For the past half century, the most challenging opponent on Tennessee’s football docket has typically been either Alabama, Florida or Georgia.
Auburn for a chunk of the 1980s would be an exception.
Yet the Gators and Bulldogs are nowhere to be found on this year’s lineup for the Volunteers, with those annual rivalries falling victim to the Southeastern Conference’s new nine-game schedule that contains three permanent opponents and six rotating foes. Tennessee’s three annual opponents moving forward will be Alabama, Kentucky and Vanderbilt, so the Vols will play the other 12 SEC teams twice during a four-year cycle.
Tennessee has faced Florida every year since 1990 and Georgia annually since 1992, so ranking the five toughest games this season will have a very different look from a year ago. The Vols went 2-3 in their five toughest tasks last year from this perspective, losing to Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma, and defeating Florida and Syracuse.
The 2026 projection:
1. Texas A&M in College Station (Nov. 14): The Aggies are the top pick here because of the Kyle Field noise and the belief that Mike Elko is finally the right coach for a program that last won a national championship in 1939 and has yet to reach the SEC title game. Tennessee’s first trip to College Station was a memorable 45-38 loss in double overtime in 2016, and this will be just the fourth meeting between the two since the Aggies joined the league in 2012. Texas A&M reportedly has a roster in the $40 million range and landed several former SEC players via the NCAA transfer portal, most notably offensive tackles Wilkin Formby (Alabama) and Tyree Adams (LSU), and they also snagged former Tennessee cornerback Rickey Gibson III. Marcel Reed is never mentioned at the top of the SEC quarterback rankings, but the former Montgomery Bell Academy standout has 40 touchdown passes and 18 interceptions the past two seasons to accompany his 1,036 rushing yards, 4.7 yards per carry and 13 rushing scores. The oddsmakers must feel the same about this selection, because Draft Kings has the Vols as early 8.5-point underdogs to the Aggies.
2. Texas in Knoxville (Sept. 26): This may be the most anticipated game of Tennessee’s season, as the Longhorns travel to Knoxville for the first time. Texas reportedly has college football’s most expensive roster at $48 million, and the Vols can’t match — at least right now — what the Longhorns have with quarterback Arch Manning, receiver and Auburn transfer Cam Coleman and edge rusher Colin Simmons, who might be the league’s best player regardless of position. Then there is the Will Muschamp dynamic. Muschamp is in his second stint in Austin, and he is 12-2 in his last 14 meetings against the Vols as either Florida’s head coach, South Carolina’s head coach or as a Georgia defensive assistant.
3. Alabama in Knoxville (Oct. 17): There can’t be a listing of Tennessee’s toughest contests without Alabama, right? The Vols have defeated the Crimson Tide in their last two Neyland Stadium encounters, but Alabama is a dominating 17-2 in the last 19 series meetings. Junior receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams is a proven star and the secondary has experience on a program that has sustained consecutive four-loss seasons following Nick Saban’s historical run. There are similarities between the two at quarterback, as Alabama’s Austin Mack and Tennessee’s George MacIntyre possess more time in their respective systems, while Alabama’s Keelon Russell and Tennessee’s Faizon Brandon have more upside. The Crimson Tide did amass a Saban-like recruiting haul with the five-star likes of running back EJ Crowell, edge rusher Xavier Griffin, cornerback Jorden Edmonds and safety Jireh Edwards.
4. LSU in Knoxville (Nov. 21): Neyland Stadium security will be on the lookout for mustard bottles before this one as LSU coach Lane Kiffin returns to Tennessee with a third team, having won while serving as Alabama’s offensive coordinator in 2014 and 2016 and as the Ole Miss head coach in 2021. The Tigers reportedly have a roster in the $43 million neighborhood headed by quarterback Sam Leavitt, who led Arizona State to the Big 12 title two years ago but is coming off foot surgery. Another big transfer portal prize for LSU was former Tennessee edge rusher Jordan Ross. The Tigers may have some early adjustments with so many new faces, but this is their next-to-last contest of the regular season. What some could be overlooking with LSU is the fact defensive coordinator Blake Baker and linebacker Whit Weeks remained in Baton Rouge, giving the Tigers some needed stability.
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5. Georgia Tech in Atlanta (Sept. 12): Tennessee returns to Atlanta for its biggest nonconference assignment, but this will be much more challenging than last season’s 45-26 opening win over Syracuse in front of a pro-Vol crowd inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Vols haven’t played at Bobby Dodd Stadium since a 14-13 loss to the Yellow Jackets in 1986, and Georgia Tech will be the more tested team, opening nine days earlier against visiting Colorado compared to Tennessee’s Sept. 5 matchup with Furman. Brent Key has some momentum at his alma mater after going 9-4 last season, and the Yellow Jackets obtained former Indiana backup quarterback Alberto Mendoza, the younger brother of 2026 Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, and former Alabama and Michigan running back Justice Haynes through the transfer portal. Haynes has averaged 6.5 yards a carry through 225 career carries. Georgia Tech could have as many as seven transfers starting on each side of the ball.
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Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.