Nebraska, Tennessee Cancel Future Non-Conference Football Games; Huskers Announce Replacements

Dec 30, 2016; Nashville , TN, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers and Tennessee Volunteers line up during the first half at Nissan Stadium. Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

Nebraska, Tennessee Cancel Future Non-Conference Football Games; Huskers Announce Replacements

Originally posted on Nebraska Cornhuskers on SI
By Kaleb Henry | Last updated Feb 21, 2025 11:40 AM ET

Add us as a preferred source on Google

A highly-anticipated non-conference matchup for Nebraska football is no longer on the schedule.

The previously scheduled games with Tennessee for the 2026 and 2027 seasons have been canceled.

“We are making plans to embark on major renovations of Memorial Stadium that may impact our seating capacity for the 2027 season,” Nebraska Director of Athletics Troy 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 in the 2026 season with a home contest against Bowling Green on Sept. 12. The 2027 replacement will be Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 11.

NU announced another 2027 game, with the Big Red hosting Northern Iowa on Sept. 18.

Husker fans were eager to take on the Volunteers. Nebraska and Tennessee have met just three times, all in bowl games. The Huskers got an Orange Bowl victory in 1998 to cap Tom Osborne's career with a share of the national championship. The teams met two years later in the Fiesta Bowl, another Husker win. The latest meeting came in 2016 in the Music City Bowl, a victory for the Volunteers.

Nebraska picked up some Tennessee flavor this offseaon with the addition of Mike Ekeler as special teams coordinator. Ekeler spent the past four seasons in Knoxville.

NU has never played Bowling Green or Miami. Nebraska has played Northern Iowa just once, which didn't happen until this past season.

The 2027 season will mark the first time Nebraska has played eight home games at Memorial Stadium since 2013. Nebraska enters the 2025 season with 403 consecutive sellouts at Memorial Stadium.

Future non-conference series against Autonomy 4 Conference opponents include the University of Arizona (2028, 2031), the University of Oklahoma (2029, 2030), the University of Cincinnati (2032) and Oklahoma State University, (2034, 2035), none of which are impacted by the scheduling changes.