Lady Vols basketball announced its 2026-27 nonconference schedule for coach Kim Caldwell's third season on Aug. 10.
Tennessee will play nine nonconference games at home, four on the road and one at a neutral site in addition to a home exhibition against Florida A&M – coached by former Lady Vol and Women's Basketball Hall of Famer, Bridgette Gordon – on Oct. 27.
The Lady Vols face four teams that made the 2026 NCAA Tournament during their nonconference slate, and they'll play 14 games against NCAA Tournament teams in total including the SEC schedule.
Opponents for two more games, scheduled for Nov. 27 and 29 as part of a multi-team event, will be announced at a later date.
For the second straight season, the Lady Vols will play every team that made
the Final Four. Tennessee will play UCLA at home and UConn on the road in nonconference play, and it will face South Carolina and Texas in SEC play.
The Lady Vols face the Bruins on Nov. 22 and the Huskies on Dec. 12, with dates for SEC games to be announced at a later date. A specific venue for the Dec. 12 meeting with UConn will be announced at a later date.
Pending its assignments for the multi-team event in November, Tennessee is slated to face four power conference opponents during its nonconference slate, which is one fewer than its five power conference matchups last season in nonconference play.
The Lady Vols open the season at home against Duquesne on Nov. 2 and travel to face Coppin State in Baltimore, Maryland on Nov. 5. They'll also be on the road for the SEC/ACC Challenge on Dec. 3 to face Virginia Tech, which is where former Lady Vols Alyssa Latham and Lauren Hurst transferred to this offseason.
It's the second straight year Tennessee is on the road for the SEC/ACC Challenge, but it got two straight home games in the challenge the previous two seasons.
The Lady Vols have three matchups in Nashville this season. They'll play a neutral-site game against Baylor on Dec. 18 at Bridgestone Arena and two true road games against Belmont on Nov. 17 and Vanderbilt during SEC play.
Tennessee will face MTSU at home on Nov. 12, which is the final game of the four-game contract that was signed in 2023.
There are 12 games against teams in ESPN's Top 25 including SEC play.
Tennessee Lady Vols basketball 2026-27 nonconference schedule
- Oct. 29: vs. Florida A&M (exhibition)
- Nov. 2: vs. Duquesne
- Nov. 5: at Coppin State
- Nov. 10: vs. New Haven
- Nov. 12: vs. Middle Tennessee
- Nov. 17: at Belmont
- Nov. 19: vs. Radford
- Nov. 22 vs. UCLA
- Nov. 27: vs. TBA (multi-team event)
- Nov. 29: vs. TBA (multi-team event)
- Dec. 3: at Virginia Tech
- Dec. 6: vs. Georgia State
- Dec. 8: vs. NC Central
- Dec. 12: at UConn (site to be announced)
- Dec. 15: vs. Alabama A&M
- Dec. 18: vs. Baylor at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville
- Dec. 21: vs. Morehead State
Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: cora.hall@knoxnews.com; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks:knoxnews.com/subscribe
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Lady Vols basketball announces nonconference schedule for 2026-27 season
