In this episode of the Podcast, Dr. Rob Zatechka and Travis Justice break down Nebraska’s decision to cancel its highly anticipated home-and-home serie

Tennessee will no longer play Nebraska in a home-and-home series that’s been on the books for 19 years because Nebraska is buying out the contract.

Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen has canceled nonconference games against Tennessee in 2026 and 2027 as part of a plan to recoup lost revenue from reduced seating capacity during major renovations of Memorial Stadium.

The Huskers have good reasons for nixing the series with Tennessee, but it is still a massive shame for college football.

Sources: Tennessee and Nebraska are canceling their upcoming football series, which was scheduled 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.

Nebraska football announced that they were canceling their home-and-home series with Tennessee on Friday, citing concerns about their stadium's capacity amid renovations as the primary reason, according to ESPN's Adam Rittenberg.

SEC football series won’t go ahead in the years to come after Nebraska dropped out of its home-and-home against Tennessee that was set for 2026 and 2027. And now it appears the Cornhuskers will have to pay up for making that decision.

When a marquee college football team has a future hole on its schedule, it is interesting to think about which opponent could fill that space. The marquee team in this scenario is Tennessee, which is now without at least one opponent in both 2026 and 2027 after Nebraska recently bought out of the scheduled series between both schools.