KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 20/23 Tennessee men’s basketball team (7-3) is set to continue the 2025-26 slate at Food City Center Tuesday as they face the No. 11/11 Louisville Cardinals (9-1).
Fans can watch Tuesday’s game on ESPN and stream on the ESPN App. Karl Ravech (play-by-play) and Jimmy Dykes (analyst) will have the call.
Fans state-wide can tune in to their local Vol Network radio affiliate to hear Voice of the Vols Mike Keith and analyst Chris Lofton depict the action.
THE MATCHUP
• This is the 22nd matchup between the two schools, with Tennessee winning the first six between 1913 and 1922, but Louisville claiming 12 of the last 15.
• UT went 1-11 in the series from 1927 to 2008. Under Rick Barnes, it is 2-0 since, with a 92-81 win on 11/21/18 in the NIT Season Tip-Off in Brooklyn, N.Y., and a 77-5 road triumph on 11/9/24.
• Tennessee last hosted Louisville in Knoxville on 1/25/04, dropping a 65-62 decision to the nation’s fifth-ranked team.
• This is the first meeting in series history with both sides ranked. • UT is 126-102 all-time versus the ACC current membership, beating all but one of them, Notre Dame (0-1), at least once.
• Rick Barnes is 85-78 against current ACC members. He is 15-6 at UT, including 8-2 over the past five seasons (2021-26).
• Coming off a 27-8 (18-2) showing in 2024-25 that included an NCAA Tournament bid, Louisville placed second in the ACC preseason poll.
• Senior guard Ryan Conwell paces the Cardinals with 19.4 ppg.
NEWS & NOTES
• Located 240 miles apart, Louisville (third) and Tennessee (fifth) play in two of the five largest college basketball arenas in the country.
• 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 for the team member who best exemplified leadership, a team-first approach and exemplary work ethic.
• Allan Houston, Wade’s son, is UT’s all-time leading scorer with 2,801 points, second 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.
• With 843 wins, Rick Barnes co-leads active DI coaches and is co-ninth all-time (min. 10 years in DI).
• Tennessee is playing its sixth straight Power Five opponent in non-conference action.
• The Volunteers’ 41-game non-conference home winning streak is two shy, per Elias, of the program record. More on page 5.
• Over its 86-week streak in the AP Poll, since the start of the 2021- 22 season, UT has played just 19 games as a lower-ranked team. It is 11-8 in those matchups.
• Tennessee, Alabama and Houston are the only schools to make the last three Sweet 16s. Tennessee, Alabama and Duke are the only three in the last two Elite Eights. The Vols finished fifth in the AP Poll, Coaches Poll and KenPom in both 2023-24 and 2024-25.
• The Vols’ 208 wins the last nine years (2017-26) rank eighth in DI Only Houston (253), Gonzaga (249), Duke (230), Kansas (220), Purdue (216), Auburn (210) and Saint Mary’s (209) own more. The rest of the top 10 is Liberty (205) and Drake (204).
RACKING UP RANKED VICTORIES…
• TOP 25: In the past five years (2021-26), Tennessee’s 31 AP top-25 wins lead DI. Only Alabama (30), Connecticut (30), Iowa State (27), Kansas (27), Arizona (26) and Purdue (25) are within eight.
• TOP 20: Tennessee is tied for in the nation with 27 AP top-20 triumphs over that span, alongside Connecticut (27). Only Alabama (25), Kansas (23), Arizona (21) and Purdue (21) are even within six.
• TOP 15: The Volunteers lead DI with 23 AP top-15 decisions over those five years. Alabama (20) and Kansas (20) are the only schools even within five.
• TOP 10: Since 2021-22, Tennessee owns 13 AP top10 wins, co-first nationally, alongside Connecticut (13) and Iowa State (13). Alabama (12), Kansas (12), Arizona (11), Florida (11), Kentucky (11) and Purdue (11) are the only programs even within four.
• TOP FIVE: In that same five-year span, the Vols have eight AP top-five victories, tied with Arizona for the most in DI. Alabama (seven), Florida (seven) and Iowa State (six) are the only others with even five such triumphs.
• TOP THREE: Tennessee has five AP top-three wins in those five years, tied with Florida for second in DI, behind just Arizona (six). The only other teams with even four are Alabama (four) and Iowa State (four).
…AND DOING SO EFFICIENTLY
• Tennessee, at 31-21 (.596), has the SEC’s best record versus AP top-25 foes over the last five seasons (2021-26). Auburn (22-18; .550) places second, while no one else has a mark over .520.
• The Vols are 27-16 (.628) against AP top-20 teams in that span, 11 games over the .500 mark. Auburn (18- 15; .545) is second in the SEC, with no other team is at even a .500 clip.
• UT is 23-13 (.639) versus AP top-15 foes in that time, 10 games above .500. Auburn (14-13; .519) ranks a distant second among SEC schools.
• At 13-9 (.591), the Volunteers have the best record in the SEC against AP top-10 foes over those five seasons. The only other SEC team above even a .460 clip is Florida (11-12; .478).
• With an 8-7 (.533) figure, Tennessee has the secondbest record in the SEC versus AP top-five teams in that stretch, narrowly trailing only Florida (7-6; .538). No other team owns a mark above even .400.
• The Volunteers, even with their excellent winning percentage, match Oklahoma for the co-third-most games (52) against AP top-25 foes of any Division I team in the last five years (2021-26). They trail just Alabama (58) and Texas (57) in such outings. No other SEC school is even above 45.
