A small change is coming to college basketball starting in the 2026-27. The college basketball slate will expand from 31 to 32 regular season games, CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander first reported.
The college basketball regular season has had a max 31-game schedule since 2006-07. Kentucky coach Mark Pope campaigned for a 40-game regular season schedule and while he didn’t get that, the NCAA is adding one more game. The new rule does not force teams to play a full 32-game schedule but it just gives them that option.
So what does the one additional game mean for Tennessee? The SEC schedule is currently 18 games which has left 13 non conference games for the Vols. Under Rick Barnes, Tennessee has played six power five teams and seven buy games every season.
With Tennessee now having the chance to play 14 non conference games, the Vols could feasibly play seven power five games and seven group of five games. Tennessee has also struggled to schedule home-and-home games with Big 10 teams because of the 20-game Big 10 schedule. The extra non conference game could make more Big 10 teams willing to schedule home-and-homes.
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For its 2025-26 non conference slate, Tennessee basketball has a home game against Louisville, a road game at Syracuse, a neutral site game against Illinois (Nashville) and three games in Las Vegas as part of the Players Era Tournament.
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.
