Tennessee football announced its game designations for four separate games on its 2026 schedule Tuesday morning. One of those designations is homecoming with Tennessee hosting Kentucky on Nov. 7, 2026 for this year’s homecoming game.
Homecoming is one of four game designations that Tennessee announced Tuesday. The Vols will hold its “Salute to Service” game against Kennesaw State, “Checker Neyland” against Texas and will hold its “Champions Weekend” on Oct. 3 against Auburn.
It’s the second time in three years that Tennessee will face a SEC team in its homecoming game. Two seasons ago, the Vols defeated Mississippi State 33-19 despite quarterback Nico Iamaleava missing the second half due to injury.
Last season, Tennessee routed New Mexico State 42-9 in a homecoming win at Neyland Stadium. The Vols last homecoming loss came on Nov. 13, 2021 when they fell to Georgia 41-17 in Josh Heupel’s first season as head coach.
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Tennessee’s 2026 homecoming game comes off its lone open date of the season. The Vols play five straight SEC games — Texas, Auburn, Arkansas, Alabama and South Carolina — in the weeks leading up to the open date before the Kentucky game.
The matchup against Kentucky marks the beginning of Tennessee’s closing stretch of the season. They travel to Texas A&M the next week before hosting LSU and traveling to Vanderbilt to conclude the 2026 season.
Kentucky is entering its first season under first-year head coach Will Stein. The former Oregon offensive coordinator has rejuvenated needed life into a Kentucky program that had grown stale under head coach Mark Stoops.
Stoops led Kentucky to a level of sustained competence that it’s rarely reached. However, the Wildcats were in a downslide in recent years and have failed to make a bowl game since 2023. Stoops ended his Kentucky tenure with a 2-11 record against Tennessee.
