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Kickoff times and TV assignments are released on a rolling basis, usually six to 12 days before each game. Nine of the 12 are SEC games under the league’s new format.
A Manageable Opening
Three straight home games to start — Austin Peay, Delaware and NC State — before the SEC schedule begins in earnest at Auburn on September 26. That is as gentle an on-ramp as the new nine-game format allows.
NC State is the Power Four game the SEC now requires of every member, and getting it in Nashville rather than Raleigh is a meaningful advantage.
The Hard Middle
From September 26 the schedule turns: at Auburn, at Georgia, then Ole Miss and Arkansas at home, then at Kentucky. Five conference games in five weeks, three of them on the road, before the bye on October 31.
Georgia on October 3 is the toughest assignment on the calendar, and it comes in the second week of SEC play.
Alabama and Tennessee at Home
The closing stretch is where this schedule is unusually kind. Vanderbilt hosts Alabama on November 14 and Tennessee on November 28, with only a trip to Florida in between.
Getting both of those at FirstBank Stadium in the same season is the sort of draw that can define a year for a program that has historically had to win these games away from home.
The Home Slate
Seven home games: Austin Peay, Delaware, NC State, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Alabama and Tennessee. Five of them SEC opponents. The five road trips are Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State and Florida.
The Bottom Line
Vanderbilt opens September 5 against Austin Peay and closes November 28 at home against Tennessee. Seven home games including Alabama and Tennessee, nine SEC opponents, one bye on October 31, and NC State in week three as the required Power Four non-conference game.