With less than four weeks until the start of Tennessee’s regular season, there’s a lot of excitement and plenty to talk about regarding the Vols’ upcoming campaign.
The SEC added two teams before the 2024 season with Oklahoma and Texas. That changed the format of the conference schedule, getting rid of the east and west conferences and putting everyone on one long slate.
Tennessee’s schedule will feature the same conference opponents this year, but with the locations reversed. For instance, while the Vols traveled to Oklahoma and Arkansas last year, they’ll host the Sooners and Razorbacks in Neyland Stadium this season.
CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello recently gave his SEC strength of schedule rankings for the 2025 season with all 16 teams in the conference (SEC and non-conference games). He does note that the gap between 1 and 16 isn’t “especially large,” with the rankings being determined by data, projections, and an overall look at game placement and bye weeks.
Tennessee is ranked with the second-easiest schedule in the conference, only behind Missouri.
The Vols will start the season in a neutral-site game against Syracuse before returning to Neyland Stadium for the home opener against ETSU. The schedule immediately gets challenging with a home SEC opener against Georgia. Tennessee then closes out the three-game home stand against UAB.
Tennessee will then go on the road against Mississippi State, back home against Arkansas, and then two straight road games against Alabama and Kentucky. The Vols will close out the season with home games against Oklahoma and New Mexico State, a late-season road game against Florida, and a home finale against in-state rival Vanderbilt.
“Might Tennessee be a playoff team once again? If the Volunteers take care of business at home and split road games against Alabama (Oct. 18) and Florida (Nov. 22), they will have a clear runway,” Marcello writes. “The season opener against Syracuse is severely underrated on the national scene. Trips to Mississippi State and Kentucky are laughers, and getting Arkansas and Vanderbilt at home should be easy wins, too. Circle the Week 3 game against Georgia (Sept. 13) in Neyland Stadium. We’ll know if the Vols are a legit contender after that evening.”
More From RTI: Where This AP Top 25 Voter has Tennessee Football in His Preseason Ballot
Marcello’s rankings do take in the order of the schedule, but here’s a look at the rankings and each SEC team’s opponents are (teams in the Coaches Poll Top 25 are in bold) in 2025:
1. Vanderbilt
- Home: Charleston Southern, Georgia State, Utah State, LSU, Missouri, Auburn, Kentucky
- Away: Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee
2. Mississippi State
- Home: Arizona State, Alcorn State, Northern Illinois, Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, Ole Miss
- Away: Southern Miss, Texas A&M, Florida, Arkansas, Missouri
3. Arkansas
- Home: Alabama A&M, Arkansas State, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Auburn, Miss. State, Missouri
- Away: Ole Miss, Memphis, Tennessee, LSU, Texas
4. Oklahoma
- Home: Illinois State, Michigan, Auburn, Kent State, Ole Miss, Missouri, LSU
- Away: Temple, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama
- Neutral: Texas
5. Florida
- Home: Long Island, South Florida, Texas, Miss. State, Tennessee, Florida State
- Away: LSU, Miami, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Ole Miss
- Neutral: Georgia
6. Texas A&M
- Home: UTSA, Utah State, Auburn, Miss. State, Florida, South Carolina, Samford
- Away: Notre Dame, Arkansas, LSU, Missouri, Texas
7. LSU
- Home: Louisiana Tech, Florida, Southeast Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Western Kentucky
- Away: Clemson, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Oklahoma
8. Texas
- Home: San Jose State, UTEP, Sam Houston, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Texas A&M
- Away: Ohio State, Florida, Kentucky, Miss. State, Georgia
- Neutral: Oklahoma
9. Kentucky
- Home: Toledo, Ole Miss, Eastern Michigan, Texas, Tennessee, Florida, Tenn. Tech
- Away: South Carolina, Georgia, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Louisville
10. Alabama
- Home: UL Monroe, Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, LSU, Oklahoma, Eastern Illinois
- Away: Florida State, Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina, Auburn
11. Auburn
- Home: Ball State, South Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Kentucky, Mercer, Alabama
- Away: Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Vanderbilt
12. Ole Miss
- Home: Georgia State, Arkansas, Tulane, LSU, Washington State, South Carolina, The Citadel, Florida
- Away: Kentucky, Georgia, Oklahoma, Mississippi State
13. South Carolina
- Home: SC State, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Alabama, Coastal Carolina, Clemson
- Away: Missouri, LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A&M
- Neutral: Virginia Tech
14. Georgia
- Home: Marshall, App State, Alabama, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Texas, Charlotte
- Away: Tennessee, Auburn, Mississippi State
- Neutral: Florida, Georgia Tech
15. Tennessee
- Home: ETSU, Georgia, UAB, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico State, Vanderbilt
- Away: Mississippi State, Alabama, Kentucky, Florida
- Neutral: Syracuse
16. Missouri
- Home: Central Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, South Carolina, UMass, Alabama, Texas A&M, Mississippi State
- Away: Auburn, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Arkansas
Here’s a look at Tennessee’s full 2025 schedule:
- Saturday, Aug 30 – vs Syracuse (Mercedes-Benz Stadium)
- Saturday, Sep 6 – vs ETSU (Knoxville)
- Saturday, Sep 13 – vs Georgia (Knoxville)
- Saturday, Sep 20 – vs UAB (Knoxville)
- Saturday, Sep 27 – at Mississippi State (Starkville)
- Saturday, Oct 4 – OPEN
- Saturday, Oct 11 – vs Arkansas (Knoxville)
- Saturday, Oct 18 – at Alabama (Tuscaloosa)
- Saturday, Oct 25 – at Kentucky (Lexington)
- Saturday, Nov 1 – vs Oklahoma (Knoxville)
- Saturday, Nov 8 – OPEN
- Saturday, Nov 15 – vs New Mexico State (Knoxville)
- Saturday, Nov 22 – at Florida (Gainesville)
- Saturday, Nov 29 – vs Vanderbilt (Knoxville)
Check out Brandon Marcello’s full rankings for CBS Sports here.
