Tennessee basketball, Michigan State agree to home-and-home series starting in 2026-27

Tennessee basketball will host Michigan State in Knoxville in the 2026-27 season, Vols coach Rick Barnes said Wednesday at the Big Orange Caravan in Nashville.

The programs have agreed to a home-and-home that will include a return trip to MSU but the contract has yet to be finalized, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told Volquest.

The Vols and Spartans played a secret scrimmage at Food City Center before the 2022-23 season. They played again in a charity exhibition before the 2023-24 season at Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan.

Now, the programs headed by Barnes and Tom Izzo will play a home-and-home series for the first time since the mid-1990s.

The Vols are 2-5 against Michigan State in prior meetings and have lost three straight games. UT lost to the Spartans 70-69 in the 2010 Elite Eight, its first Elite Eight appearance in program history before Barnes led the Vols to three straight in the past three seasons.

Michigan State forward Raymar Morgan made a free throw with 1.8 seconds to play. Tennessee tied the game 69-69 on a Scotty Hopson free throw with 12 seconds remaining, but Hopson missed the second. Morgan was fouled, made the first shot and missed the second intentionally. J.P. Prince’s last-second, half-court heave missed.

UT’s most recent win against Michigan State was an 85-61 victory on Dec. 18, 1971.

The matchup with MSU is one of two games the Vols have scheduled with a Big Ten opponent. UT plays at Purdue Dec. 12, 2026.

The Vols next season will return to Las Vegas for three games in The Player’s Era Festival and will play a home game in the ACC/SEC Challenge. They are also scheduled to play a neutral-site game in Nashville against N.C. State and former Vols assistant coach Justin Gainey.