Tennessee basketball has scheduled a home and home with an opponent from the ACC — it’s the Louisville Cardinals. The series was announced on Thursday, and will take place on November 9th in Louisville this year, then in Knoxville on December 16th in 2025.
schedule news —
a two-year, home-and-home series with Louisville starts this November
details » https://t.co/eFGMvcz8ut pic.twitter.com/X0J6jEERMk
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) June 6, 2024
Louisville has been a disaster of a program for the past several seasons. Once a true college basketball power, the Cardinals have struggled under the last couple of coaches. Following the departure of Rick Pitino, Chris Mack seemed like a homerun hire, but only lasted three seasons. Kenny Payne never got things going, finishing his time with the Cardinals with a 12-52 overall record.
Former Charleston head coach Pat Kelsey is now the man in charge, tasked with bringing this storied program back to life. Louisville hasn’t made an NCAA Tournament since the 2018-19 season.
Tennessee and Louisville have played 20 times with the Cardinals holding a 12-8 advantage all time. They last met back in 2018, playing in the NIT season tip-off tournament.
Louisville joins Illinois on the 2024-25 non-conference slate. Tennessee will travel to Illinois to complete the last leg of a home and home scheduled from last season. The Volunteers will also face Miami at Madison Square Garden in the Jimmy V Classic.
You can probably expect a couple more big-name programs to appear on the schedule over the next month or so, just based on Tennessee’s recent scheduling history under Rick Barnes.