In addition to a grinding, 16-game gauntlet of Southeastern Conference competition, non-conference clashes with Kansas, Memphis and Southern California highlight Tennessee’s 2009-10 men’s basketball schedule, which was released Thursday.
The Volunteers under fifth-year head coach Bruce Pearl host Kansas at Thompson-Boling Arena in a nationally televised CBS game Sunday, Jan. 10. On Saturday, Dec. 19, UT travels to the West Coast for a matchup against former Vols head coach Kevin O’Neill (1994-97) and the USC Trojans.
And in another highly anticipated national CBS game, Tennessee tips off against Memphis at the FedEx Forum on New Year’s Eve. The Vols have won seven of their last 10 games against the Tigers.
In addition to Kansas, other non-conference opponents slated to visit Rocky Top before the Vols begin SEC play include Austin Peay, Charlotte, College of Charleston, ETSU, North Carolina A&T, UNC Asheville and Wyoming.
Tennessee is part of an eight-team Paradise Jam field that includes Boston College, DePaul, East Carolina, Northern Iowa, Purdue, St. Joseph’s and South Dakota State. The Paradise Jam takes place Nov. 20-23 at St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The 2010 SEC Tournament takes place March 11-14 at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn. But the Vols will get an early opportunity to play at that venue as part of the Sun Belt Classic doubleheader Dec. 11. Tennessee faces Middle Tennessee that night, while Vanderbilt plays Western Kentucky in the other half of the doubleheader. Ticket information for that event will be forthcoming.
Tennessee opens SEC play Thursday, Jan. 14 by hosting Auburn. The Vols also host SEC Western Division foes Ole Miss and Arkansas, while games against Alabama, LSU and Mississippi State take place on the road.
Tennessee will be a part of an ESPN College GameDay matchup for the third straight season; this time it will be on the road when Kentucky hosts the Vols on Saturday, Feb. 13.
CBS is set to broadcast UT’s home games against Florida and Kentucky on Jan. 31 and Feb. 27, respectively. And while the Vols’ complete television schedule has yet to be finalized, Tennessee is set to appear on the ESPN family of networks at least nine times.
Including the teams Tennessee could potentially face at the Paradise Jam, the Vols’ regular-season schedule features nine schools that advanced to last season’s NCAA Tournament and five squads that turned in a final RPI of 50 or better.
UT’s exhibition schedule includes home games with North Alabama (Oct. 30) and Lincoln Memorial (Nov. 4).
Tennessee officially begins preseason practice Friday, Oct. 16.
2009-10 TENNESSEE BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
Date Day Opponent Site Television Time
Oct. 30 Fri. North Alabama (exhibition) Knoxville 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 4 Wed. Lincoln Memorial (exhibition) Knoxville 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 13 Fri. Austin Peay Knoxville 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 17 Tue. UNC Asheville Knoxville 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 20 Fri. 1-East Carolina St. Thomas 3:30 p.m.
Nov. 21/22 Sat./Sun. 1-DePaul or Northern Iowa St. Thomas 6 p.m.
Nov. 23 Mon. 1-TBD St. Thomas TBA
Nov. 27 Fri. College of Charleston Knoxville 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 2 Wed. ETSU Knoxville 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 11 Fri. 2-vs. Middle Tennessee Nashville, Tenn. 7 p.m.
Dec. 15 Tues. Wyoming Knoxville 7 p.m.
Dec. 19 Sat. at Southern California Los Angeles, Calif. TBA
Dec. 23 Wed. North Carolina A&T Knoxville 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 31 Thur. at Memphis Memphis, Tenn. TBA
Jan. 6 Wed. Charlotte Knoxville 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 10 Sun. Kansas Knoxville 1:30 p.m.
Jan. 14 Thur. Auburn* Knoxville 7 p.m.
Jan. 16 Sat. Ole Miss* Knoxville 1:30 p.m.
Jan. 19 Tues. at Alabama* Tuscaloosa, Ala. 7 p.m.
Jan. 23 Sat. at Georgia* Athens, Ga. 5 p.m.
Jan. 27 Wed. Vanderbilt* Knoxville 7 p.m.
Jan. 31 Sun. Florida* Knoxville 1 p.m.
Feb. 4 Thur. at LSU* Baton Rouge, La. 9 p.m.
Feb. 6 Sat. South Carolina* Knoxville 6 p.m.
Feb. 9 Tues. at Vanderbilt* Nashville, Tenn. 7 p.m.
Feb. 13 Sat. at Kentucky* Lexington, Ky. 9 p.m.
Feb. 17 Wed. Georgia* Knoxville 8 p.m.
Feb. 20 Sat. at South Carolina* Columbia, S.C. 1:30 p.m.
Feb. 23 Tues. at Florida* Gainesville, Fla. 9 p.m.
Feb. 27 Sat. Kentucky* Knoxville Noon
March 3 Wed. Arkansas* Knoxville 7 p.m.
March 6 Sat. at Mississippi State* Starkville, Miss. 6 p.m.
March 11-14 SEC Tournament Nashville, Tenn.
March 16 NCAA Opening Round Game (Dayton, Ohio)
March 18 & 20 NCAA First & Second Rounds (New Orleans, La. / Providence, R.I. / San Jose, Calif. / Spokane, Wash.)
March 19 & 21 NCAA First & Second Rounds (Buffalo, N.Y. / Jacksonville, Fla. / Milwaukee, Wis. / Oklahoma City, Okla.)
March 25 & 27 NCAA Regionals (Syracuse, N.Y. / Salt Lake City, Utah)
March 26 & 28 NCAA Regionals (St. Louis, Mo. / Houston, Texas)
April 3 & 5 NCAA Final Four (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Key
1-U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam (UVI Sports and Fitness Center in St. Thomas)
2-Sun Belt Classic (The Sommet Center)
* Southeastern Conference Game
All Times Eastern & Subject to Change
As of Aug. 20, 2009
Tennessee's signing class for 2012
Tennessee defeats Georgia 3-2 in…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 25
VOLatile writes:
Good Schedule...1st
jakethevolguy writes:
Anything on a point guard for next year? How is the search going?
winbigvols writes:
Right now all anybody can think of is Western Kentucky. We will talk basketball when the time comes. Great schedule though. Bruce has taken us to the next level in basketball but its almost football time. Can't wait till kickoff.
justincredible369#357762 writes:
Now if only the rest of the SEC would follow suite maybe come tournament time next year it won't be such and embarressment
justincredible369#357762 writes:
hopefully melvin goins is the real deal
tallfry writes:
let's go bruce! tough schedule, but that's gotten us two more nationally televised games... maybe that will equal big recruits? fingers crossed. go vols!
gnm53108 writes:
To any of yaw up toward k-town.
Nashville just got hit pretty good with a alot of rain and wind,didnt last too long but you probably dont want to be on the road when it hits.
kingsportvolfan writes:
that is a tough schedule!
winning some of the big ones will helpin recruiting.
go vols!!!
dirty_don writes:
I cant believe we are playing my old alma mater - North Alabama in an exhibition. TUNA - THE Universtiy of North Alabama
memphis_vol_fan writes:
Tennessee v. Memphis on CBS New Year's Eve!!! D@mn thats gonna be fun to watch!!
KINGKONG writes:
mephis is on a 38 gm losing streak we should beat them on new years eve as of late they havent had much success lol
bucfaithful writes:
ETSU fan here...we are looking forward to playing you this year. We've lost some key seniors, but we should still be a solid team again this year.
byobbio writes:
God help us if we lose to USC.
thebadsamaritan writes:
...actually DRose played two years ago. Last year Memphis beat UT at UT. I was there.
volgrog#210164 writes:
Wyoming Vol,
If we lose to the Cowpokes in BB, you'll never be able to go back to the state. They can claim to officially own Tennessee.
cmoore7 writes:
The Peabody for New Years? It's been done before.
VolFanNC writes:
One thing I can say about BBall is Bruce likes to schedule tough...Can't remember anyone at UT BBall scheduling like this.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
It's awfully hard to pack so many lame and/or erroneous statements into so few words, so congratulations! And who is this "we" of whom you speak? Most of your posts are slams of some sort against the Vols, IIRC.
CoachFulmer writes:
Witch Doctor alum eh? Thats good to know. Definetly going to be conflicted when this game rolls around. I love ETSU Basketball almost as much as UT, but I think im going to have to cheer for UT cause we have more to lose then ETSU.
GO VOLS AND BUCS!
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
small world. I graduated from there when it was called Florence State Univ. When did you graduate?
johnlg00#206211 writes:
You might want to worry a bit about Scottie Hopson breaking the Rupp Arena scoring record. Oh, that and how long it takes Cal to get UK put on "double-secret lifetime probation"(;-P)!
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Didn't say we would win; Scottie could go off on anybody, anytime. He's just coming into his talent and any opponent would have to pay a good deal of attention to our inside game. Spare me your too-familiar phooey about CBP not being smart enough to set it up that way. We will all see soon enough.
OrangeRush writes:
Come back in two years when your season is wiped from the record books, dingleberry.
VOLKING writes:
When you say 'our', you mean Memphis don't you? You're not a Vol...stop acting like you are. We all know the truth.
GreyhairedVol writes:
Young man you might be suprised at how many fans are not big Pearl fans. The difference is most of them do not waste there time on chat boards.
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