Tennessee’s next home date with LSU now has a kickoff time, and it sets up another reunion with Lane Kiffin in Knoxville.
The Volunteers will host LSU at 3:30 p.m. ET next weekend inside Neyland Stadium, the league announced this afternoon. It will be Kiffin’s second trip back to Tennessee as a head coach, this time leading the Tigers after his move from Ole Miss to LSU.
Kiffin’s history with Tennessee still hangs over these matchups. He left after one season to take what he called his “dream job” at USC, a decision that sent Tennessee into a scramble after a promising first year. The Vols eventually hired Derek Dooley, while Kiffin’s run at USC ended after only a few seasons.
His coaching path since then has taken plenty of turns: Nick Saban’s coaching rehab program, then FAU, then Ole Miss. He then took the LSU job and left the Rebels before a playoff run last year, adding another chapter to the villain role he’s built in college football.
Kiffin’s first return to Knoxville as a head coach was already a scene. This one comes with even more at stake, with Tennessee’s postseason hopes likely on the line in a game that should have Neyland rocking.
The 3:30 kickoff also means Tennessee’s final regular-season home game will not be a night start. The Vols ended up with just one night conference kickoff all season, while Georgia at South Carolina earned the ABC primetime slot for this week.
Tennessee and LSU last met in 2022, when the Volunteers rolled to a 40-13 win over Jayden Daniels and the Tigers. LSU’s most recent trip to Knoxville came in 2017, when the Tigers played in a miserable monsoon against the Brady Hoke-led Volunteers.
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