Late last month, the Southeastern Conference announced that it would adopt a nine-game league slate in a capitulation to the Big Ten and TV dollars.
Billy Napier on Wednesday called the move exactly what it is.
"I do think our league has made a business decision," Napier said Wednesday on the SEC's weekly coaches' teleconference. "Obviously, we have revenue sharing. That’s a budgetary item that’s been added to each institution’s annual budget.
"So, there’s a demand for it. I think that our game is more popular than it’s ever been."
Napier's comments arrive less than 24 hours after the SEC's formal reveal of all league members' conference opposition for the 2026 through 2029 seasons.
As part of that reveal, Florida has its longstanding annual rivalries with both LSU and Tennessee shifting into rotational form; the Gators are maintaining yearly meetings with Georgia, Kentucky and South Carolina. The Florida-Tennessee rivalry, which defined much of the SEC throughout the 1990s, has been played consecutively since 1989, with the Gators dominating the overall series during that span.
But the switch to a nine-game league slate -- plus the mandate of one additional Power Conference non-conference opponent -- also ratchets up the slaughterhouse that the SEC touts as life in its conference. It also means the Gators will routinely have four SEC home games, four away games and, for now, keep its standing neutral-site game against Georgia in Jacksonville, Florida.
"Obviously, there’s pros and cons," said Napier, again fighting for his job at Florida after stumbling to an 1-3 start in the season's opening month, "but we’re really working in four-year blocks now. So, big picture-wise, I do anticipate playing LSU two out of the next four (seasons). We may not play them next year, but I do think that it’s not completely going away.
"Obviously, Tennessee is missing from next year’s schedule as well for us. So, you know, I think some of those things are, you know, part of the evolution of the game, part of the evolution of our conference as we add teams to the mix. I think big-picture-wise, we don’t have control over that, but I love the LSU rivalry game and certainly been one fun one to play in. And you know, we’ve got great history there, but there’s going to be change that comes with nine games, and I think our league has done a good job formatting that in a way where we’ll get exposure to each team in our league, home and away."
Florida, which has a bye this week, hosts No. 10 Texas on Oct. 4 and travels a week later to No. 9 Texas A&M before closing out the month at home against Mississippi State and in the annual rivalry game with No. 5 Georgia.