KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team is set play Duke in a preseason exhibition game for the second year in a row, as announced Wednesday afternoon.
After hosting the Blue Devils last fall, the Volunteers will head to Durham, N.C., for an Oct. 20 clash at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The game time and television network will be released later.
The contest features the only two programs in the nation to reach the Elite Eight in each of the past three seasons.
Last year, Duke claimed an 83-76 victory over Tennessee on Oct. 26, 2025, at Food City Center, despite 19 points and eight assists from senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie.
The two sides have split their 16 all-time regular season meetings, with Tennessee winning three of the last five. The Volunteers’ 8-8 tally includes a 4-2 mark at home, a 2-3 ledger on the road and a 2-3 mark at neutral sites.
In the most recent official clash, Tennessee earned a 65-52 win over the Blue Devils in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Orlando, Fla., on March 18, 2023.
The Volunteers’ last visit to Cameron Indoor Stadium ended with an 86-80 triumph on Dec. 3, 1975. They are 2-2 all-time in the venue, which they first visited in 1942.
Tennessee sports an 87-20 record in exhibition play. It is 65-13 in the United States, including 62-11 in Knoxville, as well as 28-3 versus American colleges.
The Volunteers own a 25-2 mark over their last 27 exhibition outings, including a 15-2 ledger in head coach Rick Barnes‘ tenure.
This will be the fifth straight year Tennessee is playing a Division I foe in an exhibition matchup after never before doing so. It won each of the prior two such games away from home, both against top-five foes, registering a 99-80 victory over second-ranked Gonzaga in Frisco, Texas, on Oct. 28, 2022, and logging an 89-88 decision at fourth-ranked Michigan State on Oct. 29, 2023.
