So, there’s this whole thing brewing between Tennessee and Georgia Tech. They just got it all sorted out for some football face-offs in 2026 and then again in 2027. And yeah, the big wigs—AKA the schools themselves—let the cat out of the bag on Wednesday. Now, get this: the Volunteers are packing their bags for Atlanta to take on the mildly terrifying Yellow Jackets on September 12, 2026. But flip the calendar to 2027, and it’s Georgia Tech’s turn to crash the party in Knoxville on September 11. Sorta like a ping-pong match, but, uh, with more running and tackling.
Little curveball though—this wasn’t the original plan. Tennessee was supposed to be dealing with Nebraska during those years, but oops, Nebraska hit the brakes on that one back in February. Just ghosted ’em, I guess. Now, Tennessee’s athletic director, Danny White, was in a bit of a pickle—scrambling for another Power Four (whatever that is I guess major football) opponent. And I mean, who knew? Turning to Georgia Tech was gonna be the answer.
Whaddya know, these two schools used to be pretty chummy on the field—you know, playing almost every season from ’54 to ’87. Apparently, Tennessee pulled a fast one in their last meet-up in 2017, claiming victory 42-41 in overtime at the Kickoff Game—in case anyone keeps score on this kind of stuff. Oh, and if you’re adding the tallies, Tennessee’s ahead in this little drama, with the series standing at 25-17-2. Not that anyone’s getting too competitive all of a sudden.
Georgia Tech’s Athletic Director, J Batt, gotta give the guy a nod for his ‘creativity’—his words, not mine. It took a bit of schedule shuffling, but hey, worked out, right? “Georgia Tech’s all in,” he says. They’re MIA from the SEC since ’63, been playing it solo until mixing it up with the Atlantic Coast Conference in ’83. And although there’s just 200 miles between ’em, this matchup sounds like they’re worlds apart.
There’s something kind of refreshing about college teams jumping the hoops to make games happen. And if Batt’s right, Tech fans are gonna eat this up with a spoon. I guess rivalries make the world go ’round—or at least fill up stadium seats. Anyway, where was I going with this? Oh well, guess we’ll just have to wait and see how it all plays out.
