Tennessee Vols' clash with Ohio State will mark a surprising program first
A good number fans of the Tennessee Volunteers are also fans of teams in Ohio, particularly of the Cincinnati Bengals and Reds. After all, Cincinnati and Tennessee aren't all that far apart, about 2.5 hours from the city to the state line. However, next Saturday's clash with the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first round […]
A good number fans of the Tennessee Volunteers are also fans of teams in Ohio, particularly of the Cincinnati Bengals and Reds. After all, Cincinnati and Tennessee aren't all that far apart, about 2.5 hours from the city to the state line.
However, next Saturday's clash with the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first round of the College Football Playoff will constitute a rather surprising first for the Vols' football program. According to Vols Wire's Dan Harralson, Tennessee's trip to Columbus will be the first time that the Vols have played in the state of Ohio.
The Vols have faced off against Ohio State just one time in their history – the 1996 Citrus Bowl. Tennessee's physical defense stymied the Buckeyes and their Heisman Trophy-winning running back Eddie George on the way to a 20-14 win. That's all between the two sides.
As far as the next biggest program in the state, Tennessee has faced the Cincinnati Bearcats six times in their history, and all matchups were in Knoxville. UT leads the series 5-1, with the last matchup coming in 2011, a 45-23 Tennessee win.
Now, the Vols will be able to do like many of us who travel often do: stick a pin in the city or state after visiting it. However, once the Vols and Buckeyes meet, Tennessee will still have 24 states left in which they haven't played.
Several of them will surely never see the Vols visit, i.e., Alaska, Maine, Idaho, Delaware, North and South Dakota, Rhode Island, and Vermont, but there are plenty of other locations that would be interesting to see Tennessee ultimately visit down the road. Tennessee is scheduled to scratch two states off the list though in the coming years: Nebraska in 2026 and Washington in 2030.
In any event, Tennessee will get to stick a pin in Columbus on December 21. We'll see if they can still that through the heart of Buckeye fans in the process.
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