Alabama & West Virginia Cancel Future Football Series, Adjust Schedules
TUSCALOOSA, AL & MORGANTOWN, WV – Alabama and West Virginia have mutually agreed to cancel their planned home-and-home football series for the 2026 and 2027 seasons, both universities announced Monday. The decision comes as both programs reassess their future scheduling strategies in light of evolving college athletics and the upcoming nine-game conference format in the Southeastern Conference.
Alabama had been scheduled to travel to West Virginia in 2026 and host the Mountaineers in 2027. Instead, Alabama will face Florida State in 2026 and Ohio State in 2027. West Virginia will now host Coastal Carolina in 2026 and southern Miss in 2027.
Alabama Athletic Director Greg Byrne explained the shift in a statement, saying, “We are proud of the number of high-quality home-and-home non-conference games we have scheduled for the next 10 years. With that in mind, we certainly know that college athletics has been evolving and changing rapidly over the last few years, and it made sense for us to make these adjustments on our future schedules.”
Byrne continued,”We have a bit more flexibility as we transition to a nine-game format in the Southeastern Conference,and it gives us the opportunity to further evaluate how strength of schedule is evaluated for the College Football Playoff. Between other home-and-homes as well as conference games, we will continue to have a solid strength of schedule, which is good for our team, fans and college football.”
West Virginia has consistently scheduled at least one major-conference opponent in its non-conference lineup since 2018, with this year featuring a matchup against Pitt. The university stated its preferred scheduling model is to play one Power conference team, one group of Six team, and one Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) team annually, believing this approach will be ”conducive to reaching and advancing in the new CFP format.”
“This scheduling beliefs has proven to be accomplished across college football. It aligns our football program with its competition in terms of potential postseason opportunities and advancement,” said West Virginia Athletic Director Wren Baker in a statement. Baker also highlighted the economic benefits of a seventh home game in 2027, stating, “I am also aware of the importance of a seventh home game in 2027 for our fans and the huge economic impact it brings to our state, city and tourism division. visitors coming to West Virginia are not only critical for state tourism, but also to our local economy.”