UAB officially sent its football program to the gallows last week, leaving Tennessee as one of four teams, aside from its Conference USA foes, with a hole to fill in its 2015 slate. Tuesday, that hole was officially been.
In a press release, Bowling Green announced that it has replaced UAB on UT’s 2015 schedule. As had been the case with UAB, the two teams will face each other Sept. 5 at L.P. Field, the Nashville home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans.
The MAC school had an opening on its slate next year because FCS-level South Carolina State “backed out of their contract” for a Sept. 3 game.
“We are looking forward to opening the 2015 football season with Tennessee in Nashville,” BGSU athletic director Chris Kingston said in a statement. “The Tennessee staff has always been terrific to work with and it was great to quickly put this together with such an exceptional Southeastern Conference team, especially after losing our opening game. This gives us an opportunity to better shape our schedule.”
The 2015 game will mark the first-ever meeting between the two football programs.
The Falcons’ last meeting with an SEC school came in 2013 against Mississippi State, with their last win against a school from that conference coming in 1985 against Kentucky. All-time, BGSU holds a 4-7 record against current SEC teams.
The Vols are 6-0 all-time against teams that were a part of the MAC when the games were played, with the last coming in 2012 (52-9 win over Akron). UT will pay BGSU $1.2 million for the game, although the Vols will receive $925,000 from UAB for breaching its contract.
Georgia State, South Alabama and Troy were also on UAB’s out-of-conference schedule for 2015. None of those schools have announced a replacement game as of yet.