was largely unsurprising, as the Iron Bowl and the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry are two of the league’s more notable rivalries. When the move was first announced, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a release that this format “protects rivalries,” and “increases competitive balance.”

• Auburn football’s permanent SEC opponents (2026-29)
  • ALABAMA (Iron Bowl)
    • Series history: Alabama leads, 51-37-1
    • First played: Feb. 22, 1893 in Birmingham (Auburn 32, Alabama 22)
    • Last played: Nov. 20, 2024, in Tuscaloosa (Alabama 28, Auburn 14)
  • GEORGIA (Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry)
    • Series history: Georgia leads, 65-56-8
    • First played: Feb. 20, 1892 in Atlanta (Auburn 10, Georgia 0)
    • Last played: Oct. 5, 2024, in Athens, Georgia (Georgia 31, Auburn 13)
  • VANDERBILT
    • Series history: Tied, 22-22-1
    • First played: Nov. 6, 1893 in Montgomery (Auburn 30, Vanderbilt 10)
    • Last played: Nov. 2, 2024, in Auburn (Vanderbilt 17, Auburn 7)

The other six conference games will rotate among remaining SEC schools, and every program will play each other twice a year, as well as face off home and away once every four years. Those permanent opponents will also be re-evaluated every four years.

Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.To support Adam’s work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football’s permanent opponents, future SEC foes set