GRAY DEYOSports Writer

With only four teams now in Tullahoma’s pool in the 5-5A Region with Shelbyville being rezoned to the 6-6A Region, the Wildcats will face six out-of-region teams in the 2025-2026 season. The six teams are Rockvale, Cleveland, White County, Nolensville, Shelbyville, and Coffee County High School. Here is a breakdown of all of the teams the Wildcats will face out of their region pool in their 2025-2026 season.

Starting with the most familiar face out of the six teams–Coffee County. They are an out-of-conference foe on the schedule, but the Red Raiders are no stranger to Tullahoma. The teams will face each other this season for the 100^th time. Tullahoma leads the series over Coffee County, winning 65 times and losing 32, and have dominated in the last 10 years–going 7-3 over the span. For a matchup that has garnered the eyes of the national media in the past, the stakes may be the highest they have ever been for game 100 between the two schools. The matchup will be Tullahoma’s second game of the year, with the game being played on the Red Raiders home turf on Aug. 25.

The TSSAA shipped off Shelbyville to be along with Coffee County in the 6-6A region with Independence, Brentwood, Ravenwood, and Franklin High School. The time for the Eagles in Tullahoma’s region was short-lived, only spending two years in the pool of teams. In the two matchups against the Wildcats, the Eagles won both, winning last year 28-27, and winning the year previous 34-14. They are coming off their best season in school history, finishing 12-2, but with the loss of 16 impactful seniors, their continued success heading into next season is up in the air. Tullahoma and Shelbyville will face off on Aug. 22.

The Wildcats will get their rematch against the team that put their season to an end earlier than expected, as the Wildcats take on the Nolensville Knights next season. The Wildcats fell to the Knights in the first round of the TSSAA playoffs in the 2024-2025 season, by a score of 23-14. The Knights went on to lose in the second round of the Region 5A State tournament, losing to Shelbyville 33-28, finishing their season with a 7-5 record. Nolensville has made the playoffs every year since their 0-7 season in 2016-2017–which was their first season in school history. They are a tough team, and the coaching staff knows how to cater to their players’ strengths. Tullahoma will take on Nolensville this time with the home-field advantage at Grider Stadium, on Sept. 19.

The Rockvale Rockets appear on the Wildcats’ schedule for a third year in a row. The two teams are slated to play on Oct. 17. It was a rocky road for the Rockets last year, as they finished their season with a record of 2-8. They started off the season 1-2 with narrow losses against Nolensville, losing 24-21, and against Tullahoma, losing 21-19. After that the Rockets’ play fell off a cliff, losing by an average margin of 32.7 points in their six other defeats on the season. Tullahoma leads the series between the Rockets 2-0, as Rockvale will try to revamp into a better form in the upcoming season.

Tullahoma’s two other region opponents are White County and Cleveland High School, both of whom they have not played in the last 14 years. The last time the Wildcats took on White County was in 2010, and the last time Cleveland played them was in 1994. White County is coming off an extremely solid season, finishing with a record of 10-3. They made it to the third round of the 4A State Tournament, where they then lost to the 2024 4A state champs–Macon County. Cleveland ended their season with a record of 7-4, with their season ending in the first round of the 6A TN State Playoffs to Science Hill. There will be plenty of film to be watched for the Wildcats, with a slim history book encapsulating them versus both White County and Cleveland.

The Wildcats played the two teams back to back, playing Cleveland at home on Sept. 5 and then traveling to play White County on Sept. 12.

The Wildcats will be tested with some tough out-of-conference opponents, with a good mix of the unknown and familiarity. The work to improve from their 6-5 record and first-round playoff exit starts officially on Aug. 22 when they take on Shelbyville, but their preparation for the new season has already started with players beginning workouts just a week after their loss to Nolensville.