Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 4/25/15. The University of Tennessee’s head coach Butch Jones calls drills during the Dish Orange & White Game in Knoxville on Saturday, April 25, 2015.SEPT. 5 vs. BOWLING GREEN
At Nissan Stadium, Nashville
TV/Radio: SEC Network/106.5 FM
Best game in series: The Vols originally were scheduled to open the season against UAB but instead will play the Falcons, the preseason favorites in the Mid-American Conference’s East Division, for the first time.
SEPT. 12 OKLAHOMA
At Neyland Stadium, Knoxville
TV/Radio: ESPN/106.5 FM
Best game in series: In the second of four all-time meetings with Tennessee, the Sooners, who will make their first visit to Knoxville, jumped out to a 19-0 halftime lead and held on to beat the Vols 26-24 in the 1968 Orange Bowl when Karl Kremser’s long field-goal attempt sailed wide right with seven seconds left.
SEPT. 19 WESTERN CAROLINA
At Neyland Stadium, Knoxville
TV/Radio: ESPNU/106.5 FM
Best games in series: Although the two campuses are just 70 miles apart, Tennessee and Western Carolina never have met in football. The Vols are playing an FCS opponent for the sixth consecutive season. In the past three seasons, the Catamounts lost twice at Alabama and once at Auburn by a combined score of 159-17.
SEPT. 26 at FLORIDA
At Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Fla.
TV/Radio: TBA/106.5 FM
Best games in series: It wasn’t last season’s dull 10-9 Florida win, the Gators’ 10th in a row against Tennessee. In 2004, the last time the Vols beat Florida, James Wilhoit nailed a 50-yard game-winning field shortly after missing a tying extra point. Tennessee’s 20-17 overtime win in 1998 is one of the most memorable wins in the program’s history.
OCT. 3 ARKANSAS
At Neyland Stadium, Knoxville
TV/Radio: TBA/106.5 FM
Best game in series: Any one of three classics in a five-year span. Arkansas QB Clint Stoerner’s stumble and fumble led to No. 1 Tennessee’s winning touchdown in 1998. The next season, Stoerner tossed the winning touchdown to Anthony Lucas with 3:44 left in a 28-24 tear-down-the-goalposts win against the third-ranked Vols. In 2002, Vols tight end Jason Witten caught the winning TD pass to end a six-overtime marathon.
OCT. 10 GEORGIA
At Neyland Stadium, Knoxville
TV/Radio: TBA/106.5 FM
Best games in series: The past two games have been as close as the 21-21-2 all-time record between Georgia and Tennessee. The Bulldogs won both by a combined six points to extend their winning streak against the Vols to five years. In a series filled with memorable moments, the “Hobnail Boot” game in 2001 is the most iconic.
OCT. 24 at ALABAMA
At Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
TV/Radio: TBA/106.5 FM
Best game in series: Alabama’s 12-10 win against the Vols in 2009 is the best game in the recently one-sided “Third Saturday in October” rivalry. Lane Kiffin’s Vols turned a Mark Ingram fumble into a touchdown with 1:19 left and recovered the ensuing onside kick, but mammoth defensive tackle Terrance Cody blocked Daniel Lincoln’s 44-yard field-goal try as time expired and the Crimson Tide went on to win their first of three national titles under Nick Saban. The other seven wins in Alabama’s current run against Tennessee came by an average of 26.5 points.
OCT. 31 at KENTUCKY
At Commonwealth Stadium, Lexington, Ky.
TV/Radio: TBA/106.5 FM
Best game in series: The border rivals won’t play in November for the first time since 1909. If Tennessee wins, it’ll be the Vols’ 30th win in the past 31 games against the Wildcats. Kentucky snapped a 26-year losing streak in a 10-7 win in Lexington in 2011, but the seven-overtime game in 2007 is the most memorable. Tennessee’s 52-50 win sent the Vols to their most recent appearance in the SEC championship game.
NOV. 7 SOUTH CAROLINA
At Neyland Stadium, Knoxville
Best games in series: Either of the past two have a strong case. Michael Palardy kicked a game-winning field goal after a miraculous Marquez North catch in Tennessee’s upset of No. 11 South Carolina in 2013. Led by QB Josh Dobbs, the Vols scored twice in the final two minutes to erase a 14-point deficit and wrapped up a season-saving win in overtime last season.
NOV. 14 NORTH TEXAS
At Neyland Stadium, Knoxville
TV/Radio: TBA/106.5 FM
Best game in series: North Texas actually won the only previous meeting between the two programs, when Hayden Fry, who would go on to become the winningest coach in Iowa history and a Hall of Famer, led the Mean Green to a 21-14 upset in Knoxville in 1975.
NOV. 21 at MISSOURI
At Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium, Columbia, Mo.
TV/Radio: TBA/106.5 FM
Best game in series: Missouri’s four-overtime win in 2012 was the closest of the three meetings since the Tigers joined the SEC. After erasing a 14-point halftime deficit, James Franklin threw the tying touchdown pass to Dorial Green-Beckham on fourth-and-12 with 47 seconds left, and Andrew Baggett kicked the winning field goal to give Mizzou its first SEC road win and signal the end for Vols coach Derek Dooley.
NOV. 28 VANDERBILT
At Neyland Stadium, Knoxville
TV/Radio: TBA/106.5 FM
Best game in series: The Vols own a 74-29-5 advantage against their in-state rivals, but three of the past five meetings have been decided by seven points or less. Nashville native Eric Gordon returned an interception for Tennessee’s winning touchdown in overtime in 2011. Two years later, Knoxville-area product Patton Robinette scored the winning touchdown with 16 seconds left in a 14-10 win as Vanderbilt beat Tennessee for a second consecutive year.