KNOXVILLE — The 2020-21 college basketball season is looming, but uncertainty is clouding things due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
University of Tennessee men’s basketball head coach Rick Barnes discussed the upcoming campaign and uncertainty surrounding the Volunteers’ schedule at this time.
The Vols learned Wednesday that they would host Kansas in the 2021 SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Jan. 30 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
It will be the third consecutive season that the Vols and Jayhawks have clashed on the hardwood and Barnes said that he is excited to tangle with Kansas and match wits with Jayhawks’ coach Bill Self.
“We’re excited about having the chance to play Kansas again,” Barnes said Wednesday. “We had a really good game with them a year ago. I guess my disappointment is that they won’t be able to get the full Thompson-Boling experience.
“It would be sold out as we normally expect. At this point, we haven’t figured out the issues yet and we don’t know at this point what we’re going to be allowed to do with our arena (but) I’ve always enjoyed competing against Bill’s teams.”
Tennessee knows that it is scheduled to host Kansas in late-January, but everything else is hanging in the balance with UT’s non-conference schedule.
Barnes is not expecting to play neutral-site games against Wisconsin and Memphis.
The showdown against Gonzaga is in doubt, however Barnes said that he is hoping for an opportunity to play the Bulldogs.
“As of right now, I don’t think we will have any of the neutral site games, because it just doesn’t make sense,” Barnes said. “The Gonzaga game is still on. Mark (Few) and I have talked about playing that game, some way, somehow.
“With the Wisconsin game, we tried. That was our opener and we just haven’t been able to make it work, with what they have to deal with, with their league games and where the flow of the schedule comes in. Of those three games, I think the one that’s going to get worked out is the Gonzaga game. Again, that actually depends on some other games and if the bubble situation works out. That’s as honest as I can be because that’s all I know right now.”