SEC TV study: Two years in, who's getting the most games on ABC?

Two seasons in, the SEC's all-in deal with ABC/ESPN has been a smashing success. The conference left CBS, its home of more than two decades, to put its Game of the Week on ABC ahead of the 2024 season, in the process earning a raise from the insultingly-low $55 million to $300 million. At the time, that figure seemed like an enormous sum -- until the Big Ten signed deals with CBS and NBC, for worse games and more money. 

In the two regular seasons since the "SEC on ABC" went on air, the SEC has accounted for 123 of the 200 total spots in the 50-most watched games of the 2024 and 2025 campaigns. As a business transaction, putting all of the SEC's top games on one network may have driven down its value. “The CBS SEC deal was really undervalued for a really long time,” a sports media consultant told The Athletic in 2024. “So even if you’re getting 5-6X on that deal, that’s a huge jump, but probably still isn’t the market price.” But as a consumer product, viewers have rewarded the SEC and Disney by putting their TV sets on ABC at noon ET/11 a.m. CT and then setting their remotes away for the remainder of the day.

With the bulk of 2026 early-season kick times coming next week at the SEC spring meetings, it's worth looking back at data over the past two seasons to understand where games are likely to air in 2026.

ABC, the unofficial home of Georgia and Alabama football. Georgia has played 19 regular-season games on ABC over the past two seasons (aided by SEC Championship appearances in both seasons). Alabama was second at 18 (again, including the 2025 SEC title game). The Bulldogs were aided by playing non-conference games against Clemson and Georgia Tech, ACC teams both whose rights are also owned by ABC/ESPN. Even still, seven of Georgia's eight regular-season conference games aired on ABC in each of the past two seasons. All nine of Alabama's SEC games aired on ABC in 2025, plus non-conference games at Florida State and home against Wisconsin. The Tide also played a road game that aired in Fox's "Big Noon" window at Wisconsin in 2024.

The best of the rest: LSU, Texas and Oklahoma. LSU appeared in 14 ABC games over the past two seasons (again, aided by non-conference games with USC, UCLA and Clemson). Six of LSU's eight SEC games aired on ABC in 2025, even as the Tigers slunk from No. 3 after their season-opening win at Clemson to 3-5 in conference play. Expect the Tigers to be ABC mainstays in 2026: the Clemson and Ole Miss games are already set for prime time kicks, and games with Alabama, Texas and Tennessee in consecutive November weeks all figure to be appointment viewing as well.

Eleven Texas regular-season games aired on ABC, plus Big Ten road games at Michigan and Ohio State that aired on Fox. Ohio State's return trip to Austin has already been slated for the GameDay/ABC prime time treatment. Oklahoma has played 12 ABC games thus far (jumping from four SEC league games in 2024 to seven in '25), followed by Tennessee's 11, Ole Miss and Florida's 10, and Texas A&M's nine. 

Kentucky and Mississippi State: the "home teams" of SEC Network. On the other end of the spectrum, Kentucky and Mississippi State tied for the league lead with 13 SEC Network games (not including one game per season on SEC Network+, a requirement of all SEC teams). Mississippi State played a stretch of five straight SECN games in 2024, and six straight in 2025. The Bulldogs' only ABC appearances to date have come in the Egg Bowl, both of which took place in special Black Friday windows. Kentucky's TV fortunes aren't as extreme -- they played three ABC games in a 4-week stretch in 2024 -- but the 2025 Wildcats did not appear on ABC after their Oct. 4 trip to Georgia. 

Of course, there's a chicken-and-egg quality to all of this. The teams that win appear on ABC, the teams that don't are swept to SEC Network. Here are the SEC cumulative standings since the ABC contract began in 2024, including the SEC title game.

1. Georgia -- 15-3
2. Texas -- 13-4
3. Ole Miss -- 12-4
3. Texas A&M -- 12-4
5. Alabama -- 12-5
6. Tennessee -- 10-6
7. Missouri -- 9-7
7. Vanderbilt -- 9-7
9. LSU -- 8-8
9. Oklahoma -- 8-8
11. South Carolina -- 6-10
11. Florida -- 6-10
13. Arkansas -- 3-13
13. Auburn -- 3-13
13. Kentucky -- 3-13
16. Mississippi State -- 1-15

Scheduling can also be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Why is Alabama on ABC? Because they're playing LSU. Why is LSU on ABC? Because they're playing Alabama. After playing only one regular-season game from 2016-23, Alabama and Georgia will play for the third straight year Oct. 10 in Tuscaloosa. In a 9-game format with three annual opponents, a school like Texas starts each season with two guaranteed ABC games in Oklahoma and Texas A&M (and even the Arkansas game was picked up by ABC in 2024-25). On the flip side, annual series Vanderbilt-Mississippi State is likely to be an SEC Network game every single year. 

Why does this matter? Television money is the lifeblood of college athletics, and attention is the lifeblood of the entertainment economy. ABC aired 34 and 35 of the 50 most-watched games of the past two regular seasons. No other network claimed more than seven, and ESPN had five, total. Getting games on ABC is crucial for building or maintaining a brand, and figures like these would serve as the basis of the SEC ever went to unequal revenue sharing and/or a super-league model. 

Total SEC TV "standings." Here are the SEC TV appearances per school, ranked in order of ABC, Fox, CBS or NBC games. Does not include College Football Playoff or bowl games. 

* - Includes 2024 game at Wake Forest, which aired on The CW. 

Looking ahead. Here's a rough draft of possible SEC-on-ABC triple-headers for the 2026 campaign. (* - previously announced)

Week 1
East Carolina at Alabama*
Baylor vs. Auburn (at Atlanta)*
Clemson at LSU*
Louisville vs. Ole Miss (at Nashville, Sunday)*

Week 2
Kentucky at Alabama
Arizona State at Texas A&M
Ohio State at Texas*

Week 3
Florida at Auburn
Florida State at Alabama
LSU at Ole Miss*

Week 4
Texas at Tennessee
Texas A&M at LSU
Oklahoma at Georgia

Week 5
Florida at Missouri
Vanderbilt at Georgia
Auburn at Tennessee

Week 6
South Carolina at Florida
Texas vs. Oklahoma
Georgia at Alabama

Week 7
Florida at Texas
Auburn at Georgia
Alabama at Tennessee

Week 8
LSU at Auburn
Texas A&M at Alabama
Ole Miss at Texas

Week 9
Auburn at Ole Miss
Florida vs. Georgia
South Carolina at Oklahoma

Week 10
Oklahoma at Florida
Georgia at Ole Miss
Alabama at LSU

Week 11
Ole Miss at Oklahoma
Tennessee at Texas A&M
Texas at LSU

Week 12
Texas A&M at Oklahoma
LSU at Tennessee
Arkansas at Texas

Week 13
Mississippi State at Ole Miss (Friday)*
Florida at Florida State (Friday)*
Texas at Texas A&M (Friday)*
Georgia Tech at Georgia
Oklahoma at Missouri
Auburn at Alabama