Tennessee football: Western Michigan a dangerous team to add to future slate

It seems as if Tennessee football has made a habit out of targeting MAC opponents for non-conference play in recent years. The Vols face two MAC foes this year, the Ball State Cardinals and the Akron Zips. They added Akron to replace the Army Black Knights.

This is also the second straight year UT opens the season up against a MAC team, as they face Ball State Thursday. Last year, they began the year against the Bowling Green Falcons. They face the Kent State Golden Flashes in 2024.

Well, Tennessee football has now taken a big risk for its MAC for in 2026. The Western Michigan Broncos announced on their website over the weekend that they will visit the Vols that year, on Sept. 19 to be exact. This is a dangerous matchup.

In recent years, Western Michigan has become a solid program at their level. This is a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2013, P.J. Fleck’s first year. They won the MAC and had an undefeated regular season with Fleck in 2016.

Since Fleck has left, Tim Lester has somewhat maintained that level of success, going 32-25 with three bowl appearances in five years. He has been slowly getting better too, as last year, he went 8-5 and won the Quick Lane Bowl, the best season they have had under him.

Simply put, at this point, Western Michigan is a solid program. They are on much more stable ground than any of the other MAC foes Tennessee football has faced in recent history or will face in the near future. It’s also the first matchup ever between these two schools.

As a result, the Vols are somewhat playing with fire. The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners will join the SEC in 2025. We don’t know what the scheduling will be like yet when they join, but it’s hard to see UT’s schedule getting easier.

All signs point to the SEC moving to a nine-game schedule, and the Vols already face the Nebraska Cornhuskers in 2026. Sure, Nebraska is in trouble now under Scott Frost, but they’re still a good program, and they could be a major threat in 2026.

That means the Vols could have 10 Power Five opponents in 2026, and they are now adding Western Michigan to the slate. Sure, they should win that game, but wouldn’t you want at least one game to be a bit of a cakewalk? Why do your easy foes still have to be elite at their level?

Recent history shows the Vols shouldn’t take non-Power Five games lightly. This is a program that started off 0-2 in 2019 with losses at home to the Georgia State Panthers and BYU Cougars, and in arguably their most successful season since firing Phillip Fulmer, 2016, they needed overtime to beat the Appalachian State Mountaineers.

Western Michigan is a solid program probably above both of their levels. As a result, Tennessee football’s 2026 schedule just got that much more brutal. The Vols have dealt with this before. In 2003, they faced the Fresno State Bulldogs and Marshall Thundering Herd for two circled games. However, it does make things more difficult.