Tennessee basketball schedules home and home with Arizona
As the Arizona Wildcats replace Sean Miller with new head coach Tommy Lloyd, imposing opponents across the country are still setting up face-offs with them. Tennessee basketball is now one of those teams.
The Vols have reportedly set a home and home series with Arizona, according to college basketball insider Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports. They will face them at home during the 2021-2022 season and then visit the Wildcats for a matchup in 2022-2023.
This will be the fifth meeting between Tennessee basketball and Arizona and the first since 1998. UT has won three of the four meetings dating back to 1956. Citing Lloyd, Rothstein revealed the news of the series Monday afternoon on Twitter.
Tommy Lloyd tells me that Arizona is finalizing a home-and-home series with Tennessee that will begin next season in Knoxville, with a return game in Tucson during the 22-23 season. https://t.co/k50SpI9DfP
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 10, 2021
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In their last meeting, Arizona won 73-72 at The Pit in Albuquerque, N.M., home of the New Mexico Lobos to open the 1998-1999 season for both teams. The Vols had just come off their first NCAA Tournament appearance in nine years and were a program on the rise under second year head coach Jerry Green. They entered the year ranked No. 9 with the addition of Vincent Yarbrough.
Arizona, meanwhile, was coming off a 30-5 season and an Elite Eight appearance under Lute Olson. They were two seasons removed from a national title and were at their peak with talent like Jason Terry and Richard Jefferson on this team.
UT last beat Arizona in December of 1983. That was a road game, which the Vols won 61-49. The other two meetings between the schools happened in 1982 and 1956, with the Vols winning both of them. Rocky Top has been ranked in the top 15 for three of the meetings.
Next year, Tennessee basketball figures to be ranked again when these two teams face off. However, Arizona is in a rebuilding phase. They are coming off a 17-9 season and a self-imposed postseason ban due to NCAA sanctions.
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Lloyd, who is in his first head coaching gig after years as a Gonzaga Bulldogs assistant, has a major task ahead of him. Either way, though, this is another high-profile opponent Rick Barnes has managed to get on the slate, and that’s impressive.