2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 7: Tennessee
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Playing an SEC schedule is never easy, but Alabama's Third Saturday in October Rivalry with Tennessee this season comes in the middle of a brutal stretch for the Crimson Tide. The road trip up to Knoxville is sandwiched in between home games with two of the teams that tied Alabama in the SEC standings and made appearances in the College Football Playoff with Georgia in Week 6 and Texas A&M in Week 8.
Alabama won 15 games in a row over Tennessee from 2007 to 2021, but the Volunteers have won the last two matchups inside Neyland Stadium (including during Kalen DeBoer's first season in 2024.)
Can the Crimson Tide reverse that trend this season when it travels to Tennessee on Oct. 17? A lot will happen between now and then, but here is an early look at what the Volunteers will look like in 2026.
Offense
Like Alabama, Tennessee is also locked in a quarterback competition at the end of spring camp. The Volunteers were unable to get a proven starter out of the transfer portal and will be relying on either redshirt freshman George MacIntyre or five-star freshman Faizon Brandon.
While there is a lot of uncertainty at quarterback, Tennessee returns a lot of players at key positions on offense. Leading rusher DeSean Bishop is back for his redshirt junior season after rushing for 1076 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2025. Leading receiver Chris Brazzell is off to the NFL, but the Volunteers bring back two 800-yard receivers in redshirt sophomore Braylon Stayley and junior Mike Matthews. Stayley is the reigning SEC Freshman of the Year after hauling in 68 catches for 837 yards with six touchdowns last season.
Tennessee's best tight end, Ethan Davis, is alos back for his redshirt junior season. The Volunteers also have experience returning up front with four of the five starters coming back on the offensive line. For the lone non-returning spot, Tennessee brought in LSU tackle Ory Williams from the transfer portal.
Offense wasn't the issue for the Vols in 2025 during their 8-5 season. Tennessee was sixth in scoring at 39.8 yards per game, but the questions at quarterback create pause going into this season. if MacIntyre or Brandon live up to their potential, Tennessee will be hard to defend this season.
Defense
Things weren't as rosy for Tennessee on offense last season, finishing 91st in scoring defense and 92nd in total defense. Josh Heupel knew changes had to be made, and he fired Tim Banks and brought in Jim Knowles, who was the highest-paid assistant in college football history at Penn State last season.
Knowles has an extensive resume, including being the defensive coordinator on Ohio State's 2024 national championship team, and he will look to get the Vols back on track defensively. Knowles brought over with him four players from Penn State (defensive back Dejuan Lane, defensive lineman Xavier Gilliam, linebacker Amare Campbell and defensive lineman Chaz Coleman) to help with the transition.
Tennessee lost two defensive backs in the first four rounds of the NFL draft, but the Vols do return sophomore Ty Redmond, who led the SEC in passes defensed (15) and pass breakups (12) to go along with 43 total tackles and a team-leading three interceptions. Edress Farooq is a returning starter at safety. Auburn transfer Kayin Lee will also be available to help in the defensive backfield.
Tennessee has a lot of experience at middle linebacker with Campbell, plus returners Edwin Spillman and Arion Carter. Up front, the Vols will be aided by Gilliam out of the portal alongside Daevin Hobbs and Tyree Weathersby.
Schedule
Tennessee opens its schedule with all three non-conference opponents right from the jump, meaning the Volunteers close out the season with nine straight SEC games. Alabama is the fourth opponent within that nine-game stretch. Three of those first four conference games are at home for the Vols.
The game before Alabama comes to Neyland is a road trip out to Arkansas, but Tennessee will get tested in conference play right away, opening up with Texas at home. By the time the Crimson Tide and Vols meet in the Third Saturday in October rivalry game, both teams will be well acquainted with the season and have a lot of film to work through about the other team.
As far as SEC schedules go, Tennessee does not have the toughest draw in this innaugural year of the nine-game conference schedule. Five of the Vols' nine opponents finished in the bottom half of the league last season, including three of the bottom four teams (Auburn, South Carolina and Arkansas.)
Outlook
The passion and hatred never changed off the field, but there wasn't much of a rivalry on the field between Alabama and Tennessee during Nick Saban's tenure. Things have changed over the past few seasons, and the Third Saturday in October is as entertaining as any game across college football. This year will likely be the same way.
Both teams have looming questions at quarterback and have College Football Playoff aspirations. This is the type of game that will affect the SEC and CFP race and will be one of the toughest games on the Crimson Tide's schedule. In this way-too-early prediction, I think Alabama will get its first win at Neyland Stadium since 2020.
The Game
Date:Oct. 17
Time:TBD (Flex starting at either 2:30-3:30 p.m. CT or 5-7 p.m. CT)
TV:TBD
Location: Neyland Stadium. Knoxville, Tennessee
Series history:Alabama leads, 60-40-7
Last meeting: Alabama beat Tennessee 37-20 on Oct. 18, 2025. Ty Simpson threw for 253 yards with two touchdowns, but the highlight of the game was Zabien Brown's 99-yard intereption return for a touchdown as time expired at the end of the first half.
The Team
Coach:Josh Heupel, sixth season, 45-20 record
Offensive coordinator:Joey Halzle (fourth season)
Defensive coordinator: Jim Knowles (first season)
2025 record:8-5 (4-4 SEC)
2025 rankings:Total offense (7th), Total defense (92nd)
Returning Starters
15 (8 on offense, 5 on defense, 2 on special teams)
Players to Watch
RB DeSean Bishop, WR Braylon Stayley, LB Amare Campbell, DB Ty Redmond
Top Newcomer
True freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon is the highest-rated player in Tennessee's freshman class and will definitely be the most impactful newcomer if he wins the starting job.
Biggest Question
Can Knowles get Tennessee to be a strong defensive team again?
The School
Location:Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded:1794
Enrollment:40,421
Nickname:Volunteers
Colors: Orange and white
Mascot:Smokey
The Program
Last time beat Alabama: 2024
Last time won SEC: 1998
National championships:Six (1938, 1940, 1950, 1951, 1967 and 1998)
Playoff Appearances:1 (2024)
Conference championships:16 (SIAA: 1914, SoCon: 1927, 1932, SEC: 1938, 1939, 1940, 1946, 1951, 1956, 1967, 1969, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1997, 1998)
Bowl record (last appearance):30-25 (2025 Music City Bowl)
Last season missed bowl:2020
Heisman trophies:None
2026 NFL Draft:
- CB Colton Hood (Round 2, Pick 37- New York Giants)
- WR Chris Brazzell II (Round 3, Pick 83- Carolina Panthers)
- CB Jermod McCoy (Round 4, Pick 101- Las Vegas Raiders)
- EDGE Joshua Josephs (Round 5, Pick 147- Washington Commanders)
- DL Tyre West (Round 7, Pick 222- Detroit Lions)
Last Four Recruiting Class Rankings
No. 11 (2026), No. 11 (2025), No. 13 (2024), No. 11 (2023)
The Schedule
Sept. 5: vs. Furman
Sept. 12: at Georgia Tech
Sept. 19: vs. Kennesaw State
Sept. 26: vs. Texas
Oct. 3: vs. Auburn
Oct. 10: at Arkansas
Oct. 17: vs. Alabama
Oct. 24: at South Carolina
Nov. 7: vs. Kentucky
Nov. 14: at Texas A&M
Nov. 21: vs. LSU
Nov. 28: at Vanderbilt
This is the seventh story inBamaCentral'ssummer preview series of all 12 regular-season opponents for Alabama football in 2025. Ensuing stories will be published throughout June and early July.
2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 1: East Carolina
2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 2: Kentucky
2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 3: Florida State
2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 4: South Carolina
2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 5: Mississippi State
2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 6: Georgia
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/alabama as 2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 7: Tennessee.
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