The college football season is creeping up faster and faster. While it may be too late to schedule travel for some of the games, it’s never too late to put together a bucket list. Here’s where we’d most want to go each week of the 2026 SEC season.
Saturday, Sept. 5: Clemson at LSU
College Gameday. Lane Kiffin’s first game. The real Death Valley.
This one’s a no brainer for any diehard college football fan. It’s the marquee game of the week in primetime. The entire country will tune in to see what Kiffin’s offense looks like with Sam Leavitt at the helm.
Clemson has been a shell of its former self over the past couple seasons, and they’ll be starting their lowest ranked quarterback recruit in almost 15 years. Dabo Swinney seems confident going into the year, but the Tigers in orange are currently an 11.5 point underdog to LSU.
It’ll be hot, humid and absolutely perfect. More than 100,000 fans dressed in purple and gold will sing along to “Louisiana Saturday Night,” Boosie and “Callin’ Baton Rouge.”
Sunday Sept. 6: Ole Miss vs. Louisville (Nashville)
This is one of the better games in the non-conference slate that no one seems to be talking about. Louisville has been a 6.5 point underdog this entire offseason.
Still, it should be an awesome game in a very fun setting. The non-conference neutral site games are not nearly as popular as they were a decade ago. This is a great matchup. The Sunday night game on opening weekend has become a great value add to the first full weekend of games.
It’s given us some gems like the LSU-Miami, Notre Dame-Miami and Florida-Miami games. Hopefully, Miami not being involved doesn’t make this game a dud, but a Sunday Funday in Nashville and two Power Four teams desperately needing to get off to a strong start will be must-see television. And it would be even better to watch live.
