Skip to main content
Tennessee

Tennessee Basketball announces complete non-conference schedule

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey07/18/25GrantRamey
Tennessee Basketball | Andrew Ferguson, Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Basketball | Andrew Ferguson, Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee Basketball released its complete non-conference on Friday, with the schedule starting November 3 against Mercer and including matchups with Rutgers, Houston, Syracuse, Illinois and Louisville. 

“Each year, we work to create a non-conference schedule that best sets our team up for success and prepares us for SEC competition,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said in a press release. “We feel we have once again done just that. 

“In addition to four tough games we’ll get on planes for, we look forward to playing nine here in the Volunteer State, including eight on our home court, in front of our incredible fans.”

After the season-opener against Mercer, the Vols host Northern Kentucky on November 8 and North Florida on November 12. Rice, coached by former Tennessee associate head coach Rob Lanier, will play in Knoxville on November 17, followed by a home game against Tennessee State on November 24.

Tennessee will play three games in the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas the last week of November, starting with Rutgers on November 24 and Houston on November 25. It was announced on Monday that the Rutgers game will be a 1 p.m. Eastern Time start on TNT and Houston will be a 6 p.m. ET start on TNT.

The Vols will play a third game the Players Era tournament in Vegas on either November 25 or November 26.  The other teams in the field are Creighton, Baylor, Kansas, Notre Dame, St. John’s, Iowa State, Syracuse, Auburn, Oregon, Gonzaga, Alabama, Michigan, SDSU, UNLV and Maryland.

From there, Tennessee goes to Syracuse for the ACC-SEC Challenge on December 2 and faces Illinois at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on December 6. 

Tennessee finishing home-and-home with Louisville, Illinois series continues

The Vols host Louisville on December 16, Gardner-Webb on December 21 and close the non-conference schedule against South Carolina State on December 30. 

Tennessee won 77-55 at Louisville last November in the first road game of the season and the start of the two-year home-and-home between the two programs. The Vols swept Illinois over the last two seasons and will face the Illini again in Chicago during the 2026-27 season.

Syracuse has been on the schedule the last two seasons, with Tennessee winning in Hawaii during the Maui Invitational in November 2023 and again last December in the ACC-SEC Challenge game at Food City Center.

SEC opponents set, schedule not yet announced

Tennessee’s SEC schedule has not yet been released, though opponents were announced in June.

The Vols added a home-and-home series with Alabama, among other marquee matchups, and will also have their regular home-and-homes with Kentucky and Vanderbilt. The Alabama home-and-home replaced the Florida home-and-home from last season. 

The Vols will host Auburn, LSU, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Texas and Texas A&M in Knoxville, after going on the road for those games lsat season. 

Tennessee will play on the road at Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, after playing those opponents at home on the 2024-25 schedule. 

You may also like