These should be fun.
According to multiple reports, Tennessee is set for two massive exhibition games this fall to tip-off the 2025-26 basketball season. Per Grant Ramey at Volquest, Tennessee will travel to Michigan in October, then come back home to Knoxville to face Duke.
Was told Tennessee Basketball is working to finalize a preseason exhibition game at Michigan in October
… and will also host Duke in a second preseason exhibition game at Food City Center.
https://t.co/QdVWHab03r pic.twitter.com/11GCY0w9K0
— @GrantRamey (@GrantRamey) July 16, 2025
Both would be exhibition games and obviously neither game would count towards overall records, but it will be an extremely early look for all teams involved to see what they’ve got for the upcoming season against elite competition.
Tennessee has done this over the past few seasons. They dropped an exhibition matchup to Indiana last season, but beat Michigan State on the road and Gonzaga in Texas in the previous years. The NCAA recently changed a rule allowing teams to schedule up to two preseason exhibition games against any four-year school.
Rick Barnes, who is never shy about facing elite teams, has apparently jumped at the chance to load up his exhibition schedule. He and his staff will quickly figure out what they have with their new-look roster, featuring senior point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie and five-star freshman wing Nate Ament. Duke was also a finalist for Ament, who picked the Volunteers in the end.
Tennessee is slated to face Rutgers and Houston in the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas in November. They’ll also have a road game against Syracuse, a date with Illinois in Nashville and a home game against Louisville to round out another loaded non-conference schedule.