KNOXVILLE – Tennessee Women’s Basketball Head Coach Kim Caldwell shared her program’s non-conference schedule on Tuesday, and her Lady Vols are set to face six teams that played in last season’s NCAA Tournament.
Among them are 2024 NCAA Final Four participants UConn and Iowa. The Huskies are No. 3 in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Preseason Top 25, and they will join No. 18 Florida State as ranked non-league teams playing at Food City Center this season. UT, meanwhile, will face last season’s national runner-up Hawkeyes at the Women’s Champions Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Tennessee also squares off vs. three in-state schools outside of league play, including 2024 NCAA qualifiers Middle Tennessee and UT Martin at home. They’ll also visit Memphis and LVFL Alex (Fuller) Simmons in a contest played vs. the Tigers at FedExForum.
Including previously announced SEC opponents, UT is guaranteed to play 16 of its 29 total contests vs. teams making last year’s NCAA field. The total of foes seeing postseason action rises to 19 when including those who competed in the 2024 Women’s Basketball invitation Tournament (WBIT).
Ten match-ups for the Big Orange in 2024-25 will be against teams ranked in the ESPN Way-Too-Early preseason poll. Among them are home tilts vs. No. 1 South Carolina, No. 3 UConn, No. 7 LSU, No. 13 Oklahoma, No. 18 Florida State, No. 21 Alabama and No. 23 Ole Miss, and road trips to No. 6 Texas, No. 7 LSU and No. 25 Kentucky. Season tickets are available now at AllVols.com
The Lady Vols take the floor for their first contest on Oct. 31, as Carson-Newman comes to town for an exhibition. Tennessee will open the regular season with five home contests in November, starting with Samford on Nov. 5 and UT Martin on Nov. 7. UT will welcome Middle Tennessee to The Summitt on Nov. 12 for the second of a four-game series with the perennial NCAA Tournament program, before Liberty and Western Carolina visit on Nov. 16 and 26, respectively.
December features seven match-ups, with only three occurring at home. No. 18 Florida State starts the proceedings by making a reciprocal trip to Knoxville on Dec. 4 for the SEC-ACC Women’s Basketball Challenge before the Lady Vols wing their way to New York to meet 2024 NCAA runner-up Iowa at the Barclays Center in the Women’s Champions Classic on Dec. 7. After hosting North Carolina Central on Nov. 14, Tennessee will play at Memphis on Dec. 18, followed by a trip to the West Palm Beach Classic on Dec. 20 and 21 vs. opponents that tourney organizers will announce soon. One of those squads made the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
A Dec. 29 home tilt vs. Winthrop and LVFL Semeka Randall Lay is Tennessee’s first action coming off winter break and will serve as a tune-up for SEC play, which is expected to begin the first Thursday in January. The final non-league event will feature a home clash between the Big Orange and No. 3 UConn on Feb. 6. That match-up is part of a home-and-home series that will see the two teams meet in Connecticut next season. The location and date of that game will be shared later.
Carson-Newman (Oct. 31)
- This is the 19th meeting between UT and C-N in an exhibition game
- Tennessee is 18-0 in exhibitions vs. Carson-Newman
- The Lady Vols and Lady Eagles last met on Oct. 30, 2023 (UT, 105-72)
Samford (Nov. 5)
- This is the first meeting between these programs
- The Bulldogs are members of the Southern Conference
UT Martin (Nov. 7)
- This marks the 17th meeting between these teams
- Tennessee leads the all-time series, 14-2
- The teams last met on March 17, 2012, with the Lady Vols prevailing, 72-49
- The Skyhawks made the 2024 NCAA field, notching their fifth all-time berth in the tourney
Middle Tennessee (Nov. 12)
- This is the 24th meeting between these programs
- UT is 22-1 all-time vs. Middle Tennessee
- The Blue Raiders upset Tennessee, 73-62, in Huntsville, Ala., last season on Dec. 6
- MTSU made the NCAA Second Round in 2024, knocking off Louisville to open the tourney and pushing LSU before falling in Baton Rouge
Liberty (Nov. 16)
- This marks the fourth meeting in series history
- UT is 3-0 all-time vs. Liberty
- The Lady Vols won the last meeting, 90-55, over the Flames in Lynchburg on Dec. 31, 2023
Western Carolina (Nov. 26)
- This will be the 18th meeting in the series
- UT holds a 10-7 advantage over the Catamounts
- The last meeting came on Nov. 25, 2008, when UT won, 83-56, in Knoxville
Florida State (Dec. 4)
- This is the fourth meeting in series history
- UT is 2-1 all-time vs. Florida State
- The teams last met on Nov. 9, 2023, in Tallahassee, with the Seminoles prevailing, 92-91
- FSU was an NCAA First Round participant in 2024
vs. Iowa (Dec. 7)
- This is the fourth all-time meeting between these programs
- Tennessee holds a 2-1 series advantage
- UT won, 72-56, the last time these teams met on March 27, 1993
- Iowa was the 2024 NCAA Final Four runner-up
North Carolina Central (Dec. 14)
- This is the first meeting between these programs
- The Eagles are members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
at Memphis (Dec. 18)
- This will mark the 29th meeting between these programs
- Tennessee is 27-1 vs. Memphis
- The teams last met on Nov. 13, 2023, in Knoxville, with UT winning in overtime, 84-74
- Alex (Fuller) Simmons is in her second season as head coach at UM
- UT senior Destinee Wells hails from the Memphis suburb of Lakeland
- The Lady Vols will play UM in Memphis for the first time since Dec. 29, 2001.
vs. TBD (Dec. 20)
- Tennessee’s first game in the West Palm Beach Classic
vs. TBD (Dec. 21)
- Tennessee’s second game in the West Palm Beach Classic
Winthrop (Dec. 29)
- This is the sixth meeting between Tennessee and Winthrop
- UT holds a 3-2 advantage in the series
- The teams last met on Nov. 21, 2014, with the Lady Vols winning, 81-48, in Knoxville
- LVFL Semeka Randall Lay has led the Eagles since 2020-21
UConn (Feb. 6)
- This will mark the 27th meeting between Tennessee and UConn
- The Huskies hold a 17-9 all-time series lead
- UConn won the last meeting, 84-67, on Jan. 26, 2023, in Knoxville
- The Huskies lost in the 2024 NCAA Final Four semifinals
- Head coaches Geno Auriemma (1,213-162, 88.2 pct.) and Kim Caldwell (217-31, 87.5 pct.) are both ranked in the active top 10 for career winning percentage at any level of women’s college basketball
