Nebraska AD explains reason for canceling Tennessee home-and-home
Nebraska canceled its home-and-home football series with Tennessee in 2026 and 2027 due to renovations at Memorial Stadium scheduled for the 2027 season, according to athletic director Troy Dannen.
Dannen told On3’s HuskerOnline that Nebraska needed to add another home game for the 2027 season to offset lost revenue from a lower capacity during the renovations.
Tennessee was scheduled to go to Nebraska in September 2027, after the series started at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville in September 2026.
“We are making plans to embark on major renovations of Memorial Stadium that may impact our seating capacity for the 2027 season,” Dannen said. “The best scenario for us is to have eight home games in 2027 to offset any potential revenue loss from a reduced capacity.
“The additional home games will also have a tremendous economic benefit on the Lincoln community.”
Nebraska replaced Tennessee series with two home games
Nebraska replaced the Tennessee series with a home game against Bowling Green in 2026 and a home game against Miami (Ohio) in September 2027.
The Cornhuskers will play eight home games at Memorial Stadium in 2027 for the first time since 2013, according to HuskerOnline.
Furman is the only other game currently scheduled for Tennessee in 2026. The Vols have Western Michigan on the 2027 schedule.
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“It’s extremely disappointing,” White told Volquest’s Brent Hubbs. “This series has been under contract for so long. We had been planning on playing it. For it to get cancelled this short notice we are extremely disappointed.”
Other future opponents for Tennessee include West Virginia in Charlotte in 2028, then a home-and-home with Washington in 2029 and 2030, starting in Knoxville then going to Seattle.
Tennessee-Nebraska series was initially scheduled in 2006
Tennessee and Nebraska signed contracts for the home-and-home in 2006, with the series initially set for 2016-17. In 2013, when the Vols scheduled Virginia Tech in the Battle at Bristol at Bristol Motor Speedway for the 2016 season, the Nebraska series was pushed back 10 years.
The contract called for a $500,000 buyout, per game, to get out of the series.
“The buyout implications need to be much steeper,” White said. “This is such an old contract. It was postponed multiple times. If it had been postponed when I was here, I would have asked for an increase in the buyout to postpone it.
“I don’t know the history if we were requesting to push it back or if Nebraska was. The buyout terms are reflective of a contract that’s 20 years old. They are not steep enough to dissuaded this kind of decision making from our opponent.”
