Tennessee basketball to play charity exhibition game at Michigan State

Tennessee basketball will play a charity exhibition game at Michigan State on October 29, the two programs announced in a press release on Wednesday. Money raised by the game will go toward the Hawai’i Community Foundation Maui Strong Fund, funding the relief efforts from the Maui wildfires.

The Vols hosted the Spartans in a closed scrimmage in Knoxville last October and Tennessee’s return trip to East Lansing was previously set to be another closed workout at Michigan State’s Breslin Center.

Details including ticket information and tipoff time for the exhibition will be announced at a later date.

“First, I appreciate Coach (Tom) Izzo and Michigan State for hosting this game,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said in a press release, “which will benefit a community that means so much to the world of college basketball.

“While we certainly need to continue to pray for the families in Maui who have been impacted, this benefit game will enable us to offer tangible support toward the restoration of Maui and its beautiful spirit.”

Tennessee is one of eight teams in the Maui Invitational field and will face Syracuse in the first round on November 20. Opposite of the Vols in the bracket is Purdue and Gonzaga, with winners and losers matching up on the second day of the tournament.

Kanas will play host Chaminade in the opening round, with UCLA and Marquette on the other side of the bracket. 

“The Maui Invitational and the city of Lahaina have always held a special place in my heart,” Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. “The images we’ve all seen and the stories we’ve heard following the wildfires have touched so many of us in the college basketball world and I know that our thoughts and prayers are with all of those who have been affected.

“We’ve had plans to scrimmage Rick’s team since last Fall, and we spoke about what we could do to help and honor the city of Lahaina and the people there who are in need. I’m hopeful that our Spartan family will pack the Breslin Center for what will be a great game, but will have an even greater mission, and that’s to help the Lahaina community as much as we can.”

Tennessee’s non-conference schedule set

The Vols open the 2023-24 home schedule with an exhibition game against Lenoir-Rhyne on October 31 and will host Tennessee Tech on November 6 in the regular-season opener. They go to Wisconsin on November 10 and host Wofford on November 14, before playing three games in the Maui Invitation November 20-22.

Tennessee goes to North Carolina on November 29, the first game after the Maui Invitational. The Vols host George Mason on December 5, Illinois on December 9 and Georgia Southern on December 12. 

A neutral-site game against North Carolina State is set for December 16 in San Antonio and a home date with Tarleton State is the final game before the Christmas break, scheduled for December 21. Tennessee hosts Norfolk State on January 2 in the final non-conference game on the schedule.

SEC opponents the Vols will face this season

The SEC schedule has not yet been set, but opponents have been announced. 

Tennessee will have home-and-homes with Kentucky, South Carolina and Vanderbilt. The Vols will host Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt. They’ll play road games at Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.

The game at Wisconsin is the second in a home-and-home series that started at Thompson-Boling Arena in December 2019. The Vols were scheduled to play at Wisconsin in December 2020 before the COVID pandemic altered the 2020-21 basketball season.

Wisconsin won 68-48 at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 28, 2019. Wisconsin finished 20-15 last season, going 9-11 in Big Ten play before making a run to the NIT championship game, where the Badgers lost to North Texas.

Tennessee announced in December that a home-and-home with Illinois had been scheduled, starting in Knoxville this season. The Vols make the return trip to Illinois on December 14, 2024.