Tennessee's three permanent opponents leaked ahead of SEC schedule release

There have been some questions about who will be Tennessee's third permanent opponent with the new SEC football schedule format being released on Tuesday. While there has been some speculation about whether or not Tennessee will keep Florida or Kentucky as a permanent rival, we now have our answer. 

ESPN's Chris Low has shared every team's permanent opponents for the next four seasons, and Tennessee's could leave some fans upset. 

The Vols' three permanent opponents will be Alabama, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky. The SEC decided to leave Florida off Tennessee's permanent opponents list for Kentucky. Florida's three permanent opponents will be Georgia, LSU, and South Carolina.

The SEC aims to protect traditional rivalries while maintaining competitive fairness and rotational frequency in its new schedule format.

That has led to some surprising omissions in the permanent rivalries for certain teams, but others, such as Alabama and LSU, were left off for the sake of competitive fairness and balance.

While this will leave some fans upset because some traditional rivalries are left off the list, the SEC could choose to keep those rivalry games in place, at least for the next four years, but it doesn't guarantee those games will be played annually under the new schedule format.

Tennessee Athletic Director Danny White has already confirmed that the Vols will have five home games next season and four home games in 2027, so that could give fans an indication which games could be played at home.

The Vols should host Alabama and Kentucky next season, leaving three home games for its rotational opponents.

The SEC's new nine-game schedule will be released in full on Tuesday night in a television special on the SEC Network and ESPN2. This is where all 16 teams will learn who they will face in 2026.