Western Michigan adds Tennessee, Iowa to future football schedules

Western Michigan University announced on Friday afternoon the addition of two Power Five opponents to their future football schedules in 2026 and 2028.

The Broncos are slated to travel to Knoxville to face the Tennessee Volunteers on Sept. 19, 2026, and also face the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City on Sept. 16, 2028.

“We are thrilled to add an historic SEC program as well as a Big Ten opponent with one of the most exciting gameday atmospheres in the country to our football schedule,” WMU athletic director Dan Bartholomae said via press statement. “We look forward to giving our student-athletes the opportunity to compete on a national stage against these two storied programs.”

The Broncos are 1-5 all-time against SEC programs, and will face the Vols for the first time in program history.

WMU has slightly better luck against Iowa historically, holding a 2-1 all-time series lead against the Hawkeyes, with the last contest taking place in 2013. WMU is 6-40 all-time against Big Ten teams overall.

The two contests are the only currently scheduled games for their respective seasons for the Broncos.

WMU fills the final vacancy for Tennesee’s 2026 future schedules, as the SEC will shift to a nine-game conference slate with the additions of Oklahoma and Texas to the conference after 2024. The Vols are set to play Nebraska one week before the Broncos, while Furman will likely serve as a traditional late-season opponent.

Iowa still has two more vacancies to fill for the 2028 schedule, with WMU serving as their only confirmed opponent. With the addition of at least two teams in the coming years in USC and UCLA, and potential additions on top of that, it isn’t known yet for sure how many out-of-conference games Big Ten teams will have to fill by the time 2028 rolls around.