



Tennessee’s October might be just a tad more manageable in 2017. Perhaps.

The Vols, in a break from standard scheduling of recent years, will face Eastern Division foes South Carolina (Oct. 14) and Kentucky (Oct. 28) during the slate’s middle month, with a contest also that month against traditional rival Alabama (Oct. 21) in the standard ‘Third Saturday of October’ slot.

Tennessee’s 2017 open date will be the first Saturday in October.

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The Vols, as previously announced and previously reported by 247Sports, will open their ‘17 slate in Atlanta against Georgia Tech in the brand-new Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Tennessee then makes its Neyland Stadium debut for the fall against Indiana State a mere five days later on Sept. 9, followed by the Vols’ Southeastern Conference opener at Florida on Sept. 16. Tennessee rounds out its busy first month when it hosts UMass (Sept. 23) and Georgia (Sept. 30) in back-to-back weeks before its bye date.

In October, the Vols face their two Eastern Division counterparts while again squaring off against Alabama, which is their permanent SEC Western Division rival.

For the regular-season’s final month, Tennessee hosts Southern Miss (Nov. 4) and travels to Missouri (Nov. 11) before closing out its campaign with back-to-back home tilts against LSU (Nov. 18), the Tigers’ latest-ever regular-season visit to Knoxville and first time in November since 1959, and Vanderbilt (Nov. 25).

The 2017 SEC Championship Game will be held Dec. 2, 2017, and mark the league’s first championship contest in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

2017 TENNESSEE VOLS SCHEDULE

Sept. 4 vs. GEORGIA TECH* (Chick-Fil-A Classic in Atlanta)

Sept. 9 vs. Indiana State

Sept. 16 at FLORIDA^

Sept. 23 vs. UMass

Sept. 30 vs. GEORGIA^

Oct. 14 vs. SOUTH CAROLINA^

Oct. 21 at ALABAMA^

Oct. 28 at KENTUCKY^

Nov. 4 vs. Southern Miss

Nov. 11 at MISSOURI^

Nov. 18 vs. LSU^

Nov. 25 vs. VANDERBILT^

^SEC Game