Tennessee basketball released its non conference schedule earlier this week with the Vols set to play 13 games before beginning SEC play the first week of January.
The Vols know 12 of those opponents with their third opponent in the Players Era Tournament not yet set. Rick Barnes’ 11th Tennessee team has five games scheduled against power five opponents with its third game in the Players Era Tournament likely coming against a power five opponent.
What are the hardest non conference games on Tennessee’s schedule? Ranking them here with more details on the six toughest matchups.
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12. vs. North Florida
11. vs. South Carolina State
10. vs. Tennessee State
9. vs. Northern Kentucky
8. vs. Gardner-Webb
7. vs. Mercer
6. vs. Rice
Former Tennessee associate head coach Rob Lanier brings his Rice team to Knoxville for the fourth game of the season on Nov. 20. It will be Tennessee’s toughest task to date by far and should be its toughest buy game. Bart Torvik ranks Rice No. 189 entering the season. The Owls lost two key contributors to the portal but they were the only major losses. Leading scorer Trae Broadnax is back while Rice landed two talented level scorers in Prairie Valley A&M’s Nick Anderson and Mount St. Mary’s Dallas Hobbs. Lanier will also be quite familiar with Barnes’ system.
5. Rutgers (Las Vegas)
Tennessee faces the best team in the Players Era Tournament in Houston— more on them in a moment. They also possibly face the worst in Rutgers. After failing to make the NCAA Tournament with star freshman duo Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, there’s little reason for optimism for the Scarlett Knights this season. The only players on Rutgers roster who averaged double digit points last season did so at NJIT and George Washington. Bart Torvik ranks the Scarlett Knights 95th entering the season.
4. at Syracuse
Tennessee’s beaten Syracuse by a combined 43 points the last two seasons and now takes a trip to Upstate New York for the ACC-SEC Challenge. There’s reasons to believe the Orange will be better. They return their top two scorers JJ Starling and Donnie Freeman while adding a couple nice pieces in the portal. But Syracuse still doesn’t project to make the NCAA Tournament with Bart Torvik ranking them No. 63 entering the season. Whoever Tennessee gets in its third game in Las Vegas should be in the top four spots.
3. vs. Louisville
Louisville turned in a promising first season under Pat Kelsey and then was one of the biggest winners in the portal, landing top prospects Ryan Conwell, Isaac McKneely and Adrian Wooley. Bart Torvik ranks the Cardinals No. 11 in his preseason rankings. If this game was neutral site instead of in Knoxville, it would probably be No. 2 ahead of Illinois.
2. Illinois (Nashville)
Illinois has been one of Tennessee’s toughest non conference matchups each of the last two seasons and this year projects to be much of the season. The Fighting Illini lost two of their top players from a season ago but return starting point guard Kylan Boswell and forward Tomislav Ivisic but also did strong work in the portal. Brad Underwood’s team landed Cal star Andrej Stojakovic and Arkansas center Zvonimir Ivisic— Tomislav’s brother. Bart Torvik ranks Illinois No. 7 entering the season.
1. Houston (Las Vegas)
Tennessee will have revenge on its mind when it faces Houston in its second game at the Players Era Tournament. It’s going to be an incredibly tough task. A year after falling just short of the national championship, Houston is one of the favorites entering the season. The Cougars return starters Milos Uzan, Emanuel Sharp and Joseph Tugler while adding top five recruit Chris Cenac— who Tennessee finished runner-up for.
