Vols and SEC Men’s Basketball Conference Schedule Announced

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Southeastern Conference released the intraconference portion of the 2017-18 men’s basketball schedule Thursday, completing Tennessee’s 30-game, regular-season slate.

Tipoff times and TV network designations will be announced at a later date.

In addition to “permanent opponents” Kentucky, South Carolina and Vanderbilt, Tennessee also will face Georgia and Ole Miss both at home and on the road this season.

The nine SEC teams set to visit Thompson-Boling Arena are Auburn, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.

Tennessee’s nine SEC road trips include games at Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

The SEC Tournament will be played west of the Mississippi River for the first time when the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri, hosts the event March 7-11.

Season tickets go on sale in early September, and single-game tickets will become available in October.

Every intraconference can be seen from anywhere in the nation. SEC?Network will televise 68 games, ESPN or ESPN2 will televise 32 contests, ESPNU?will show 20 and CBS Sports airs 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) also will be available through WatchESPN, which is accessible on computers, smartphones, tablets and connected devices to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider. Each of the CBS Sports games will be available to stream live in more than 150 U.S. markets via the CBS All Access subscription service, with additional coverage on CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports app.

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

SEC SCHEDULE ITEMS OF NOTE

For the second season in a row, Tennessee opens SEC play in December, taking on Arkansas on Dec. 30 in Fayetteville. Last year, the Vols opened with Texas A&M on Dec. 29, the earliest conference opener since a Dec. 16, 1989, contest vs. Ole Miss.
Not including potential matchups in the Battle 4 Atlantis, UT will face nine teams that competed in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, including four Elite Eight teams and defending national champion North Carolina. The Volunteers are 12-17 all-time against schools who are the reigning national champions.
On Jan. 17, UT will travel to Columbia, Missouri, to take on the Tigers, who are now led by former Vols head coach Cuonzo Martin. Tennessee is 6-3 all-time when facing a team led by a former UT head coach.

VOLS TO HOST CARSON-NEWMAN IN EXHIBITION

The Vols will host Carson-Newman in their lone exhibition game on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. in Thompson-Boling Arena.
Chuck Benson is entering his eighth season as head coach of the Eagles. Benson was an assistant coach at Tennessee from 1993-94 and 2003-05.
Last year, Benson won his second-most games as Carson-Newman’s head coach, as the Eagles went 19-11, posted a top-10 region ranking and a logged a sixth straight winning season.
The Eagles return All-American senior guard Charles Clark, who is the reigning South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year. Clark averaged 21.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game during his junior campaign.
Tennessee and Carson-Newman haven’t met in the regular season since a 15-game stretch from 1908-36, during which the Volunteers went 11-4. The two teams have since faced off in three exhibition games, with Tennessee winning all three. The most recent meeting was a 73-52 contest in Knoxville on Nov. 3, 2011.

-UT Athletics