'I'm pissed about it': Tennessee Tech head coach Bobby Wilder is upset about playing Kentucky this week

Tennessee Tech football is rolling in 2025. The Golden Eagles have won 15 consecutive games back to last season and will make the playoffs for the first time since 2011. This is a team playing for seeding as they are in the hunt for a national championship. But second-year head coach Bobby Wilder does not love the position his program is in this week.

The former Old Dominion head coach is furious about playing Kentucky this week.

“Hate it. I mean just absolutely hate this,” Wilder said in a press conference. “I’m really bothered by the fact that we have to do this.”

“This schedule was done before I was hired. There wasn’t a thought process in this scheduling that Tennessee Tech might be competing against Tennessee-Martin in the last week for the conference championship.”

In the season finale, Tennessee Tech will host UT Martin in a rivalry game. If UT Martin beats Charleston Southern this weekend, that game will be for the OVC-Big South championship. The winner will earn the league’s automatic bid to the FCS playoffs. Bobby Wilder is not happy about the fact that his squad is having to play an SEC team the week before the biggest game of the season in Cookeville.

“Much rather being playing a league game right now,” Wilder said.

In that same press conference, the head coach pointed out that there have been 62 FCS vs. power conference matchups this season. FCS squads have not won a game yet and are being outscored 50-9. Wilder pointed to the rev-share gap between the SEC and FCS and that this game was scheduled before he was hired. Tennessee Tech has been one of the best stories in FCS football this season but their head coach is not happy about the program’s situation this week.

“I’m pissed about it,” said Wilder. “I don’t like it. It’s awful — especially at this time of year.”

[Read more about Tennessee Tech’s historic season at KSR+]