Report appears to confirm what fans suspected about the future of the Tennessee Vols vs Georgia Bulldogs rivalry
The Tennessee Vols and the Georgia Bulldogs will meet in Neyland Stadium on Saturday in Knoxville. It will mark the 34th year in a row that Georgia and Tennessee have played each other (the last year that didn’t feature a meeting between the two programs was 1991). With the SEC set to move to a […]
The Tennessee Vols and the Georgia Bulldogs will meet in Neyland Stadium on Saturday in Knoxville.
It will mark the 34th year in a row that Georgia and Tennessee have played each other (the last year that didn’t feature a meeting between the two programs was 1991).
With the SEC set to move to a nine game schedule in 2026, each SEC program will move to a scheduling format that features six rotating opponents and three permanent opponents.
The general feeling is that Georgia won’t be one of Tennessee’s three permanent opponents.
On3’s Chris Low provided some insight this week on future of the Vols vs Bulldogs rivalry which, seems to confirm that it’s very unlikely that Georgia and Tennessee will continue to play each other annually.
“Each team will take on three permanent opponents and six rotating opponents, and sources have told On3 that Georgia and Tennessee aren’t expected to be permanent foes,” wrote Low.
We don’t know what the 2026 schedule is going to look like yet. It’s possible that Georgia and Tennessee could meet next season even if they aren’t a permanent opponent for each other (SEC teams that aren’t permanent opponents will meet every other year).
Who will the Tennessee Vols’ three permanent opponents be?
The Alabama Crimson Tide will almost certainly be one of Tennessee’s permanent opponents. The expectation is that the Vanderbilt Commodores will also be one of the Vols’ permanent opponents.
As for the third team?
Well, most folks seem to think it’ll be either the Kentucky Wildcats or the Florida Gators.
Kentucky makes more sense as its the closest SEC campus to Tennessee outside of Vanderbilt. Plus the Wildcats/Vols rivalry is more historic than the Gators/Vols rivalry.
There’s also the fact that Florida could have Georgia and the LSU Tigers are permanent opponents. It seems unlikely that the SEC would also force Florida to play Tennessee every year.
We should find out soon how the permanent opponents shake out for each SEC program.
Tennessee Volunteers News
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