UW Huskies announce home-and-home football series with Tennessee in 2029, 2030

Bring on the SEC.

Washington announced a home-and-home football series with Tennessee on Wednesday, with the first leg being played in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Sept. 1, 2029, before moving to Seattle on Sept. 7, 2030. The series will mark the first meetings of the two programs, who share a similar sail-gating tradition from 2,500 miles away.

“This home-and-home has been in the works for several months, and it’s exciting to get it to the finish line so we can share with both fan bases,” UW athletic director Jen Cohen said in a statement. “Any time two storied programs with unique game-day traditions can come together to agree to play in a series like this is a huge opportunity for the student-athletes that will be competing and the communities as a whole. A big thanks to (Tennessee athletic director) Danny White and his team at Tennessee for the collaboration to make this happen.” 

This also marks the first game UW has scheduled against an SEC opponent since the Huskies fell to Auburn, 21-16, in their 2018 season opener inside Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Discussions between UW and Tennessee preceded the formation of the Pac-12-Big Ten-ACC alliance, a source confirmed to The Times.

UW’s updated schedule of future nonconference matchups looks like this:

2022

Sept. 3: vs. KENT STATE

Sept. 10: vs. PORTLAND STATE

Sept. 17: vs. MICHIGAN STATE

2023

Sept. 2: vs. BOISE STATE

Sept. 9: vs. TULSA

Sept. 16: at Michigan State

2024

Aug. 31: vs. WEBER STATE

Sept 7: vs. EASTERN MICHIGAN

Sept. 14: vs. OHIO STATE

2025

Aug. 30: vs. COLORADO STATE

Sept. 6: vs. UC DAVIS

Sept. 13: at Ohio State

2026

Sept. 5, 12 or 19: vs. EASTERN WASHINGTON

2027

Sept. 4: vs. FRESNO STATE

2028

Sept. 2 or 16: vs. EASTERN WASHINGTON

Sept. 9: vs. MICHIGAN

2029

Sept. 1: at Tennessee

Sept. 8: vs. BOISE STATE

2030

Sept. 7: vs. TENNESSEE