Vols Release Their Basketball Schedule

Tennessee’s 2015-16 men’s basketball schedule was released Wednesday.

Head coach Rick Barnes’ first season with the Volunteers features at least nine games against teams who played in the 2015 NCAA Tournament and at least seven games against teams who finished last season with a top-50 RPI.

Including a Nov. 6 exhibition against Alabama-Huntsville, the Vols play 17 home games at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Television information and tipoff times for most of UT’s non-conference games has yet to be determined, but the entirety of the Vols’ SEC schedule will be televised nationally.

Barnes put together an ambitious, national non-conference schedule that includes five games away from Knoxville. In addition to playing at Georgia Tech (Nov. 16), Butler (Dec. 12) and TCU (Jan. 30 as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge), Tennessee is making appearances on both the East and West Coasts. The Vols clash with perennial power Gonzaga in the “Battle in Seattle” Dec. 19. Prior to that, the Big Orange play two games at the Barclays Center Classic in New York City, where the field includes Cincinnati, George Washington and Nebraska (Nov. 27-28).

Non-conference home games include visits from UNC Asheville (Nov. 13 for the season-opener), Marshall (Nov. 19), Gardner-Webb (Nov. 22), Army West Point (Nov. 24), Florida Atlantic (Dec. 16), ETSU (Dec. 22) and Tennessee State (Dec. 29).

The most noteworthy aspect of UT’s 18-game Southeastern Conference slate is the implementation of scheduling model that features three “permanent” opponents: Kentucky, South Carolina and Vanderbilt. The Vols will play each of those three rivals at home and on the road every season.

The new scheduling format restores the historic Tennessee-Kentucky rivalry back to an annual home-and-home series. In 2013-14, Kentucky did not visit Knoxville for the first time since 1953. And last season, the Vols did not play in Lexington, Kentucky, for the first time since 1953.

Tennessee hosts Kentucky Feb. 2, and later travels to face the Wildcats at Rupp Arena in Lexington Feb. 18.

The Vols’ other SEC home games include Florida (Jan. 6), Texas A&M (Jan. 9), Vanderbilt (Jan. 20), South Carolina (Jan. 23), Auburn (Feb. 9), LSU (Feb. 20), Arkansas (Feb. 27) and Ole Miss (March 5).

Tennessee’s other conference road games include trips to Auburn (Jan. 2 to open SEC play on CBS), Georgia (Jan. 13), Mississippi State (Jan. 16), Alabama (Jan. 26), Arkansas (Feb. 6), Missouri (Feb. 13), South Carolina (Feb. 24) and Vanderbilt (March 1).

The 2016 SEC Tournament takes place March 9-13 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Each SEC game will be available to be seen from anywhere in the nation. The SEC Network will televise 71 games, ESPN or ESPN2 will televise 31 contests, ESPNU 18 and CBS Sports six. The SEC’s games on ESPN platforms are exclusively branded as the “SEC on ESPN.”

All of the games included in the ESPN package (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and SEC Network) will be available through WatchESPN, accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app, and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 or Xbox One to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider. Each of the CBS Sports games will be streamed on CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports mobile app and mobile website.

The SEC Network will televise the first three days of the SEC Tournament. The semifinals and championship game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

The 2016 NCAA Tournament begins March 15 in Dayton, Ohio, with the Final Four taking place April 2 & 4 in Houston, Texas.