Tennessee basketball: Seating capacity, bulk of men’s schedule announced
Thompson-Boling Arena and the schedule for the Tennessee basketball Volunteers has made news.
The 2020-2021 season inches closer and closer for the men’s and women’s Tennessee basketball programs, but not everything has been finalized yet. However, we got a lot closer to knowing quite a few things this week.
From Wednesday to Friday, a slow drip of news filled in lots of the gaps, including Thursday, just as the Lady Vols had their media sessions to preview the season. Jordan Horston, Keyen Green, Jordan Walker and Marta Suárez all met with reporters to speak about this upcoming year.
Meanwhile, seating plans for Tennessee basketball games also came into effect. According to UTSports, Thompson-Boling Arena will be roughly at an 18-percent capacity, or 4,000 seats. Tickets will be offered as season tickets. Everybody who purchased season tickets will retain their status as season-ticket holders in 2021-2022 regardless of if they opt out this year.
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Those were the main bits of information for the arena. However, more scheduling news came through as well, most notably the men’s SEC schedule. The conference released the 18-game slate for the men on Friday morning.
On Wednesday, Dec. 30, Tennessee basketball will open up league play at the Missouri Tigers. The Vols’ home opener will be that Saturday, Jan. 2, against the Alabama Crimson Tide. They will have home and homes against Mizzou, the Vanderbilt Commodores, the Florida Gators, the Kentucky Wildcats and the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Every other team will face them once. In addition to Alabama, the Vols will host the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Georgia Bulldogs. They will visit the Texas A&M Aggies, the Ole Miss Rebels, the LSU Tigers and the Auburn Tigers.
Two days before the SEC slate came in, the men’s program also came closer to finalizing its non-conference slate early in the year. Eight dates appear to be set in stone now for non-conference play, four of which came before Friday. That also comes with the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, in which the Vols will host the Kansas Jayhawks Jan. 30.
Jeff Goodman of Stadium reported that the Vols are likely to host the Charlotte 49ers in their opener, which appears as if it will happen on Nov. 25. This is part of a multi-team event that also includes the VCU Rams, a team UT is likely to face on Nov. 27. That game will also be in Knoxville.
UTSports confirmed all of the previously mentioned dates already plus home games against the Cincinnati Bearcats on Dec. 12, the Appalachian State Mountaineers on Dec. 15, the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles on Dec. 19 and the USC Upstate Spartans on Dec. 22. That rounds out what we know about the non-conference dates so far.
Meanwhile, as expected, the Vols will still face the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the Jimmy V Classic on Dec. 2. Basketball insider Jon Rothstein reported on Twitter that it will take place in Indianapolis along with the Illinois Fighting Illini and Baylor Bears matchup.
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On the women’s side, the only date set in stone so far is Jan. 21, when they host the UConn Huskies. However, more scheduling news is likely to come out soon, as things are clearly beginning to fill in for Tennessee basketball overall.