KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — We've got a better idea of how the Vols' SEC schedule will look for the 2019-20 basketball season.
The Vols will have 18 regular-season SEC games, including three annual "permanent opponents" --- Kentucky, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.
Tennessee will play a home-and-home series with Arkansas and Auburn next season. They'll play everyone else in the conference once, hosting Florida, LSU, Ole Miss and Texas A&M at home. They'll go on the road to battle Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi State and Missouri.
Game dates, tip times and television information won't be announced until late summer.
Tennessee finished second in last season's SEC race and lost the SEC tournament championship game to Auburn.
The Big Orange will be led next season by rising senior guards Jordan Bowden and Lamonte Turner. Both players enter the season on the verge of joining UT's 50-man 1,000-Point Club. They are the team's top returning scorers, as Turner averaged 11.0 points per game, and Bowden averaged 10.6.