Veteran event promoter bdG Sports has announced the 2026 field for the 14th-annual Coconut Hoops women’s basketball tournament in Fort Myers, Florida, and Tennessee is among seven schools slated to compete over Thanksgiving weekend.
The Lady Vols will open Great Egret Division play on Friday, Nov. 27, at 6:30 p.m. ET vs. Florida Gulf Coast University. The tournament will be played at the Eagles’ 4,633-seat Alico Arena on the FGCU campus.
The winner of that contest will meet the victor of Friday’s 4 p.m. Great Egret Division game between Houston and Creighton on Sunday, Nov. 29, at 6:30 p.m. ET in the championship game. The losing teams in Friday’s match-ups will face off in the consolation tilt on Sunday at 4 p.m. Streaming information for all games will be announced later.
In the Blue Heron Division, action tips each day at 1:30 p.m., with Oklahoma State taking on Washington (Nov. 27), UMass facing Oklahoma State (Nov. 28) and Washington battling UMass (Nov. 29).
“We’re looking forward to our trip to the Fort Myers area and to competing for the first time in Coconut Hoops,” UT Head Coach Kim Caldwell said. “This multi-team event comes between a home game with UCLA and a road game at Virginia Tech, and it lines us up against some well-coached programs that have histories of success in their respective conferences. These competitive opportunities will test and prepare us for the conference schedule that lies ahead.”
UT and FGCU will clash for the first time in women’s hoops. The Eagles are members of the Atlantic Sun Conference and have won 15 regular season titles in that league.
The Lady Vols also face a potential first meeting with Creighton (BIG EAST) or Houston (Big 12). UH head coach Matthew Mitchell served as a graduate assistant at Tennessee in 1999-2000 and went on to lead the women’s program at Kentucky from 2007-20.
Tennessee, which is ranked No. 25 in the USA TODAY Sports “Way-Too-Early” Top 25, heads into year three of the Caldwell era and seeks its third straight NCAA appearance under her watch. The Lady Vols finished 16-14 (8-8 in the SEC) in 2025-26, tying for sixth in the league and falling in the NCAA First Round.
Caldwell will lead a rebuilt 15-player roster, comprised of 13 transfers and two freshmen, that she and her staff finalized in just 22 days. USA TODAY Sports rated the Big Orange’s portal class No. 9 overall and No. 2 in the SEC, while On3 has the Big Orange tabbed at No. 10 overall and fourth in the SEC.
“I’m really looking forward to watching these programs compete in Fort Myers this November,” college basketball analyst and event contributor Debbie Antonelli said. “This event continues to grow the game of women’s college basketball and this strong field features some of the best brands in the game.”
TICKET AND FAN TRAVEL INFORMATION
Fan travel information, including preferred hotel rates at the official tournament resort, and ticket information can be found at the official event website – www.coconuthoops.com. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 10 a.m. ET.
ABOUT BDG SPORTS
bdG Sports is a sports and entertainment leader with a dynamic and ever-growing event management portfolio with a cornerstone in basketball and professional golf and an expansive focus toward baseball. The firm boasts an event schedule that has delivered significant economic impact to multiple communities throughout North America and the Caribbean while featuring broadcasts to viewers across the globe.
In basketball, bdG has a lengthy history of producing premium college basketball content. From summer exhibition tours to multiple high-profile in-season tournaments and neutral-site events, bdG will produce and manage some of the premier games and events in college basketball each season. It set the record for the largest hoops crowd in Nevada state history (Duke-Gonzaga 2021 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas), one of the most watched regular-season games since 2008 (Arkansas-Illinois on Thanksgiving Day 2024 with 5.1 million viewers) and one of the largest events in the sport with both men’s and women’s teams competing annually at Baha Mar Hoops. bdG is the only third-party operator which manages a conference tournament, assisting The Big West Men’s & Women’s Championships each March in Henderson, Nev.
