Tennessee Basketball announces neutral-site series with Illinois

Tennessee Basketball is officially continuing its series with Illinois, with the two programs announcing on Wednesday that they’ll play on December 6 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The Vols and Illini will play another neutral-site game in Chicago during the 2027-28 season.

“Our program is really looking forward to this matchup with Illinois,” Rick Barnes said in a press release announcing the game. “We have a great deal of respect for Brad Underwood and the Illini, and we know playing them will help prepare us for SEC action. The opportunity to compete in Nashville, a city filled with diehard Tennessee fans, is always special and we can’t wait to see Vol Nation pack Bridgestone Arena.”

CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein reported on May 15 that Tennessee would face Illinois in Nashville next season with the return game in Chicago at some point in the future.

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 after Jordan Gainey went coast-to-coast to score a buzzer-beating layup in traffic. 

Gainey scored 23 points off the bench and Chaz Lanier scored 17 to lead Tennessee to the win at Illinois. Igor Milicic Jr. had seven points and 14 rebounds and Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack scored six points each, with Mashack adding four steals. 

Tennessee had all five starters score in double-figures in the home win over Illinois two seasons ago, with Dalton Knecht scoring a team-high 21. Jonas Aidoo scored 14, Santiago Vescovi had 12 and Zeigler and Josiah-Jordan James had 11 each. 

Series History: Tennessee Basketball is 4-1 vs. Illinois

The Vols are 4-1 all time against Illinois, winning in Knoxville in December 1967 and December 1985. They lost at Illinois in January 1988.

Marquee non-conference home-and-home games have been a staple of the Rick Barnes era at Tennessee.

Dating back to 2015-16, the Vols have scheduled games with North Carolina, Gonzaga, Arizona, Wisconsin, Louisville, Miami, Texas Tech, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Colorado, Cincinnati and Memphis. They’ve also played charity exhibition games at Michigan State, Indiana and Clemson. 

Tennessee will host Louisville in second game of home-and-home

Rothstein also reported that Tennessee will open the 2025-26 season on November 3 against Mercer at Food City Center.

The Vols will play three games in the Players Era Tournament in Las Vegas in late November, with the first two matchups being set against Rutgers and Houston. The tournament field also includes Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Creighton, Duke, Gonzaga, Iowa State, Kansas, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, San Diego State, South Carolina, Saint Joseph’s, St. John’s, Syracuse and UNLV.

Tennessee will go to Syracuse on December 2 for the ACC-SEC Challenge and will host Louisville on December 6 in the second game of a home-and-home that started with a 77-55 road win at Louisville last November. 

The SEC schedule has not been set, but conference opponents were announced by the league last week. Tennessee will host Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M, will play at Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, Missouri and South Carolina and will play home-and-homes with Alabama, Kentucky and Vanderbilt.