Tennessee basketball announced a major piece of its future non conference schedule on Wednesday morning. The Vols will face Big 10 powerhouse Purdue in a home-and-home series beginning next season.
The Vols will travel to West Lafayette to face Purdue at Mackey Arena on Dec. 12, 2026 before hosting the Boilermakers in a return trip at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center on Dec. 11, 2027.
Rick Barnes’ Tennessee program has faced Purdue four times over the last decade. The Vols 78-75 overtime win against Purdue in the Bahamas in Nov. 2017 was one of the first marquee wins over Barnes’ tenure as the Vols ended up making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years.
Since then, Purdue has had the upper hand in the series. The Boilermakers knocked off Tennessee 99-94 in overtime in the Sweet 16 of the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Five years later, Zach Edey and Purdue knocked off Dalton Knecht and Tennessee 72-66 in the Elite Eight of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
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The two teams also faced off in the 2023 Maui Invitational with Purdue earning a 71-67 victory behind 27 points from Fletcher Loyer. Purdue holds a 5-2 lead all-time in the series though only two games have been played on campus. Tennessee won in Knoxville in 1980 before Purdue won in West Lafayette in 1981.
Head coach Matt Painter has built Purdue into one of the nation’s top programs. The Boilermakers have made the NCAA Tournament 16 times in Painter’s 20 years as head coach. Purdue has made the last 10 NCAA Tournaments and has been a four-seed or higher in eight straight tournaments.
Purdue has had shortcomings in the NCAA Tournament including a loss to 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson but made the national championship game in 2024 and followed it up with a run to the Sweet 16 a season ago.
Tennessee does not have many non conference games set for upcoming years. The Vols will face Illinois in Chicago in Dec. 2027 and will play in the Players Era Festival in all three seasons. Otherwise, Tennessee does not have any out of conference games scheduled for those seasons.
