A look at Tennessee’s future non-conference football games

In April of 2014, the SEC mandated that every school in the conference play at least one other “Power Five” conference team per season, starting in 2016.

Though this may be a new standard for some SEC teams, it is nothing new for Tennessee.

The Vols always have had tough non-conference schedules, as they have played teams like Oregon, Oklahoma, UCLA, and California in recent years.

The coming seasons will be no different, as several football powers are scheduled to face Tennessee on the gridiron.

2016

Sept. 3 – Appalachian State

Sept. 10 – Virginia Tech (Battle at Bristol at Bristol Motor Speedway)

TBA – Ohio

TBA – Tennessee Tech

The biggest game on the 2016 non-conference schedule is definitely the Battle at Bristol, which is expected to be the most attended college football game of all time.

The Battle at Bristol will be the first of several neutral site games over the coming seasons for Tennessee.

Tennessee will also host new FBS team Appalachian State to open the season, a game that the Vols should not overlook.

The lone FCS team Tennessee will play in 2016 is in-state foe Tennessee Tech.

2017

Sept. 2 – Southern Miss

Sept. 23 – Indiana State

Nov. 4 – UMass

Close to being finalized – Georgia Tech (Chick-fil-a Kickoff Classic at Atlanta)

The game against Georgia Tech has not been finalized yet, but should be announced within the coming weeks.

That game will be played in the new Atlanta Falcons stadium, one of the first games to ever be played there.

Other than that game against the Yellow Jackets, the non-conference schedule is not that interesting.

Other seasons have intriguing matchups against lower conference teams, but games against Southern Miss, Indiana State, and UMass have no storylines as of now.

2018

Sept. 1 – West Virginia (at Charlotte)

Sept. 8 – ETSU

Nov. 3 – Charlotte

The West Virginia game is an interesting one for UT, and also gives them an opportunity to play in an area that Butch Jones’s staff loves to recruit from.

The Vols will also face two new football programs in ETSU and Charlotte.

Several local players will be making a homecoming when ETSU travels to Knoxville in their fourth season as a program.

There is one more non-conference game for 2018 yet to be announced.

Other future non-conference games:

2019 - Georgia State

2021 - Pittsburgh

2022 - at Pittsburgh

2026 - at Nebraska

2027 - Nebraska

#tennessee #nonconference