SEC announces Tennessee Football's 2026 conference schedule

The Southeastern Conference on Thursday night announced dates and opponents for Tennessee Football’s 2026 schedule in the new nine-game SEC format.

Date	Opponent
Sept. 5	vs. Furman
Sept. 12	at Georgia Tech
Sept. 19	vs. Kennesaw State
Sept. 26	vs. Texas
Oct. 3	vs. Auburn
Oct. 10	at Arkansas
Oct. 17	vs. Alabama
Oct. 24	at South Carolina
Oct. 31	Open
Nov. 7	vs. Kentucky
Nov. 14	at Texas A&M
Nov. 21	vs. LSU
Nov. 28	at Vanderbilt

Tennessee’s Future Schedules

The SEC in September announced the three annual rivals for each league team in the new nine-game format, setting opponents for the next four seasons. Each team will its three rivals while rotating through the league with the other six games. 

The Kentucky series is Tennessee’s most played, with 120 games dating back to 1893, and the Vanderbilt series is the oldest, with its 119 games dating back to 1892. Tennessee-Alabama is the most notable rivalry for the Vols, though, with the ‘Third Saturday in October’ having been played 107 times since 1901.

2027
Home (4): Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt
Away (5): Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma

2028
Home (5): Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, South Carolina, Texas A&M
Away (4): Auburn, LSU, Texas, Vanderbilt

2029
Home (4): Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt
Away (5): Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Mississippi State

Tennessee’s 2026 schedule notes

The 2026 season will be Tennessee’s first schedule without both Georgia and Florida since 1992. 

The Vols have never played Texas in the regular season. The three previous meetings were all in the Cotton Bowl, with the Vols winning 20-14 on New Year’s Day 1951 and the Longhorns winning 16-0 on New Year’s Day 1953 and 36-13 on New Year’s Day 1969.

Tennessee and Auburn haven’t played since 2020 and South Carolina has been off the schedule the last two seasons. The Vols beat Texas A&M at home in 2023, but haven’t played the Aggies on the road since 2016. They won at LSU in 2022 but haven’t hosted the Tigers since 2017. 

Tennessee’s upcoming non-conference opponents

Tennessee has non-conference opponents scheduled through the 2030 season, including a power-conference opponent for each of the next five seasons.

The Vols next season host Furman and Kennesaw State and go to Georgia Tech. In 2027 Tennessee will host Tennessee State, Georgia Tech and Western Michigan. 

Tennessee and West Virginia will play a neutral-site game in Charlotte, N.C., in 2028. The Vols then have a home-and-home with Washington, starting in Knoxville in 2029 before going to Seattle in 2030.

SEC requires one additional power-conference opponent on schedule

The three annual rivals and six-team rotation assures that rivalries across the league will be kept alive while all league teams will play every two years and will play each team home and away every four seasons. 

The priorities the SEC used to build the new schedule model included traditional rivalries, rotational frequency and College Football Playoff participation. Competitive fairness and geography were also an emphasis. The annual rivalry games will be reevaluated every four years.

The SEC will continue to use a single-standings, non-divisional structure for the league and will also require teams to schedule one quality non-conference game against teams from the ACC, Big Ten or Big 12, or against Notre Dame.