Tennessee football added to its future non conference schedule on Wednesday, announcing a home-and-home series with Georgia Tech that will see the Vols travel to Atlanta in 2026 to face the Yellow Jackets before hosting them in Neyland Stadium in 2027.
Director of Athletics Danny White added the home-and-home to replace the previously scheduled series with Nebraska that would have seen the Vols travel to Lincoln in 2026 before hosting the Cornhuskers in 2027. But Nebraka backed out of the game in February, leaving Tennessee scrambling to find a power four non conference opponent to face those two seasons.
With Tennessee replacing Nebraska with an ACC foe, Josh Heupel’s Vols are set to face an ACC opponent in non conference play his first seven seasons as head coach. The Vols played a home-and-home with Pitt in 2021-22, Virginia in 2023 and then NC State last season.
So what does Tennessee’s non conference schedule look in the upcoming years?
2025
- Syracuse (Atlanta)
- vs. ETSU, UAB, New Mexico State
- The Vols non conference schedule is set for this upcoming season. For the first time in Heupel’s tenure, Tennessee faces a power four team in its season opener. Syracuse had a solid first season under head coach Fran Brown but lost some key players including quarterback Kyle McCord. The Vols face ETSU and UAB in September and New Mexico State in November.
2026
- at Georgia Tech
- vs. Furman, Kennesaw State
- Tennessee will open the season against Furman and then head to Atlanta the second week of the season to face Georgia Tech. It’s unclear whether that game will take place at Bobby Dodd Stadium or Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The matchup with Kennesaw State will bring former Tennessee running back’s coach Jerry Mack back to Knoxville as the Owls’ head coach.
2027
- vs. Georgia Tech, Western Michigan
- Georgia Tech makes the return trip of the home-and-home during the second week of the 2027 football season. Tennessee still has two games they need to add before the 2027 season. That could change if the SEC expands to a nine-game conference schedule. Then Tennessee would need just one more game.
2028
- West Virginia (Charlotte)
- Tennessee returns to Charlotte to face West Virginia 10 years after Jeremy Pruitt’s tenure began with a dud against the Mountaineers in the Queen City. This game will end Tennessee’s seven-year streak of facing an ACC team in non conference play. It’s the Vols only scheduled non conference game for 2028 at the moment.
2029
- vs. Washington
- Tennessee begins a home-and-home series against Washington in Knoxville during the 2029 season. Hopefully it remains on the books by then. The Vols have had a number of non conference series cancelled in recent years including BYU, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Blame varies on why those games never happened.
2030
- at Washington
- Tennessee makes his return trip to Washington a year later. It is the final non conference game that the Vols have scheduled at the moment.
