Tennessee Basketball: 2020-21 season preview for the Volunteers

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - MARCH 28: Tennessee Volunteers fans reacts against the Purdue Boilermakers during overtime of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional at the KFC YUM! Center on March 28, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

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Tennessee is playing a challenging schedule

The SEC has decided to begin league play on Dec. 29 and 30 and still play a full 18-game schedule but have two open dates per team to give them some flexibility. Tennessee will begin the season in Orlando taking part in a four-team tournament that will see them play Charlotte and then either Penn State or VCU the next day.

The Vols will play two of the more high-profile matchups of the year when they grapple with Gonzaga in the Jimmy V Classic on December 2nd and will host Kansas in Knoxville as a part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

The remainder of the Volunteers’ non-conference schedule is up in the air with teams adjusting schedules on the fly. Games originally scheduled with Memphis (in Nashville) and Wisconsin are now in flux and may not take place, although, of the two, the matchup with Memphis is the more likely of the two to be played.

The only other game written in pen is a home date with Cincinnati on Dec. 12. No matter how the rest of Tennessee’s non-conference schedule shakes out, Barnes squad will certainly be tested and battle-ready when league play starts before the turn of the calendar.

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