The Lady Volunteers are set for a high-profile matchup in the 2025-2026 SEC/ACC Challenge this December, as announced by the conferences this week.
Kim Caldwell’s squad will travel out west to Maples Pavilion to take on Stanford on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. The game will be one of the 16 contests in the challenge over a two-day stretch.
Tennessee is ranked No. 7 in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early rankings projection from April as the Lady Vols prepare for the second year of the Caldwell Era on Rocky Top. Stanford, meanwhile, did not make the projected Top 25. This will be a massive opportunity for Tennessee to capture a marquee non-conference victory before SEC play starts just about a month later.
“The core of Talaysia Cooper, Zee Spearman and Ruby Whitehorn appears set to return,” ESPN’s Charlie Creme wrote in his early rankings. “Bringing in Janiah Barker from UCLA and Nya Robertson, a SMU transfer who averaged 18.5 points per game in the ACC, only makes Tennessee deeper. Caldwell also landed four top-50 recruits, led by No. 9-ranked Mia Pauldo from New Jersey.”
December’s game will represent the 40th meeting between the two historic programs. Tennessee currently leads the series 25-14, with the most recent game coming in 2022. That game, which was also played in Maples Pavilion in Stanford, CA, ended in a 77-70 loss for the unranked Lady Vols despite Stanford being ranked No. 2. Tennessee will look to snap a four-game losing streak to Stanford when they play this winter.
Tennessee’s last win in the series did come on the road, though.
Last 5 Meetings Between Tennessee and Stanford
- 12/18/2022 – Stanford 77, Tennessee 70 – Stanford, CA
- 12/18/2021 – Stanford 74, Tennessee 63 – Knoxville, TN
- 12/18/2019 – Stanford 78, Tennessee 51 – Stanford, CA
- 12/18/2018 – Stanford 95, Tennessee 85 – Knoxville, TN
- 12/21/2017 – Tennessee 83, Stanford 71 – Stanford, CA
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Tennessee was victorious in Caldwell’s first SEC/ACC Challenge game last season with a 79-77 win over Florida State in Knoxville, keeping the Lady Vols’ undefeated start to the season alive. Tennessee forward Zee Spearman hit a driving turnaround jumper right outside of the paint to put the Lady Vols up by two points with just 24 seconds remaining.
ZEE SPEARMAN!! The game winning bucket and game winning defense in the Lady #Vols 79-77 W over Florida State. pic.twitter.com/uai6tq0VTo
— Camille Gear (@CamilleGearTV) December 5, 2024
Stanford will host Tennessee for the 40th matchup in the series in the SEC/ACC Challenge on Wednesday, Dec. 3, in Maples Pavilion.
Headed to the Golden State for the ACC/SEC Challenge!!
Details » https://t.co/7oCAcoGri3 pic.twitter.com/NbxewB4NZV
— Lady Vols Basketball (@LadyVol_Hoops) June 12, 2025
