Four words, essential to every football fan in America: "Who's on the schedule?"

Every year, Tennessee aims to play at least seven games at Neyland Stadium. So there always are a couple of schedule slots filled by teams that don't require the Vols to travel to their campus. Thus, an Alabama-Birmingham, Northern Illinois, or Louisiana-Insert-City-Name-Here school often will find itself on the Vols' docket.

Still, UT has a much-more aggressive scheduling policy than most SEC teams. Athletic director Mike Hamilton, with input from coach Phillip Fulmer, tries to find at least one good, intersectional, made-for-TV match-up every year.

This year, Cal comes to Knoxville. Next year, the Vols head to Berkeley. Coming up are home-and-home series with Oregon, Oklahoma and North Carolina. A series with North Carolina State in 2008 and 2013 apparently has been shelved. UCLA and Notre Dame pop up semi-regularly, too.

But what if you were the guy (or gal) pulling the strings? Who'd be on your fantasy schedule? Below is my list, and for starters, I'm tossing non-BCS schools. Also, I'm talking about home-and-home series that would allow Vol fans to see these teams in Knoxville and on the road, sampling their gameday traditions.

Big Ten Schools

As UT's athletic director, Doug Dickey didn't like to schedule Big Ten teams because of the SEC's three bowl tie-ins with that league. But since Tennessee only has played Michigan and Ohio State once each (both in Citrus Bowls), I'm throwing that rule out.

Schedule 'Em: Michigan (an absolute no-brainer), Purdue (not a bad trip and the teams have met only once, in a now-defunct bowl game), Michigan State (not as sexy as Michigan, but still a good match-up), Wisconsin (Madison is a fun city before the cold weather hits), Penn State (definitely a "yes" and UT has never traveled to Happy Valley).

No Thanks: Minnesota, Indiana, Northwestern and Illinois (UT would never return a trip to these schools, there's just not enough money or tradition to make it happen). Iowa (a good program, but not good enough to make fans want to travel to Iowa).

Top Pick: Ohio State. Less than a six-hour car trip. The "dotting-of-the-I" vs. "running through the T." One stadium on the banks of the Tennessee and the other on the banks of the Olentangy. Two of the best fanbases in America. A Mason-Dixon, made-for-TV event that would pit two of America's top programs against each other. Just go ahead and add OSU to the Notre Dame and UCLA "semi-regular" group. It's a great rivalry in waiting.

Pac-10 Schools

Schedule 'Em: Arizona and Arizona State (UT has never played either school and a trip to the desert would really help my allergies), Cal (done deal), Oregon (done deal), Washington (Huskie fans can arrive at their stadium via boat, just like Vol fans, making this match-up a "naval" idea), UCLA (one of UT's best intersectional rivalries).

No Thanks: Oregon State (not as big-time as the rival Ducks), Washington State (they say the Palouse is a beautiful ? nevermind), Stanford (Walt Harris isn't enough to push them onto the "yes" list).

Top Pick: Southern Cal. The teams haven't met since 1981. Good for all of the reasons that the UCLA match-up is good. Plus, USC is playing better football than UCLA right now. Television would eat this one up. So would Los Angeles recruits.

Big 12 Schools

Schedule 'Em: Texas A&M (Vol and Aggie fans could sample each others' great gameday traditions), Oklahoma (done deal, great move), Missouri (it's not that far away and it might help open up St. Louis for recruiting), Colorado (would be a great match-up), Nebraska (despite recent bowl whippings, tradition would make this a fun home-and-home series).

No Thanks: Baylor (blah), Texas Tech (could scout Mike Leach's team before he replaces Rich Brooks next year at Kentucky, but no), Oklahoma State (blah), Kansas and Kansas State (blah and blah), Iowa State (perhaps Fulmer's squad could work out at the Johnny Majors Practice Facility ... but no).

Top Pick: Texas. This might be the match-up that most Vol fans want to see. UT vs. UT. Bright Orange vs. Burnt Orange. Buddy coaches Fulmer and Mack Brown could square off in front of millions of TV viewers. This would be huge, if a deal could be struck.

ACC Schools

Schedule 'Em: Boston College (it's Boston), North Carolina (done deal and a good revival of an old, bitter rivalry), Florida State (again, two great gameday environments for opposing fans to check out), Virginia Tech (fans want it, so I'll list it here, but I still think Tech and Bruton Smith would have more to gain than Tennessee would).

No Thanks: Duke and Wake Forest (pretty campuses, but no), North Carolina State (better program than UNC, but it doesn't have the appeal of UNC), Miami (they're good, but been there, done that), Clemson (too much orange in one place), Virginia and Maryland (play them in Knoxville, not on the road).

Top Pick: Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are a traditional rival and a former member of the SEC. The trip is easy. UT has a sizeable alumni chapter in Atlanta. And the Vols wouldn't even have to step foot in the Georgia Dome. This isn't about TV ratings or BCS rankings. It's about a chili cheese dog at The Varsity.

Big East Schools

No thanks: Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, South Florida, Rutgers, Connecticut and Syracuse. Sorry, not interested. The whole league is blah.

Other Schools

Schedule 'Em: Notre Dame (the Vols-Irish rivalry has produced a lot of entertaining games in a relatively short time, it's a must-do). Lastly, I'll throw in one non-BCS school just to spread some wealth ? Hawaii. Come to think of it, there's no need to even schedule a home game. A single game in Honolulu would be fine with me. And with my tax guy. Can you say, "business trip?"

John Pennington hosts The Hall's Salvage Sports Source on Sunday at 11 a.m. on WATE. He also writes a blog at govolsxtra.com.