Tennessee and North Carolina completed a home-and-home agreement to play football in 2011 and 2012. The series will begin in Chapel Hill on Sept. 24, 2011 followed by the Tar Heels traveling to Knoxville on Sept. 8, 2012.

"We look forward to renewing the rivalry with the University of North Carolina after a 50-year hiatus," UT athletic director Mike Hamilton said. "This will be a great series for our team and our fans, and it continues our model of playing major interconference rivals that bring national attention to our program."

Meanwhile, Hamilton said he and Virginia Tech AD Jim Weaver have discussed some possible dates to play a game at Bristol Motor Speedway.

However, Hamilton said he has received no formal offer nor had any contact with track owner Bruton Smith since Hamilton visited the track in August. Smith publicly offered the two schools $20-million to play a game at BMS last month.

The agreement renews a border-state rivalry that featured 31 meetings between 1893 and 1961. Tennessee and North Carolina met annually from 1945 until the series ended in 1961. The Vols won 11 of their last 13 meetings with the Tar Heels and also lead the all-time series 20-10-1.

"I can't tell you how happy I am about the schedule," North Carolina coach John Bunting told The Associated Press. "We've got a schedule that makes sense, and we've got marquee teams on that schedule."

North Carolina won its first two games with Tennessee by a combined score of 76-0 (0-60 in Chapel Hill in 1893 and 0-16 in Knoxville in 1897). The Vols posted their first victory over the Tar Heels in Knoxville in 1908 by a score of 12-0.

The series began to flourish in 1926, when UT coach Gen. Robert Neyland guided Tennessee to a 34-0 victory. UT proceeded to win 18 of the next 24 games with the Tar Heels before the series ceased.