Tennessee basketball will host Syracuse in this season’s ACC-SEC Challenge, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported on Wednesday afternoon.
It’s the Vols’ first home game in the two-year history of the ACC-SEC Challenge after Tennessee lost at North Carolina in the inaugural challenge last season. Tennessee will face Syracuse on Tuesday, Dec. 3— the first of two days of the challenge.
Tennessee basketball holds a 4-3 all-time record against Syracuse including a 73-56 victory over the Orange in the Maui Invitational last season. Dalton Knecht led the Vols with 17 points in the game while Josiah-Jordan James scored 15 and Jonas Aidoo scored 14 points.
After losing three of their first four matchups with the Orange all time, Tennessee has won all three matchups in the 21st century.
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Syracuse is entering its second season under head coach Adrian Autry after posting a 20-12 (12-9 ACC) record and missing the NCAA Tournament a season ago. This season, the Orange are looking to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021.
With the ACC-SEC Challenge set, most of Tennessee basketball’s main non conference matchups are clear. Rick Barnes’ 10th Tennessee team plays at Louisville on Nov. 9, in the Baha Mar Tournament against two of Virginia, St. John’s and Baylor, against Syracuse on Dec. 3, against Miami (New York City) on Dec. 10 and at Illinois on Dec. 14.
It’s possible that Tennessee could add another marquee non conference game to its schedule as it’s typically played six to seven Big Six teams every season under Barnes. At the moment, the ACC-SEC Challenge matchup against Syracuse is the only major non conference matchup at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.
