Tennessee football now has its three permanent opponents as the SEC moves to a nine-game conference schedule, according to On3’s Chris Low.
The Vols will face Alabama, Kentucky and Vanderbilt every season over the next four years while playing the 12 other teams in the SEC every other season. The SEC will re-evaluate its permanent opponent matchups every four years so this might not be the trio indefinitely, but it will be for the next four years.
It was a foregone conclusion that Tennessee would draw Alabama and Vanderbilt as permanent opponents. Tennessee first played the Crimson Tide in 1901 and the two teams have faced off 107 total times. The Third Saturday in October is not only one of the SEC’s best rivalries but one of the best rivalries in the entire sport.
Every instate matchup is included as a permanent opponent and that wasn’t going to change with Tennessee-Vanderbilt. The Vols and Commodores have faced off 118 total times with the first matchup coming in 1892.
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The intrigue and mystery was around who Tennessee’s third permanent opponent would be. Tennessee got a very favorable draw. Kentucky is just 172 miles north of Tennessee, making it the most logical geographical pick. The two teams playing 120 times gave it a historic rivalry backing.
But with Vanderbilt already a permanent opponent, it was uncertain whether the SEC would give Tennessee such a favorable draw as Kentucky is using all its financial resources on basketball and is casting its football program aside.
The other realistic permanent opponents were South Carolina and Florida. South Carolina is playing Georgia, Florida and Kentucky every season while Florida got also got a favorable draw with Georgia, South Carolina and Kentucky. The Gators not getting either LSU or Tennessee is a moderate surprise.
With a nine-game conference schedule, Tennessee will have five SEC home games in 2026 and 2028 while playing five SEC road games in 2027 and 2029.
The SEC is releasing conference opponents for each SEC team for the 2026-29 seasons on Tuesday night. The SEC Network and ESPN2 is broadcasting the show.
