As announced on the 2026 SEC Schedule Reveal Show on Thursday night, Tennessee Football’s 2026 SEC game dates have officially been announced. We knew who Tennessee’s nine opponents would be, but now we finally have a date associated with each opponent next fall.
Some things remain the same, as is tradition. Tennessee will host Alabama on the Third Saturday in October, and the Vols will square off against in-state rival Vanderbilt in the regular season finale. We did find out some important things, though.
For one, Tennessee’s SEC opener will come against Texas on Sep. 26 (Week 4) in Neyland Stadium. Another interesting nugget is that Tennessee will take on Kentucky in Knoxville after the Week 9 open date.
The 2026 season will mark the first year that the SEC officially adopts the nine-game conference schedule. Each SEC team will have three annual opponents and six rotating opponents. Based on the way the schedule is set up through 2029, each SEC team will play every other conference team twice in four years, both home and away.
We went into Thursday night’s reveal show knowing the when, the where, and the who of Tennessee’s three non-conference opponents next season. Now we have the full thing. Mark those calendars, Vol fans. Here’s your 2026 Tennessee Football season schedule:
*Indicates SEC game
Week 1 (Sep. 5): Furman at Tennessee (Knoxville)
Week 2 (Sep. 12): Tennessee at Georgia Tech (Atlanta)
Week 3 (Sep. 19): Kennesaw State at Tennessee (Knoxville)
Week 4 (Sep. 26): Texas at Tennessee (Knoxville)
Week 5 (Oct. 3): Auburn at Tennessee (Knoxville)
Week 6 (Oct. 10): Tennessee at Arkansas (Fayetteville)
Week 7 (Oct. 17): Alabama at Tennessee (Knoxville)
Week 8 (Oct. 24): Tennessee at South Carolina (Columbia)
Week 9 (Oct. 31): OPEN
Week 10 (Nov. 7): Kentucky at Tennessee (Knoxville)
Week 11 (Nov. 14): Tennessee at Texas A&M (College Station)
Week 12 (Nov. 21): LSU at Tennessee (Knoxville)
Week 13 (Nov. 28): Tennessee at Vanderbilt (Nashville)
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Here’s a look at the history between Tennessee and its 2026 SEC opponents:
Texas at Tennessee (Sept 26)
- Series History: TEX leads 2-1
- Last Meeting: Texas def. Tennessee 36-13 in Dallas (1969)
Auburn at Tennessee (Oct. 3)
- Series History: AUB leads 29-22-3
- Last Meeting: Auburn def. Tennessee 30-17 in Auburn (2020)
Tennessee at Arkansas (Oct. 10)
- Series History: UT leads 14-7
- Last Meeting: Tennessee def. Arkansas 34-31 in Knoxville (2025)
Alabama at Tennessee (Oct. 17)
- Series History: Bama leads 60-40-7
- Last Meeting: Alabama def. Tennessee 37-20 in Tuscaloosa (2025)
Tennessee at South Carolina (Oct. 24)
- Series History: UT leads 27-11-2
- Last Meeting: Tennessee def. South Carolina 41-20 in Knoxville (2023)
Kentucky at Tennessee (Nov. 7)
- Series History: UT leads 85-26-9
- Last Meeting: Tennessee def. Kentucky 56-34 in Lexington (2025)
Tennessee at Texas A&M (Nov. 14)
- Series History: UT leads 3-2
- Last Meeting: Tennessee def. Texas A&M 20-13 in Knoxville (2023)
LSU at Tennessee (Nov. 21)
- Series History: UT leads 21-10-3
- Last Meeting: Tennessee def. LSU 40-13 in Baton Rouge (2022)
Tennessee at Vanderbilt (Nov. 28)
- Series History: UT leads 79-34-5
- Last Meeting: Vanderbilt def. Tennessee 45-24 in Knoxville (2025)
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more takeaways and reactions from Tennessee Football’s official 2026 slate.
