KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Opponents and sites for the next four seasons of Tennessee’s Southeastern Conference football schedule were unveiled by the league office Tuesday night during its 2026-29 show.
The SEC announced in August it would play a nine-game conference schedule starting with the 2026 season.
In the new format, each SEC school will play every other SEC school at least once every two years, and every opponent home and away over four years, making it the most fair and balanced schedule in the history of the Conference.
Under the new format, each school will play three annual opponents focused on maintaining many traditional rivalries and each team’s remaining six games will rotate among the remaining conference schools. The Vols’ three annual opponents include Alabama, Kentucky and Vanderbilt.
In 2026, Tennessee will welcome Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky, LSU and Texas to Knoxville, and the Vols will travel to Arkansas, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
The attractive home slate will see Alabama and Auburn visit Neyland Stadium in the same season for the first time since 2004. It will be the Tigers’ first game in Knoxville since 2013.
In addition, Tennessee will host LSU in Neyland Stadium for just the second time in 10 years. The Volunteers and Texas will meet in the regular season for the first time ever.
All three previous meetings occurred in Cotton Bowls – 1951, 1953 and 1969. Tennessee hosts the Longhorns in 2026 and will return the trip to Austin in 2028.
The Vols will play Texas A&M in College Station for just the second time and first since 2016. UT will make familiar treks to Vanderbilt and South Carolina and face Arkansas in Fayetteville for the second time in three years.
The SEC will continue with a single-standings, non-divisional structure. Schedule dates for the 2026 SEC slate will be announced later this year.
In addition to the conference opponents, SEC teams are required to schedule at least one additional high quality non-conference opponent from the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten or Big 12 conferences or Notre Dame each season.
The Vols’ 2026 non-conference schedule is already set and will be played the first three weeks of the season. Tennessee hosts Furman (Sept. 5) and Kennesaw State (Sept. 19) and will travel to play Georgia Tech in Atlanta Week 2 (Sept. 12).
Current season ticket holders can renew their 2026 tickets at AllVols.com. Fans interested in purchasing future new season tickets can fill out the 2026 season ticket interest form.
Tennessee’s 2026 through 2029 SEC opponents are below:
2026 SEC Opponents
Home (5): Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky, LSU, Texas
Away (4): Arkansas, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
2027 SEC Opponents
Home (4): Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt
Away (5): Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma
2028 SEC Opponents
Home (5): Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, South Carolina, Texas A&M
Away (4): Auburn, LSU, Texas, Vanderbilt
2029 SEC Opponents
Home (4): Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt
Away (5): Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Mississippi State
