A day after the SEC announced Tennessee basketball’s conference opponents, more details emerged about the Vol hoops schedule this coming season.
Tennessee will open up its 2025-26 season against Mercer on Nov. 3 according to a report from CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.
It will be the ninth all-time meeting between the two teams with the Vols and Bears splitting the first eight matchups 4-4. Mercer won the first three games in the series, all coming before 1924, before winning in Knoxville again in December 2013.
Tennessee has the most notable win in the series, dominating Mercer in Raleigh 83-63 to advance to the Sweet 16 in 2014. The 11-seed Vols faced 14-seed Mercer after the Bears’ upset Duke in the tournament’s opening round.
The Vols have faced Mercer once during Rick Barnes’ tenure, defeating the Bears 84-64 early in the 2017 season.
Mercer is entering the second season of Ryan Ridder’s tenure after posting a 14-19 (6-12 SoCon) record a season ago.
More From RTI: Tennessee Men’s Basketball SEC Opponents Set For 2025-26 Season
Tennessee’s full non conference schedule is not set but we do know a number of the matchups. The Vols host Louisville in Knoxville and will play at Syracuse in the ACC/SEC Challenge. Tennessee is also facing Illinois at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Rick Barnes’ 11th Tennessee team will also face three power five opponents in the Players Era Tournament in Las Vegas in November.
Tennessee basketball underwent a major roster overhaul this offseason, losing four of its starters from last season and five of its top six rotational players. The Vols do return key front court pieces Felix Okpara and Cade Phillips as well as JP Estrella who missed last season due to injury. Rick Barnes and his staff also went out and landed Vanderbilt power forward Jaylen Carey out of the transfer portal.
In the backcourt, Tennessee returns reserve guard Bishop Boswell but made major additions to its roster through the transfer portal and recruiting ranks. The Vols landed Maryland point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Louisiana Tech shooting guard Amaree Abram.
Out of the prep ranks, Tennessee added five-star wing Nate Ament, four-star wing Amari Evans, four-star center DeWayne Brown, French wing Clarence Massamba and three-star point guard Troy Henderson to its roster.
Tennessee projects as a top 25 team again next season and has the potential of a top 10 team if things come together well.
