The Southeastern Conference will move to a nine-game conference football schedule starting in the 2026 season. Despite the announcement being made nine months ago, several programs are still making scheduling changes. After Texas A&M fixed its schedule to three nonconference games, it has now inflicted a $1.4 million loss on New Mexico.

Per Aggie Yell, the athletic director of New Mexico, Ryan Berryman released a statement through a university spokesperson addressing the cancellation of the 2027 game between Texas A&M and the New Mexico Lobos and the amount of money the program lost as a result.

“UNM received $300,000 in 2023 upon signing, and another $1.4 (million) was due in 2027 after the game was played. At this point in time, UNM has not elected to pursue any legal action. We are optimistic that a future scheduling opportunity between the two institutions may present itself in the future.”


The news of the cancellation was first broken by Texas A&M athletic director Trev Alberts. According to him, the program exercised its right to terminate the game contract without attracting a financial penalty. Perhaps this was the reason why the Aggies could easily eliminate the Lobos from their 2027 schedule. With no legal option, the Lobos can only hope for another opportunity later on.

The cancellation also gives the Lobos a chance to build on their 9-4 record in 2025. Their last three games against Texas A&M have been devastating blowouts. The game ended 52-10 in 2023, 34-0 in 2021 and 55-14 in 2017. The Lobos just had their first winning season in nine years and will be eager to build on it, hoping to avenge their financial loss to Texas A&M whenever they meet again.

The Lobos have immediately replaced the Aggies in the September 18 fixture with the Texas Tech Red Raiders. New Mexico plays in the Mountain West Conference, which still sticks to an eight-game conference schedule. Hence, their other non-conference games in 2027 also include home games against Northern Colorado and New Mexico State, as well as a trip to Oregon State.

After removing New Mexico from their 2027 matchups, the Aggies are left with 11 fixtures out of an expected 12 and have yet to make a replacement. A rematch against Arizona State and the season opener versus the Texas State Bobcats are two confirmed non-conference matchups ahead of the 2027 season. The conference matchups will see them host the Georgia Bulldogs, LSU Tigers, Missouri Tigers, Ole Miss Rebels, and Vanderbilt Commodores. Then they will travel to face the Auburn Tigers, Florida Gators, Mississippi State Bulldogs, and Texas Longhorns.

Other SEC programs’ game cancellations

The Aggies are not the only program to have to reschedule its games after the SEC moved to a nine-game conference schedule. The Florida Gators have had the most scheduling shifts in the SEC, terminating a total of six games. The Gators canceled a home-and-home series with Arizona State in 2028 and 2031. Another set of home-and-home series versus NC State was canceled in 2026 and 2032. The last of the three is a series against the California Golden Bears in 2026-2027.

The Georgia Bulldogs also had to cancel a home-and-home series with Louisville in 2026-2027. Then, another series with Florida State in 2027-2028, leading to a total of four cancellations in three seasons.

Alabama also had four non-conference games scheduled for the 2028 season against Georgia State, Ohio State, UT Martin, and Oklahoma State. With the need to drop one, they dropped the home-and-home series against the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 2028–2029. The 2029 season features a marquee non-conference game against Notre Dame, which the Aggies easily picked over the Cowboys, and canceled both games as a result.

The Mississippi State Bulldogs, Vanderbilt Commodores, and South Carolina all canceled games to adjust to the nine-game schedule.

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