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Tennessee football’s 2020 SEC-only schedule revealed

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images) /
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The Southeastern Conference revealed the Tennessee football Volunteers slate amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the first time since 1942, Tennessee football will open the season up against the South Carolina Gamecocks. Meanwhile, for the first time since 2001, they will finish the regular season up against the Florida Gators.

These are the highlights of UT’s full revised 10-game SEC-only schedule that was released Monday night on an SEC Network special show. The league’s entire slate, which begins on Sept. 26 and ends Dec. 5 with the SEC Championship game schedule for Dec. 19, was released.

On Oct. 3, Tennessee football will face the Missouri Tigers for its first home game. They will then visit the Georgia Bulldogs on Oct. 10 before hosting the Kentucky Wildcats and Alabama Crimson Tide on Oct. 17 and Oct. 24 respectively. Their open date is on Halloween, Oct. 31.

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After the bye, Jeremy Pruitt’s third team on Rocky Top will visit the Arkansas Razorbacks, host the Texas A&M Aggies, visit the Auburn Tigers and visit the Vanderbilt Commodores before they host Florida for their final game. So for the first time in a long time, they have a brutal November.

Kickoff times and TV slots will be determined at a later date. Brandon Marcello of 247Sports tweeted out earlier that the league was in discussions with CBS and ESPN for early-season times and then being able to announce TV selections 12 days prior to each “date of competition.”

Auburn and Texas A&M were added to the Vols’ original eight-game SEC schedule once the league decided it would go this route due to coronavirus. That gives Pruitt’s team five opponents who were in the preseason Coaches Poll top 25 and three in the preseason top 10 before the news of the Pac-12, Big Ten, Mountain West and MAC postponing fall sports.

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Taking all this into account, Tennessee football has a tough road ahead. To be fair, the last time UT ended the season against Florida, they won 34-32 and played for the SEC Championship. It was also their last top five finish. Simply put, the layout of this schedule may not spell all doom and gloom for the program.

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