UConn at Tennessee football game moved up to 2023 season

By Kevin Kelley -

The UConn Huskies and the Tennessee Volunteers have been scheduled to meet on the gridiron since 2008. Although the two schools still haven’t played 11 years later, the wait for the contest just got a little shorter.

UConn and Tennessee originally scheduled a home-and-home series that was to be played in 2015 in Knoxville, Tenn., and in 2016 in East Hartford, Conn. Six years later in 2014, the series was postponed until the two schools could agree on new dates.

It wasn’t until October of 2018 that the two schools finally put pen to paper, which modified the home-and-home series to a single game in Knoxville. The game was set for Sept. 19, 2026, and Tennessee would pay UConn a total of $1.8 million for the contest.

Earlier this month, Tennessee’s Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer and UConn’s Director of Athletics David Benedict signed an amendment to the contract which has moved the game up three seasons to Nov. 4, 2023, according to a copy of the amendment obtained from the University of Connecticut via a state Freedom of Information Act request. All other terms of the contract, which includes the $1.8 million guarantee, remain the same.

With the game moved up to 2023, UConn now has six games scheduled for that season. UConn is scheduled to host Duke, Lafayette, and NC State and travel to Boston College, Tennessee, and Liberty.

UConn is leaving the American Athletic Conference next season and will begin play as a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Independent. The Huskies announced nine of their opponents for 2020 yesterday, and several other future games were uncovered.

Tennessee now has two non-conference games scheduled for the 2023 season. The Volunteers are also scheduled to play at the BYU Cougars on Sept. 2.

Football Schedules

Comments (4)

So many schedule changes the last couple days. Good to see that UConn was able to assemble a schedule.

Thank you Kevin for keeping us up to date.

They need to play each other more in women’s basketball too. That’s where the real rivalry is.