Prior to Thursday night, we knew who the 12 opponents for Florida in 2026 would be, but we didn’t know the order in which they would be played. That is now set in stone as the SEC formally announced the 2026 schedule on Thursday.
With the conference moving to a nine-game conference schedule, the road for Florida is going to be tougher in some ways. But when one does a deep dive into the slate the Gators got, there is also room for opportunities for Jon Sumrall in his first year in Gainesville.
With that in mind, these are the storylines that all 12 games are going to have in 2026.
9/5 - FAU
Unlike Billy Napier, Sumrall will get to “ease” into his reign as Florida’s coach. Napier had to open against Utah, while Sumrall is going to get FAU. The Owls were awful this past season, and most Florida fans will be thinking blowout or bust for the opener.
9/12 - Campbell
If you thought Long Island University was a bad FCS team from this year, wait until you lay eyes on the Campbell Camels from North Carolina. They went 2-10 this past season, though, to be fair, they were in a ton of close games. If the bench isn’t unloaded by halftime, something went seriously wrong.
9/19 - At Auburn
This will be a game with a ton of storylines attached to it. The first is that this will be Florida’s first trip to Auburn since 2011, thanks to the wacky SEC scheduling that took hold once Missouri and Texas A&M joined the conference.
But this is also going to be an early crossroads game for Sumrall as he will be going up against Alex Goelsh, who will also be in his first season and was higher on the list of the coach Florida should have hired in the eyes of many Gator fans.
Likewise, Auburn fans had Sumrall super high on their list.
9/26 - Ole Miss
This one could get a little awkward as Ole Miss won’t have Lane Kiffin in 2026, but neither will the Gators after swinging and missing on the now LSU coach. Ole Miss will be coming into this game having played Kiffin the week before, so we should have a good idea of what the new-look Ole Miss Rebels look like.
10/3 - At Missouri
It’s no secret that we here at Hail Florida Hail were vehemently against going after Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz, as he has this tendency to faceplant anytime he has to play a ranked opponent, so this game could either validate or blow up that narrative.
Also beneficial for Florida is that this game is in the beginning of October rather than a late November date with terrible weather.
10/10 - South Carolina
Fun fact, Shane Beamer went 0-2 against Billy Napier. After a couple of years off from facing South Carolina, the Gamecocks will come back to town, and one would assume that Beamer could be on the hot seat when this game rolls around.
Could this be the game where Beamer gets fired?
10/17 - At Texas
This starts the three-game stretch that is going to define Florida’s season. If one wants to squint enough, there is a chance that Florida is 6-0 coming into this game.
For Texas, the question will be whether or not they learned anything over the offseason after whining and moaning about getting left out of the playoffs. Here is some advice for the Longhorns: try not to lose to 4-8 Florida.
10/31 - Georgia (In Atlanta)
As it stands, the bar for Florida is Georgia, and part of what doomed the Billy Napier Era was that his squads went 0-4 during his time in Gainesville. But the last two years have been close and Florida had the Bulldogs dead to rights this past season before the refs bailed Georgia out.
Also notable, this game is in Atlanta in 2026 while EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville undergoes renovations, and while it will be “neutral,” we are just going to assume this will be a road game for Florida.
11/7 - Oklahoma
Even though the Sooners joined the SEC two years ago, this will be the first meeting between the two squads as SEC foes. This will also be Oklahoma’s first trip ever to The Swamp, so we imagine there will be a decent amount of Oklahoma fans making the trip to Gainesville.
11/14 - At Kentucky
After Kentucky beat down Florida this season, one cannot take anything for granted in this game. This will be a new look Kentucky squad after it fired Mark Stoops, which led to Brad White coming to Gainesville to be the defensive coordinator. The Wildcats went out and hired Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein, so who knows what to expect in 2026.
Of concern, too, this game falls in perfect trap game territory.
11/21 - Vanderbilt
Florida closes out SEC play with another old friend they haven’t seen in the past couple of years. But this isn’t the same old Vanderbilt squad, as the Commodores went 10-2 this season and had a decent argument that they should have been in the playoffs.
Before he signed an extension with Vanderbilt, head coach Clark Lea was on Florida’s short list of Plan B candidates to replace Napier.
11/28 - At FSU
Does Mike Norvell even make it to this game? It’s a fair question to ask, and the only reason he still has a job is that FSU is broke.
In the last two meetings between Florida and FSU, the Gators planted a flag at midfield, and Jadan Baugh popped off for a career night.