Tennessee AD Blasts Cornhuskers for Cancellation of Series

“Correction: Tennessee is not canceling this series. Nebraska did. We are very disappointed that they didn’t want to play these games, especially this close to 2026,” Vols Athletic Director Danny White said Friday.

This comes after ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that Tennessee and Nebraska’s series set to being in 2027 was cancelled. The Cornhuskers’ Memorial Stadium is set to go under an overhaul to decrease seating while also adding luxury suites.

Sources: Tennessee and Nebraska are canceling their upcoming football series, which was schedule for 2026 in Lincoln and 2027 in Knoxville. A driver of the move was Nebraska wanting eight home games in 2027 when they expected reduced stadium capacity because of renovations.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 21, 2025

The move now gives Nebraska Athletic Director Troy Dannen an opportunity to bring an eighth game to Nebraska fans in hope for extra revenue lost from capacity changes. He spoke with On3’s Volquest to discuss the cancellation.

“We are making plans to embark on major renovations of Memorial Stadium that may impact our seating capacity for the 2027 season,” Dannen told Volquest. “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.”

Tennessee has plenty of options with USF coach Alex Golesh responding to White’s post, “Sup? @AD_DannyWhite” on X just hours after the announcement was made. Golesh was the Volunteers’ offensive coordinator prior to taking over the Bulls in 2023.