Vols Opening 2015 Season Against UAB in Nashville

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee fans can now plan weddings and vacations, the 2015 Volunteer Football schedule is here.

With the season a week shorter on the calendar, the schedule features just one open date, Oct. 17, which just happens to fall right in the middle of the 12-game slate.

The Volunteers will play seven home games including SEC opponents Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina and Vanderbilt and eight total games inside the state of Tennessee. The Volunteers will play an eight-game Southeastern Conference schedule, as previously announced by the league.

Tennessee opens the season at a neutral site for the first time since 2012, with the fifth all-time meeting against UAB at Nashville’s LP field on Sept, 5. It will be the second time that UT has opened a season at the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, after defeating Wyoming there, 47-7, to lift the lid on the 2002 season. The Volunteers have played at LP Field on four prior occasions, having previously faced Vanderbilt there in 2000 and 2002 in addition to the Wyoming game and the 2010 Music City Bowl against North Carolina.

UT returns to Neyland Stadium for a two-game home stand that begins with Tennessee hosting its first Big XII opponent in Knoxville since Texas Tech in 1997 as Oklahoma makes its return trip on Sept. 12. The game will be the Sooners’ first in Neyland Stadium and the fourth all-time meeting between the two programs. A week later, UT will host Western Carolina on Sept. 19, the first game between the two teams.

The Volunteers open SEC play on the road against Florida on Sept. 26, the first of six consecutive conference games. UT has faced the Gators to start the conference schedule 12 of the last 13 years, with 2014 the lone exception in that stretch.

UT hosts back-to-back conference games on Oct. 3 against Arkansas and Oct. 10 against Georgia. The Razorbacks will be making their first trip to Knoxville since 2007, a 34-13 Tennessee victory. The Bulldogs have won their last two in Neyland Stadium, dating back to UT’s 35-14 win in 2009.

After the only open date of the season on Oct. 17, Tennessee starts a two-game road swing with a trip to Tuscaloosa, Alabama for the 98th meeting with the Crimson Tide on Oct. 24.

The Vols then travel to Lexington, Kentucky to face the Wildcats on Halloween. The Oct. 31 meeting will mark the first time since 1909 that Tennessee has played Kentucky in a month other than November. That 1909 game came when UK was known as Kentucky State and was also played in the month of October. All but three games in the series, 1893, 1908 and 1909, have been played in November.

Tennessee will close the season with three of its final four games at home, beginning with South Carolina on Nov. 7. UT welcomes North Texas for the final non-conference game of the year on Nov. 14. It will be the second meeting between the schools, the first since a 21-14 Mean Green win in Knoxville on Oct. 25, 1975.

The Volunteers head to Missouri on Nov. 21 and close the season at home against in-state rival Vanderbilt on Nov. 28.

Information regarding game times and television broadcast information is typically released two weeks before each individual game.