LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The 12th-ranked Tennessee men’s basketball team travels north to the Bluegrass State for its first road contest of the season, facing Louisville Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is slated for 12 p.m. ET at KFC Yum! Center.
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GAMEDAY TIMES & BROADCAST INFO
- Opponent: Louisville Cardinals
- Tipoff: Saturday, Nov. 9 | 12 p.m. ET
- Venue: KFC Yum! Center
- Watch Online: ACC Network
- Online: Listen Live | Live Stats
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TENNESSEE
LOUISVILLE
THE LATEST FROM THE VOLS
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Fans can catch Saturday’s game between the Vols (1-0) and Cardinals (1-0) on ACC Network. Kevin Fitzgerald (play-by-play) and Eric Devendorf (analyst) will have the call.
Fans can also listen live on their local Vol Network affiliate to hear Bob Kesling and Bert Bertelkamp describing the action.
The Volunteers officially started their 2024-25 campaign Monday night with an 80-64 victory over Gardner-Webb.
Fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier, in his program debut, scored a team-high 18 points for UT, which never trailed and led for all but 62 seconds, as it improved to 35-3 all-time in home openers at Food City Center.
THE MATCHUP
• This is the 21st meeting between the two schools, with Tennessee winning each of the first six between 1913 and 1922, but Louisville taking 12 of the past 14.
• The Volunteers went 1-11 versus the Cardinals from 1927 to 2008 before Rick Barnes led them to a 92-81 victory on 11/21/18 in the NIT Season Tip-Off in Brooklyn, N.Y., behind Grant Williams’ 24 points.
• Tennessee and Louisville last met at a campus site on 1/22/05, with the Cardinals earning an 85-62 home victory.
• After going 8-24 (3-17) last season, Louisville, now under the direction of first-year head coach Pat Kelsey, was picked ninth in the ACC preseason poll.
• The Cardinals return just two total points from their 2023-24 roster, but added 16 newcomers, 15 of them transfers, in the offseason.
• Tennessee is 122-101 all-time against current ACC schools and has beat all but one of them, Notre Dame (0-1), at least once.
• Rick Barnes is 81-77 in his career versus current ACC programs, including 11-5 at Tennessee.
CARDINAL CONNECTIONS
• Former Tennessee head coach Wade Houston, who led the Volunteers from 1989-94, is a Louisville alumnus who worked as an assistant for the Cardinals for 13 seasons, 1976-89, before coming to Rocky Top. Houston, who hails from nearby Alcoa, Tenn., was the first black head men’s basketball coach in the SEC and, alongside two 1962 classmates, one of the first three black men’s basketball players at Louisville.
• In March 2019, Rick Barnes instituted the Wade Houston Leadership Award, given to the team member who best exemplified leadership, a team- first approach and exemplary work ethic. Zakai Zeigler is the two-time reigning honoree.
• Allan Houston, Wade’s son, is UT’s all-time leading scorer with 2,801 points, second-most in SEC history. He is one of two—the other is fellow VFL Ernie Grunfeld— four-time First Team All-SEC choices in league history. Houston is among six UT letter winners from Louisville, as is 1952-53 team captain Hank Bertelkamp.
NEWS & NOTES
• Located 240 miles apart, Louisville (third) and Tennessee (fifth) play in two of the five largest college basketball arenas in the country.
• Rick Barnes (203-101) is one win away from tying Don DeVoe (204- 137 from 1978-89) for second place on UT’s all-time leaderboard.
• Tennessee is 5-2 in its last seven road openers under Rick Barnes.
• The 172 wins for Tennessee over the last eight years (2017-25) rank co-eighth nationally alongside Liberty and Saint Mary’s. Only Gonzaga (214), Houston (209), Kansas (192), Duke (186), Purdue (183), San Diego State (178) and Virginia (177) have more.
• Tennessee, which claimed the outright SEC regular season title and made the Elite Eight in 2023- 24, finished 27-9. It marked the the third time in the last six years (2018-24) under Rick Barnes UT won 27-plus games. It hit that tally just twice before his arrival.
• The Volunteers finished fifth in KenPom, the Coaches Poll and AP Poll last season, setting a program best in the former two and tying the top mark in the latter.
RACKING UP RANKED VICTORIES
• TOP 25: In the past four years (2021-25), Tennessee leads all SEC teams with 20 AP top-25 wins, good for four more than any other SEC program (Texas has 16). That mark is fourth nationally and Tennessee is one of only five schools with even 18-plus such wins, alongside Kansas (22), Connecticut (21), Iowa State (21) and Purdue (20).
• TOP 20: Tennessee possesses 18 AP top-20 wins over that span, five more than any other SEC school (Texas has 13) and third in DI. The Volunteers are among just five teams at even 16-plus, joining Connecticut (20), Kansas (19), Purdue (17) and Iowa State (16).
• TOP 15: The Volunteers own 15 AP top-15 decisions over those four seasons, good for second-most in the country and four more than any other SEC program (Alabama has 11). The only team in America with more is Kansas (17), while just Iowa State (13) and Purdue (12) are even within three of UT.
• TOP 10: Since 2021-22, Tennessee owns eight AP top-10 triumphs, tops in the SEC and co- fifth nationally, alongside North Carolina. Only Connecticut (10), Iowa State (10), Kansas (10) and Purdue (9) have more. The eight such wins in that time are #1 Alabama (2/15/23), #3 Kansas (11/25/22), #3 Auburn (2/26/22), #4 Kentucky (2/15/22), #5 Kentucky (3/12/22), #6 Arizona (12/22/21), #10 Texas (1/28/23) and at #10 Kentucky (2/3/24).
• TOP FIVE: In that same four-year span, UT has five AP top-five wins, tied with Alabama and Arizona for the most in the nation. Only two other schools, Iowa State and Gonzaga, have even four.
HIGH-CALIBER COMPANY
• Tennessee, Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Houston, Kansas and Purdue are the only seven teams to earn an AP top-five ranking in three of the last four seasons (2021-25). Only the Volunteers, Wildcats, Jayhawks and Boilermakers did so each year from 2021-22 to 2023-24.
• In addition, Tennessee, Alabama, Baylor, Gonzaga, Houston and Kansas are the only six schools to reach the AP top six in at least four of the past five years (2020-25).
• UT is one of only eight teams to reach the AP top six in at least five of the last seven seasons (2018-25), joining Alabama, Baylor, Duke, Gonzaga, Houston, Kansas and Kentucky. Those are eight of the only 12 schools in the AP top five in at least four of the past seven years (2018-25), alongside Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina and Virginia.
• Tennessee is one of just five schools to earn an AP top-20 ranking in each of the past eight years (2017- 25), alongside Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas and North Carolina. Just three others—Kentucky, Michigan State and Villanova—have even reached the AP top 25 in each of those seasons.
WINNING WAYS
• Over the last seven seasons (2017-24), Tennessee paces all SEC programs in total wins (171) and is tied for first in postseason victories (18), while placing a narrow second in winning percentage (.722). In that span, UT has three SEC titles, winning the regular season in 2018 and 2024, as well as the 2022 tournament.
• In that same seven-year stretch, the Vols are one of only two SEC schools with an overall winning percentage of over .700, alongside Auburn (.723).
• In SEC play over the same seven-year period, Tennessee (86-39; .688) is second in the league, behind Kentucky (87-38; .696), in both victories and winning percentage. Only Auburn (81-45; .643) and Alabama (78-48; .619) have even 70-plus wins.
• Over just the last three seasons (2021-24), UT owns a 79-28 (.7383) overall record. That is good for the most victories and the best winning percentage of any SEC team in that span. Auburn ranks second at 76-27 (.7379) during that time.
• In that same three-year span, Tennessee (39-15; .722) is tied with Kentucky for the best record in conference play among SEC teams.
POLL VOLS
• Tennessee has appeared in every AP Poll since the 2021-22 preseason rankings, a total of 60 releases in a row, vastly surpassing the prior program record of 37 from March 1999 to Feb. 2001. The Volunteers have been in the top 10 in 32 of those 59 releases, including the top five on 13 occasions.
• UT’s 60-week streak is the third-longest in the country, behind only Houston (86) and Kansas (65). The only other team at even 45-plus is Arizona (58).
• Dating back to the 2020-21 preseason poll, UT has made 74 of 77 releases (not the final three of 2020- 21), with 38 top-10 spots and still 13 in the top five.
• UT peaked at fourth last season, ascended to second in 2022-23, ended 2021-22 at a season-best fifth and placed as high as sixth in 2020-21.
• The Vols, who reached No. 1 in 2018-19, have been in the AP top six in five of the past seven years (2018-25), including each of the last four completed campaigns (2020-24), after hitting that mark six times in program history before Rick Barnes‘ tenure.
• UT has been in the AP top five in four of the last seven seasons (2018-25), including each of the past three completed ones (2021-24). It achieved that feat five times before Barnes’ arrival (2007-08, 2000-01, 1999-2000, 1967-68 and 1958-59).
• The 2024-25 campaign marks the eighth in a row Tennessee has earned a top-20 AP ranking. The prior such program record was seven straight seasons (1966-67 to 1972-73).
• UT’s 15-week AP top-10 streak (12/18/23 to 4/9/24) to close the 2023-24 campaign was the second- longest in program history. Three of the Vols’ five all-time double-digit streaks have come since 2018- 19 under Rick Barnes.
