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Tennessee Basketball schedules home-and-home series with Purdue

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey12 hours agoGrantRamey
Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK | Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) watches the ball against Tennessee Volunteers guard Zakai Zeigler (5) on Sunday, March 31, 2024, during the midwest regional championship at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. The Purdue Boilermakers defeated the Tennessee Volunteers, 72-66.
Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK | Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) watches the ball against Tennessee Volunteers guard Zakai Zeigler (5) on Sunday, March 31, 2024, during the midwest regional championship at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. The Purdue Boilermakers defeated the Tennessee Volunteers, 72-66.

Tennessee Basketball has its next big home-and-home on the books, with the Vols on Wednesday announcing a two-game series with Purdue starting on the road next season. Tennessee will play at Purdue on December 12, 2026 and the Boilermakers will make the return trip to Knoxville on December 11, 2027.

Tennessee is 2-5 in seven meetings with Purdue. The two teams have played a home-and-home series just once, during the 1980-81 and 1981-82 seasons. Tennessee won 78-69 on December 6, 1980 in Knoxville and lost 82-68 in West Lafeyette. 

The Vols are 1-3 in four games against Purdue during the Rick Barnes era. It started with a 78-75 overtime win in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas in November 2017, but since then has included two NCAA Tournament losses and another loss in the Maui Invitational. 

Purdue adds to long list of marquee games during Rick Barnes era

Most recently, No. 1-seed Purdue beat No. 2 Tennessee 72-66 in the Elite Eight in Detroit in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers also sent the Vols home in a 99-94 overtime win in the Sweet 16 in Louisville in 2019. 

Purdue beat Tennessee 71-67 in the Maui Invitational in November 2023 and beat the Vols 73-72 in November 2009 in the Virgin Islands in the Paradise Jam tournament championship. 

Marquee non-conference home-and-home games have been a staple of the Barnes era at Tennessee. Dating back to 2015-16, the Vols have scheduled games with North Carolina, Gonzaga, Arizona, Illinois, Wisconsin, Louisville, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Colorado, Cincinnati and Memphis. 

They’ve also played preseason exhibition games against Duke, Indiana, Michigan State, Gonzaga and Clemson. 

Tennessee continuing series with Louisville, Illinois this season

Tennessee hosts Louisville on December 16 at Food City Center to finish a home-and-home series that started with a 77-55 win at Louisville last November. 

The Vols swept an Illinois home-and-home over the last two seasons, winning 66-64 at Illinois last season and 86-79 in Knoxville in December 2023. 

Illinois and Tennessee continued the series with two neutral-site games, facing the Illini this season at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and in Chicago next season at the United Center. 

Tennessee will face Rutgers and No. 2 Houston this season in the Players Era Men’s Championship in Las Vegas during Thanksgiving week, along with a third opponent to be determined. It’s the first of three straight appearances in Vegas for the Players Era tournament, which this season has an 18-team field. 

The other teams in this season’s Player Era field are Creighton, Baylor, Kansas, Notre Dame, St. John’s, Iowa State, Houston, Syracuse, Auburn, Oregon, Gonzaga, Alabama, Michigan, San Diego State, UNLV and Maryland. 

Tennessee will play Rutgers on Monday, November 24 and Houston on Tuesday, November 25. The third game will be either Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the outcome of the first two games.