Sports

SEC ending championship game as College Football Playoff expands to 24 teams

November 9, 2026 / 2:39 PM EST / CBS Atlanta

The SEC Football Championship Game will end after this year's matchup in Atlanta as the College Football Playoff expands to 24 teams.

The conference announced Monday that the Dec. 5 game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be the event's 35th and final edition.

"The SEC Football Championship Game has been a defining event in college football for more than three decades, producing unforgettable moments and crowning legendary champions," SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement.

2023 SEC Championship - Georgia v Alabama — ATLANTA, GEORGIA - DECEMBER 2: The SEC Championship logo painted on the field prior to the SEC Championship game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 2, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. Todd Kirkland / Getty Images

Sankey said the conference plans to celebrate the game's history and recognize Atlanta, the stadium and the partners who have supported the event.

The championship debuted Dec. 5, 1992, at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, where Alabama beat Florida 28-21. After another year in Birmingham, the game moved to Atlanta in 1994.

The Georgia Dome hosted 23 consecutive championship games through 2016. Mercedes-Benz Stadium became its home in 2017.

In its first 34 years, 14 teams that played in the SEC Championship Game went on to win a national title.

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