The SEC is moving to a nine-game conference schedule. After months (really, it was years) of deliberations, the conference finally made a choice. Starting in 2026, LSU football will have nine SEC foes on the regular season schedule.

Not long after the news broke, LSU head coach Brian Kelly shared his opinion on his weekly radio show.

“I like it. You know, I was in favor of it from day one. I told (LSU AD Scott Woodward) that’s why I want to be at LSU. I want to play the best,” Kelly said.

The standard at LSU is winning a national title. Kelly said the regular season schedule needs to reflect that. Playing the SEC’s best teams will better prepare LSU for postseason play.

“Others look at it as, well, you’re just knocking each other off. I don’t see it that way. I see it as you’re going to prepare yourself playing the very best week in and week out,” Kelly said.

The decision wasn’t made in a vacuum. The SEC was influenced by the playoff committee altering its strength of schedule metric.

“We didn’t go to nine today by accident. We went nine today because two days ago the college football playoffs said we’re looking at how teams get in differently than we have in the past. And that is strength of schedule,” Kelly said.

Moving to nine games will bost SEC strength of schedules, but it also ensures programs don’t go years without meeting.

“We got three natural rivals that we’ll play every year. Now, again, over a two-year period, you’re going to play everybody in the league anyway. And over a four-year period, you’re going to play them both home and away,” Kelly said.

Kelly said that gives the fans something to be excited about.

In recent years, we’ve seen SEC teams struggle to fill the stands when playing lesser opponents. LSU and the entire SEC will see better attendance numbers with a better schedule.

This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: LSU’s Brian Kelly on SEC schedule update: ‘I want to play the best’