The SEC is expanding its set schedule from an eight-game slate to a nine-game conference schedule, which will begin in 2026.

Tennessee football is now lined up to face Alabama, Vanderbilt and Kentucky for the next four seasons, spanning until 2029, while rotating the remaining opponents. Each team is still expected to schedule at least one nonconference game against a Power Four school or Notre Dame.

Here is the history of each of these three rivalries as the Vols gear up for a four-year date.

Alabama

Playing for the first time in 1901, a game that finished in a 6-6 tie, the “Third Saturday in October” remains one of the most storied and iconic rivalries in the South.

Compared to the other two teams selected to play the Vols, Alabama remains the toughest win. Alabama leads the way in wins, compiling a 60-40-7 record against the Vols. But Tennessee has begun to see an uptick in recent success.

The Vols made history after defeating the Crimson Tide at home in 2024 and 2022, which was the first instance Tennessee won back-to-back home meetings against the Tide since 2004 and 2006.

Josh Heupel is currently 2-2 against Alabama, with a chance to move above .500 this season as the Vols travel to Tuscaloosa on Oct. 18.

There’s no debate needed for keeping the rivalry intact. The Tide and the Vols remain one of the conference’s crown jewel rivalries. With the Vols becoming more competitive than in recent memory, the series is bound to deliver more classics like the 52-49 Tennessee win in 2022 that ended with goal posts in the river.

Vanderbilt

Clark Lea’s Commodores have had quite the turnaround since Lea was hired as head coach in 2021.

Tennessee bodes well against Vanderbilt, as the Vols lead the all-time season series 81-32 with five ties.

The last meetup between the two schools resulted in a 36-23 Vols win in Nashville, despite Vanderbilt jumping ahead early.

While the Commodores haven’t popped off the page in many ways, their gradual rise is setting the stage for what should be a competitive string of meetings between the two sides beginning later this season in November as the Commodores travel to Neyland Stadium.

The Vols have won six straight contests against Vanderbilt, with the streak starting in 2019. Heupel has yet to lose to Vanderbilt during his tenure.

The selection of Vanderbilt as a permanent opponent preserves an underrated in-state contest. Clark Lea currently has the Commodores at 4-0 this season and led his team to a 7-6 record last season, which included a Birmingham Bowl win.

Kentucky

Since the first meeting on the gridiron in 1893, a game that saw Kentucky defeat the Vols 56-0, Tennessee has taken the series by storm. Where things stand now, the Vols lead the all-time series 85-26 with nine ties.

Heupel has yet to drop a contest to the Wildcats. The team’s last loss came in 2020, a year before Heupel arrived, when the Vols dropped a 34-7 loss at home to the Wildcats — Tennessee’s first loss to Kentucky in Neyland Stadium since 1984.

The rivalry with the Wildcats stands as the longest current rivalry for the Vols, playing 118 times over the last 130 years.

The rivalry used to be honored with the presentation of the Beer Barrel, but both schools mutually agreed to remove it in 1998 after an alcohol-related accident.

At one point, the Vols possessed a 26-game winning streak over the Wildcats that spanned from 1985 to 2010, one of the longest streaks in college football history.

The priorities for scheduling the three set opponents stemmed from maintaining historical prominence. The three selected teams also happen to be the three teams the Vols have the most storied past against.