After a trip to Las Vegas that saw Tennessee Basketball play three games in three days before the Thanksgiving holiday, Rick Barnes’ Volunteers will return to action next week to begin an important stretch in non-conference play.
Tennessee will travel to New York to take on Syracuse in the ACC-SEC Challenge on Tuesday, Dec. 2, in a true road game against the Orange. The Vols will then finish the week by traveling to Nashville for a neutral-site non-conference game against No. 13 Illinois in Music City Madness from Bridgestone Arena. That game will take place on Saturday, Dec. 6.
After a short break from action, Tennessee will then finish out the trio of high-profile non-con games with a home contest against No. 6 Louisville on Tuesday, Dec. 16, in the Food City Center in Knoxville.
Here’s a look at Tennessee’s remaining non-conference slate before SEC play opens up on January 3 with a road trip to Arkansas to kick off 2026:
- Tennessee at Syracuse (ACC/SEC Challenge) – Tuesday, Dec. 2
- 7:00 p.m. ET — Syracuse, NY
- ESPN 2
- Tennessee vs No. 13 Illinois (Music City Madness) – Saturday, Dec. 6
- 8:00 p.m. ET — Nashville, TN
- ESPN
- No. 6 Louisville at Tennessee – Tuesday, Dec. 16
- 7:00 p.m. ET — Knoxville, TN
- ESPN
- Gardner-Webb at Tennessee – Sunday, Dec. 21
- 3:00 p.m. ET — Knoxville, TN
- SEC Network+
- South Carolina State at Tennessee – Tuesday, Dec. 30
- 8:00 p.m. ET — Knoxville, TN
- SEC Network
More From RTI: Four Things We Learned About Tennessee Basketball In Players Era Festival
Rick Barnes’ Volunteers are 7-1 on the season through November. The Vols began the season with five-straight non-conference wins at home, defeating Mercer, Northern Kentucky, North Florida, Rice, and Tennessee State.
Tennessee then went out to Las Vegas to play in the Players Era Festival, which saw the team play three games in three days and earn fourth place in the competition. Tennessee began the run with a convincing win over Rutgers on Monday, earned a hard-fought revenge win over No. 3 Houston on Tuesday, and fell to Kansas in the third-place game on Wednesday.
The final result against Kansas was disappointing, but the win over Houston was a statement victory that Tennessee can continue to build on when going back to Knoxville to review the tape. The Vols showed a clear improvement in the front court with its size and depth, and will need to continue using that to their advantage in this next stretch of Power 5 games.
Tennessee guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie leads the team with 18.5 points per game and 5.2 assists per game. Freshman wing Nate Ament leads the Vols with 7.6 rebounds per game and 1.9 steals per game, while Felix Okpara averages 1.8 blocks per game.
