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Danny White wants to add Tennessee football home-and-home series over neutral-site games
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- Danny White wants to add Tennessee football home-and-home series over neutral-site games
Danny White is focused on scheduling future marque nonconference games at Neyland Stadium as the SEC goes to a nine-game conference schedule.
"For us, I want to maximize games in Neyland Stadium," the UT athletics director said on the "Big Orange Countdown" before Tennessee football beat UAB 56-24 on Sept. 20 .. "We have a sold-out stadium. We have the best fan base in all of sport."
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White explained he was careful with Tennessee's future nonconference scheduling to make sure it would line up for UT to host five notable games each season. He is not interested in adding future neutral-site affairs.
"As we look into the future in non-conference scheduling, it'll be home-and-home against that power-four series and make sure we have one here every other year," White said.
White's plan means that Tennessee will have five power-conference games at Neyland Stadium in each of the new four years, while alternating between playing five SEC home games and four SEC home games with a marquee nonconference matchup.
He also shared on the "Big Orange Countdown" that the Vols will have five SEC home games in 2026. They host Georgia Tech in 2027 when they will have four SEC home games. They will have five SEC home games against in 2028 before hosting Washington in 2029 to go with four SEC home games.
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"It is lined up through all of our nonconference games that are scheduled now," White said. "It matches up where we will always have five power-four opponents."
The SEC's scheduling change requires that teams schedule at least one "high-quality nonconference" game against a team from the ACC, Big Ten or Big 12 conferences or Notre Dame in each season.
Tennessee has two marquee home-and-home series scheduled in the coming years.
UT agreed to a two-game deal with Georgia Tech in April to play in 2026 and 2027 after Nebraska backed out of its series with the Vols. Georgia Tech will host Tennessee on Sept. 12, 2026, at either Bobby Dodd Stadium or potentially Mercedes-Benz Stadium. UT will face Georgia Tech at Neyland Stadium on Sept. 11, 2027.
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WHITE: Tennessee football will have five SEC home games in 2026 season, athletic director says
Tennessee and Washington announced a home-and-home series in January 2022. UT will host Washington on Sept. 1, 2029. The Vols will play in Seattle on Sept. 7, 2030.
Tennessee is slated to open the 2028 season against West Virginia at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sept. 2 in the Duke's Mayo Classic. The matchup was announced in April 2021 .
UT has played three neutral-site games in White's tenure. It opened the 2023 season with a 49-13 win against Virginia in Nashville. It beat NC State 51-10 in Charlotte in Sept. 2024 and beat Syracuse 45-26 on Aug. 30 to open the 2025 season.
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"The only neutral-site games I have scheduled since I have been here have been when we have had an anomaly in the schedule," White said.
He explained the NC State game in Charlotte happened after Oklahoma joined the SEC and Tennessee scrambled for a power-conference game. The Virginia game in Nashville resulted from UT canceling a matchup at BYU with White not wanting to play "that far away."
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @ ByMikeWilson . If you enjoy Mike's coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football schedule: Danny White wants home-and-home games
