Playoff matchup many Tennessee fans wanted could be a great option for Vols AD Danny White after latest news
Tennessee AD Danny White is in a pickle after it was revealed on Friday that the Nebraska Cornhuskers have backed out on their contract with UT for a home-and-home football series in 2026-27. The problem is that these games are set well in advance. Several years. Or, in the case of Tennessee-Nebraska, 19 years. Some […]
Tennessee AD Danny White is in a pickle after it was revealed on Friday that the Nebraska Cornhuskers have backed out on their contract with UT for a home-and-home football series in 2026-27.
The problem is that these games are set well in advance. Several years. Or, in the case of Tennessee-Nebraska, 19 years. Some conferences also have the requirement that their schools play at least one Power Four non-conference opponent (or Notre Dame) a year, which the SEC does. Accordingly, the vast majority of Power Four teams have another Power Four school scheduled for 2026-27 in their non-conference slate.
However, one option to resolve said pickle for the 2026 season could be something that many Vol fans wanted to see at the conclusion of the 2024 regular season: a matchup with the Indiana Hoosiers. As things stand now, per FBSchedules.com, Indiana has two non-conference games scheduled in 2026, and neither of them are against a Power Four team: against Colorado State and UConn.
That would conceivably leave open a slot for Tennessee if the schools could agree to terms. Part of that – and probably part of any agreement at this point with a Power Four school – would involve playing at a neutral site location. The vast majority of schools have at least one Power Four team locked in for either 2026 or 2027 (and most have one locked in for both), so a home-and-home isn't on the table absent a further cancellation by someone.
Tennessee and Indiana aren't terribly far apart geographically, so perhaps something not too far from one or the other – Indianapolis or Nashville – could be a possibility.
As for 2027 – Indiana has a P4 opponent already in Virginia – there are a handful of schools who don't have a P4 matchup in place yet. USC and Kansas are both schools who have a game locked in against a Power Four team or Notre Dame in 2026, but have an opening in 2027. A matchup between Josh Heupel and Lincoln Riley – the man who succeeded him at Oklahoma after Heupel was let go by Bob Stoops – might have some spice to it.
We'll see what moves White makes to try to get out of the hole that Nebraska's late cancellation has left Tennessee in.
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