Vols find replacement games for canceled Nebraska series with meetings against Ga. Tech in 2026-27

Tennessee and Georgia Tech will play a home-and-home football series in 2026 and 2027, the schools announced Wednesday.

The Volunteers will travel to Atlanta to face the Yellow Jackets on Sept. 12, 2026. Georgia Tech will go to Knoxville on Sept. 11, 2027.

The series replaces two games Tennessee had scheduled against Nebraska for 2026 and 2027. Nebraska announced in February that it had backed out of those games.

“After Nebraska canceled the series, our main focus was to secure another home-and-home matchup with an opponent from a Power Four conference, which seemed improbable at the time,” Tennessee athletic director Danny White said. “I sincerely appreciate Athletic Director J Batt’s creativity in modifying Georgia Tech’s schedule to make this series possible.”

Tennessee and Georgia Tech met all but three seasons from 1954-87. Tennessee won the most recent meeting 42-41 in overtime in the 2017 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The Vols lead the all-time series 25-17-2.

“As we continue to invest in and elevate Georgia Tech football, securing elite-level competition is a critical component,” Batt said. “We’re thrilled to renew our rivalry with Tennessee and look forward to the matchups in Atlanta and Knoxville. I’m confident that our passionate Tech fans will embrace this series!”

The schools are separated by 200 miles, and both were members of the Southeastern Conference from 1933 until the Yellow Jackets’ departure in 1963. Georgia Tech was an independent until it joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1983.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football