Tennessee basketball learned another key part of its 2026-27 non conference schedule on Thursday as the Vols will host Florida State in the ACC-SEC Challenge. While the Vols have yet to announce their entire non conference schedule, it’s beginning to take shape.
The Vols have two home games, one away game and at least four neutral site games scheduled against either power five or top level mid major programs.
Tennessee will play either three or four games at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. The Vols will face off against Maryland on Nov. 24, one of San Diego State or Iowa State on Nov. 26 and one of Oregon, Louisville, St. John’s or Texas Tech on Nov. 27. If they win all three games, Tennessee will play a fourth, championship, game at the event on Nov. 28.
The Vols will host Florida State in the ACC-SEC Challenge on Tuesday, Dec. 1 just a few days after returning home from Las Vegas.
Rick Barnes’ 12th Tennessee team will then travel to the mid state to face former assistant coach Justin Gainey and his first NC State time on Sunday, Dec. 6 at Bridgestone Arena.
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Tennessee is back on the road five days later on Friday, Dec. 11 when they face Purdue at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Barnes said early this offseason that Tennessee will face Michigan State at home in the first game of a home-and-home between the two teams. Neither team has officially announced the game so the date is not yet set.
How do the teams on Tennessee’s non conference schedule project for the 2026-27 season? Here’s how Bart Torvik ranks the five set opponents: No. 7 Michigan State, No. 27 Purdue, No. 35 Maryland, No. 39 N.C. State and No. 67 Florida State. Potential opponents at Players Era include No. 18 Iowa State, No. 54 San Diego State, No. 10 Louisville, No. 11 St. John’s, No. 25 Texas Tech and No. 43 Oregon.
Next season will be the first time that Tennessee has played two power five non conference opponents at home since playing both Colorado and Cincinnati in the 2020-21 season. Capacity was limited that season at Thompson-Boling Arena due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before that, Tennessee last played two home power conference games during the 2018-19 season when they defeated both Georgia Tech and Wake Forest in Knoxville.
