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What we know about Tennessee Basketball's 2025-26 schedule

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey07/01/25GrantRamey
Tennessee Basketball | Andrew Ferguson, Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Basketball | Andrew Ferguson, Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee Basketball’s 2025-26 regular-season schedule has not yet been announced, but some dates, some games and the list of SEC opponents have either leaked or been announced.

Here’s what we know so far about next season’s schedule for the Vols:

November 3: Season Opener

Tennessee will reportedly open the new season against Mercer at Food City Center on November 3. A charity exhibition game has not yet been announced. The Vols hosted Indiana last October, played at Michigan State in October 2023 and played Gonzaga in a neutral-site game in Frisco, Texas, in 2022.

November 24-27: Players Era Tournament

Tennessee will be part of the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas each of the next three seasons. The Vols will play three games in Vegas with this season’s field, starting with a game against Rutgers on November 24 and then a game against Houston on November 25. The third game will be played on either November 26 or 27. Other teams in the field are Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Creighton, Gonzaga, Iowa State, Kansas, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, San Diego State, St. Joes, Syracuse and UNLV. 

December 2: At Syracuse

Tennessee is back on the road in the ACC-SEC Challenge next season and will again play Syracuse. The Vols beat Syracuse 96-70 at Food City Center last December. The first ACC-SEC Challenge also had the Vols on the road two seasons ago, a loss at North Carolina in November 2023. The Vols are 5-3 in eight meetings with Syracuse, including a current streak of four straight wins. Tennessee also beat Syracuse in the Maui Invitational in November 2023, in Knoxville in January 2022 and at Syracuse in December 2000. 

December 6: Illinois

It was reported in May that Tennessee will continue its series with Illinois and will play the Illini on December 6 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville during the 2025-26 season. It was also reported that Tennessee and Illinois will play in Chicago in a future season in the second part of the neutral-site series. Tennessee swept its home-and-home against Illinois over the previous two seasons, winning 86-79 at Food City Center in December 2023 and 66-64 at Illinois last January on Jordan Gainey’s buzzer-beating layup.

December 16: Louisville

Tennessee will host Louisville on December 16 at Food City Center in the second game of the home-and-home between the two teams, which started with a 77-55 road win at Louisville last November. Tennessee led by as many as 22 points in the first half at the KFC Yum! Center in the first road game of the season and was up 26 late in the game, thanks to 19 points from both Chaz Lanier and Zakai Zeigler.

SEC Schedule

The SEC schedule has not yet been set, but the league announced opponents for the 2025-26 season earlier this month. It’s the same set of opponents from last season, with the locations of the games flipped. The only change is Tennessee having a home-and-home with Alabama instead of Florida — the Vols will play only in Gainesville next season — along with the annual Kentucky and Vanderbilt home-and-homes.

Home: Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M.

Away: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, Missouri and South Carolina.

Home-and-home: Alabama, Kentucky and Vanderbilt. 

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