Tennessee Basketball is continuing its series with Illinois and will play the Illini on December 6 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville during the 2025-26 season. CBS Sports college basketball reporter Jon Rothstein reported Thursday that the Vols will face Illinois at the United Center in Chicago at a date to be determined.
Tennessee swept its home-and-home against Illinois over the previous two seasons, winning 86-79 at Food City Center in December 2023 and 66-64 at Illinois last January after Jordan Gainey went coast-to-coast to score a buzzer-beating layup in traffic.
Gainey scored 23 points off the bench and Chaz Lanier scored 17 to lead Tennessee to the win at Illinois. Igor Milicic Jr. had seven points and 14 rebounds and Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack scored six points each, with Mashack adding four steals.
Tennessee had all five starters score in double-figures in the home win over Illinois two seasons ago, with Dalton Knecht scoring a team-high 21. Jonas Aidoo scored 14, Santiago Vescovi had 12 and Zeigler and Josiah-Jordan James had 11 each.
Series History: Tennessee Basketball is 4-1 vs. Illinois
The Vols are 4-1 all time against Illinois, winning in Knoxville in December 1967 and December 1985. They lost at Illinois in January 1988.
Marquee non-conference home-and-home games have been a staple of the Rick Barnes era at Tennessee.
Dating back to 2015-16, the Vols have scheduled games with North Carolina, Gonzaga, Arizona, Wisconsin, Louisville, Miami, Texas Tech, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Colorado, Cincinnati and Memphis. They’ve also played charity exhibition games at Michigan State, Indiana and Clemson.
Tennessee will host Louisville in second game of home-and-home
Tennessee will host Louisville on December 16 this season, in the second game of a home-and-home that started with a 77-55 road win at Louisville last November.
Other than the Louisville game, not much is known about the 2025-26 schedule.
The SEC opponents the Vols will face next season has not yet been announced. Tennessee will likely go on the road for the ACC-SEC Challenge, which started with a loss at North Carolina in November 2023 and continued with a home win over Syracuse last season.
Tennessee will play three games in the Players Era Tournament in Las Vegas in November, a field that also includes Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Creighton, Duke, Gonzaga, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State, South Carolina, Saint Joseph’s, St. John’s, Syracuse, Texas, UCLA and UNLV.
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