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Buy tickets for the Saturday, September 26, 2026 game at Neyland Stadium, 11:00 a.m. CT / 12:00 p.m. ET
Buy Texas at Tennessee Tickets
Game Notes
Texas travels to Knoxville on Saturday, September 26, 2026, with kickoff at 11 a.m. CT. The game will be on either ABC or ESPN; the network split had not been designated as of late July 2026. This is one of the few Texas games with a confirmed kickoff time this early.
Texas at Tennessee: A Look at the 2026 Matchup at Neyland Stadium
Game Details
- Date: Saturday, September 26, 2026
- Kickoff: 11:00 a.m. CT / 12:00 p.m. ET
- TV: ABC or ESPN (network not yet designated)
- Venue: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN
- Address: 1235 Phillip Fulmer Way SW, Knoxville, TN 37996
- Capacity: 101,915
Series History
Texas leads the all-time series 2–1 — and every one of those three games was a Cotton Bowl Classic in Dallas. The two programs have never met in a regular-season game, and Texas has never played in Knoxville.
Tennessee won the first meeting on January 1, 1951, 20–14, outscoring Texas 13–0 after halftime behind Hank Lauricella and Andy Kozar. Texas won the January 1953 meeting 16–0, and won again on January 1, 1969, 36–13 — the largest margin in the series.
That 1969 Cotton Bowl was the last time these teams played. The gap entering 2026 is 57 years.
What Sets This Matchup Apart
The first regular-season meeting in the history of the series, and the first conference game between them, in a stadium Texas has never visited.
Tennessee finished 2025 at 8–5 and lost the Music City Bowl to Illinois 30–28. Josh Heupel enters his sixth season with a new defensive coordinator after Jim Knowles departed, and an unsettled quarterback competition between redshirt freshman George MacIntyre and highly rated freshman Faizon Brandon that extended into fall camp. The offense ranked seventh in SP+ in 2025 and returns key pieces. ESPN’s preseason poll has Tennessee 16th; the SEC media poll picked them eighth.
Texas went 10–3 in 2025 with Arch Manning returning at quarterback.
Seating and Ticket Notes
An 11 a.m. CT kickoff — noon local — usually softens resale demand relative to an evening game. That said, this is a first-ever regular-season meeting between two brand programs, and Tennessee sells out at scale.
Visiting fans are generally allocated the upper deck of the south end zone. Neyland’s upper decks are steep; the lower sideline in sections along the west side gives the best combination of sightline and shade for a late-morning kickoff.
Atmosphere and Traditions
Neyland Stadium opened in 1921 and holds 101,915, sixth-largest in the country. Tennessee averaged a full house in 2025, sixth nationally. The record crowd is 109,061, set against Florida in 2004. The playing surface is Shields–Watkins Field.
The checkerboard end zones were introduced in 1964, removed when artificial turf arrived in 1968, and restored in 1989. The Pride of the Southland Band forms the Power T for the team’s entrance, and “Rocky Top” plays after nearly everything. The Vol Navy began in 1962 when radio broadcaster George Mooney started taking his boat down the Tennessee River to avoid game-day traffic; fans now dock along the river beside the stadium, one of very few college venues reachable by water.
Final Thoughts
The first regular-season game ever played between Texas and Tennessee, 57 years after their last meeting in the Cotton Bowl, and Texas’s first trip to Neyland Stadium. A late-morning national television window in one of the sport’s great venues.