Live Updates: Tennessee Basketball vs. Rutgers in Players Era Festival

LAS VEGAS — Feast Week is officially here for Tennessee Basketball and the Vols will get an early start, facing Rutgers in the first game of the Player Era Festival Monday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. Eastern Time start — 10 a.m. local time — on TNT and HBO Max.

Follow along for live updates before, during and after today’s game on The General’s Quarters

No. 20 Tennessee (5-0) easily passed its first five tests of the season — all buy games at home — but will be tested in tournament play first against Rutgers (4-1), then against No. 2 Houston (5-0) on Tuesday (6 p.m. ET, TNT/HBOMax).

The Vols will play a third to-be-determined opponent on either Wednesday or Thursday, with pairings set based on the first two days of play in the 18-team field. The other 15 teams in the field are Creighton, Baylor, Kansas, Notre Dame, St. John’s, Iowa State, Syracuse, Auburn, Oregon, Gonzaga, Alabama, Michigan, San Diego State, Maryland and UNLV.

How to Watch: Tennessee vs. Rutgers

When: Monday, 1 p.m. Eastern Time | Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena

TV: TNT, HBO Max (Brandon Gaudin, Candace Parker, Nabil Karim)

Radio: WNML 99.1 FM in Knoxville (John Wilkerson, Steve Hamer). The Vol Network radio broadcast can be heard on local affiliates across the state of Tennessee.

SiriusXM Radio: SiriusXM 106 & 190, SXM App

KenPom Prediction: Tennessee 78, Rutgers 64

A closer look at Rutgers

Rutgers is coming off a 67-54 home loss to Central Connecticut on Friday, after starting the season with four straight wins. Tennessee is a 14.5-point favorite in today’s game, according to BetMGM, with the total set at 143.5. 

Head coach Steve Pikiell is in his 10th season as the Rutgers head coach, with a 151-141 overall record. He won 20 games with the Scarlett Knights in 2019-20, 19 in 2022-23 and went to the second round in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. 

Rutgers is ranked No. 127 overall in the KenPom.com ratings, coming in at No. 107 in adjusted defensive efficiency (104.5) and No. 148 in adjusted offensive efficiency (107.7).

Tennessee is No. 13 overall per KenPom, ranked No. 3 on defense (92.4) and No. 40 on offense (117.3).

“Coach Pikiell is excellent,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said on Sunday. “Very, very sound. You watch his teams really good defensively, really protect the lane well. Puts his guys in the position he wants them in, but he’s got, obviously, a great reputation as a coach. 

“And once you start watching him on tape and seeing what he does with his team, and he does an outstanding job getting the point across of how he wants to play the game.”

Players Era Festival: Monday Schedule

Teams	Time	TV
Rutgers vs. Tennessee	1 p.m. ET	TNT | HBO Max
Creighton vs. Baylor	2 p.m. ET	truTV | HBO Max
Kansas vs. Notre Dame	3:30 p.m. ET	TNT | HBO Max
St. John’s vs. Iowa State	4:30 p.m. ET	truTV | HBO Max
Houston vs. Syracuse	6 p.m. ET	TNT | HBO Max
Auburn vs. Oregon	8 p.m. ET	truTV | HBO Max
Gonzaga vs. Alabama	9:30 p.m. ET	TNT | HBO Max
Michigan vs. San Diego St.	10:30 p.m. ET	truTV | HBO Max
UNLV vs. Maryland	12 a.m. ET	TNT | HBO Max