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Tennessee basketball: SEC sets start date for conference play

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - FEBRUARY 21: Detailed view of the Tennessee Volunteers logo which is seen on a cheerleader megaphone during a game against the Florida Gators at Thompson-Boling Arena on February 21, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won 62-57. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
KNOXVILLE, TN - FEBRUARY 21: Detailed view of the Tennessee Volunteers logo which is seen on a cheerleader megaphone during a game against the Florida Gators at Thompson-Boling Arena on February 21, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won 62-57. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /
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The Tennessee basketball men’s and women’s Volunteers begin SEC play late December.

With the NCAA start date now set for the men’s and women’s Tennessee basketball programs amidst the pandemic, the SEC has jumped in and set its start dates for conference play as well. As of now, that all seems like it’s going to plan.

Men’s basketball will have its start dates for conference play on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30, and women’s basketball will have its start date on Dec. 31, the league revealed Friday. Those dates are more than a month after the Nov. 25 start date for basketball in general already approved by the NCAA.

There will be 20 play dates for 18 conference games on the men’s side and 18 play dates for 16 conference games on the women’s side. Obviously, those open dates may be filled by non-conference games on the slate. For instance, the Lady Vols play the UConn Huskies on Jan. 21.

One quirk in this scheduling is that the men’s Tennessee basketball program was scheduled to face Norfolk State on Dec. 29. Obviously, Rick Barnes’ team will either have an open date then or have to rework that schedule.

Of course, given the way the pandemic has altered things, that game might be canceled. We still have no way of knowing how things will shake out on either side when it comes to non-conference play, and even the conference scheduling hasn’t been revealed yet.

However, with football season set to start this Saturday and the SEC setting its basketball dates for conference play, the league at least has put a plan in place to be able to move forward with the athletic calendar. That’s an encouraging sign for everybody.

What’s left for Tennessee basketball on both sides is the tournaments. The men were set to play in the Charleston Classic the week before the NCAA approved start date and also in Jimmy V Classic against the Gonzaga Bulldogs in December. Meanwhile, the women were set to compete in the Cancun Challenge at the end of November.

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All three of those events have reportedly been moved to Florida, and only one of them would conflict with the new NCAA start date. However, it’s still not clear how everything will work out, so this is just one of those situations in which we will have to wait and see.

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