Tennessee football will play Georgia Tech in 2026 and 2027 after Nebraska backed out of its series with the Vols.

Both schools announced the new contract on Wednesday. UT also announced a home game against Kennesaw State on Sept. 19, 2026, with a contract that was finalized last fall.

The first game of the Georgia Tech series will be Sept. 12, 2026, in Atlanta. It could be played at Bobby Dodd Stadium, which has a capacity of 51,913. But Georgia Tech could explore moving that game to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta to take advantage of a 71,000 capacity.

The second game will be Sept. 11, 2027, at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville.

It will be their first meeting since the 2017 season opener, when Tennessee won 42-41 in double-overtime in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Georgia Tech’s last trip to Neyland Stadium was 1987, when UT won 29-15.

The Vols own a 25-17-2 record in the all-time series. The programs met all but three years from 1954-87.

Last season, Georgia Tech posted a 7-6 record with a 3-4 mark in the ACC. The Yellow Jackets have gone 18-16 in three seasons under coach Brent Key.

Why Nebraska backed out of Tennessee series

Tennessee had to scramble to find a new opponent after Nebraska backed out of their 2026 and 2027 games, which had been under contract since 2006.

Tennessee athletics director Danny White anticipated having to schedule neutral site games in back-to-back seasons because of Nebraska’s late pullout. But he thanked Georgia Tech athletics director J. Batt for providing the Vols a good alternative on short notice.

“After Nebraska canceled the series, our main focus was to secure another home-and-home matchup with an opponent from a Power Four conference, which seemed improbable at the time,” Danny White said in a school release. “I sincerely appreciate athletic director J. Batt’s creativity in modifying Georgia Tech’s schedule to make this series possible. We look forward to seeing plenty of orange in Atlanta in 2026!”

Nebraska must pay UT $1 million in liquidated damages, or $500,000 per game, plus any expenses incurred in pursuance. It’s a relatively small penalty for a buyout, but that’s because the contract is so old.

Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said the Cornhuskers backed out of the UT series because it had no incentive to play tough nonconference games along with a nine-game conference schedule in the Big Ten.

“Why in the world would a Big Ten team who’s already playing nine conference games, why would you ever play one of those games?” Rhule said on “The Triple Option” podcast with Urban Meyer. “… I love the SEC, I’m not anti-SEC, but there’s some SEC teams last year that only played three away games in another team’s stadium. We’re in a league where some years you have five home Big Ten games, and some years you have five road. You go on the road five times in the Big Ten with no like, Florida-Georgia on a neutral site.”

TENNESSEE SPRING GAME Tickets, schedule, parking, no TV

Tennessee football future nonconference opponents

Tennessee quietly added Kennesaw State to the 2026 schedule last fall.

Coincidentally, former UT running backs coach Jerry Mack was hired as Kennesaw State’s new coach in December after the future game was already on the books.

That means the Vols will open the 2026 season against Furman (Sept. 5), Georgia Tech (Sept. 12) and Kennesaw State (Sept. 19). They haven’t added a fourth nonconference opponent yet because the SEC is considering a nine-game conference schedule in 2026.

Here are UT’s other future nonconference opponents.

2025: Syracuse (in Atlanta); ETSU; UAB; New Mexico State

2026: Furman, Kennesaw State, Georgia Tech (in Atlanta)

2027: Western Michigan, Georgia Tech

2028: West Virginia (in Charlotte, North Carolina)

2029: Washington

2030: at Washington

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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