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Contract details for Tennessee and Tennessee State game in September of 2027

On3 imageby: Brent Hubbs07/21/25Brent_Hubbs
Neyland Stadium | EA Sports College Football 25
Neyland Stadium | EA Sports College Football 25

Tennessee and Tennessee State University are set to play in 2027 in a story first reported by The Tennessean. According to the contract released to Volquest, the game will be played on September 4, 2027 in Neyland Stadium.

Also according to the contract, Tennessee will pay TSU $600,000 to play the game.

Tennessee signed the agreement back in April and that gives the Vols 3 non-conference opponents for the 2027 season as TSU joins Georgia Tech and Western Michigan on the Georgia. All three games are slated to be played in Neyland Stadium. 

Tennessee State has expressed interest in the game maybe being played at the Titans new stadium which is scheduled to open on February 2027 if it gets completed. But the contract states the game will be played in Knoxville. 

Tennessee and Georgia Tech will be completing a home and home series in 2027. A series that was quickly put together following Nebraska’s decision to cancel the series with Tennessee that was supposed to be played in 2026 and 2027. 

With three non-conference games set, Tennessee’s out of SEC schedule could be complete depending on what the conference does with their scheduling starting in 2026 will the SEC continue with an eight game schedule or will they play a nine game schedule. It’s been a multi-year debate that seems to have no closure at this point. 

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey has made it clear he’s in favor of a nine game conference schedule for his league but not everyone agrees. 

“I think we should be working towards that,” Sankey said in a wide-ranging interview with ESPN at SEC media days. “My life doesn’t end if we don’t. There’s this absolutist notion that he’s going to dictate what’s going to happen. I think we should have an adult conversation. We should be able to make a decision. I think nine games would promote great interest through the year, but it would be hard to coach. I’ve had candid conversations with coaches. I’ve told them that.”

Head coach Josh Heupel was asked where he stood on nine conference games last week in Atlanta at SEC Media Days and the Vols head coach was non-committal but his answer seemed to favor an eight game schedule. 

“Eight or nine games, ultimately I’m not making that decision either, but I think the commissioner did a really good job of kind of showcasing what an eight-game schedule looks like inside of this league and the historical data of how different that is from maybe playing a nine-game conference schedule in another league.”

Of course the number of league games played will also have an impact on the size of the college football playoff system in the future. 

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