Tennessee basketball will face Illinois again this year. The new deal comes after a home-and-home series that concluded at the end of the 2024-25 season. The Vols beat the Fighting Illini in both matchups, including a hard-fought 66-64 road win this past year.
Jon Rothstein reports that the deal has the top-20 teams meeting on December 6th at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville for their first matchup in the new agreement.
Rothstein also reports that Tennessee and Illinois will meet in another neutral site matchup later, likely in the 2026-27 basketball season, at the United Center in Chicago.
This new deal sets up the third and fourth straight season Tennessee and Illinois will face off, setting up another couple of great non-conference battles between two physical programs.
Rick Barnes has retooled and revamped Tennessee's roster after the 2024-25 season. The Vols are losing four of their starters to graduation and the NBA after back-to-back trips to the Elite Eight.
Shooting guard Jordan Gainey could rejoin Tennessee's roster if the NCAA passes a new ruling that allows five years of eligibility instead of four.
Gainey made it clear he hoped he could return to Rocky Top for one final season on an episode of the TPL Tennessee YouTube channel.
As for now, Tennessee and Gainey are waiting on the NCAA to make its decision on the future of eligibility before Gainey can make plans to return for one more season.
As for now, the Vols will look very different this fall when their season for another deep NCAA Tournament run begins. Barnes has utilized the portal and traditional recruiting to build another competitive program in college basketball's toughest conference.