Lady Vols basketball's SEC opponents for 2024-25 season with LSU only home-and-home series
Lady Vols basketball will host SEC newcomer Oklahoma and play LSU home and away in the 2024-25 SEC season, the conference announced Tuesday.
LSU, who won the 2023 national championship, will be Tennessee's only home and home series in SEC play with the new scheduling format in Oklahoma and Texas' first season in the conference. Tennessee lost to LSU at home and beat the Sooners in a neutral-site matchup during the 2023-24 season.
There will still only be 16 SEC games, with two of the previous three home-and-home series eliminated. That also means the Lady Vols no longer have a permanent home-and-home series with Vanderbilt.
Only SEC opponents and game sites were announced. Dates of the matchups will be released at a later date.
The Lady Vols will also play reigning champion South Carolina at home in new coach Kim Caldwell's first season. That brings the last two national champions to Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. UT faced the Gamecocks three times last season, twice in the regular season and once in the SEC Tournament. All three were losses as South Carolina became the first undefeated national champion since 2016.
Texas, the other SEC newcomer who used to be a nonconference opponent for Tennessee, will be a matchup on the road. The Lady Vols won the last game against the Longhorns 74-70 in overtime in the 2021-22 season.
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The Lady Vols will be tested often during SEC play with the additions of Oklahoma and Texas, which will have Final four potential, and former Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks now at Kentucky.
The SEC has seven teams in ESPN's Way-Too-Early Top 25 for next season with the Gamecocks at No. 1. Texas is the next highest ranked team at No. 6. Including Texas and Oklahoma, 10 SEC teams made the NCAA Tournament last season.
Tennessee's SEC home opponents are: Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina, and Oklahoma.
The Lady Vols' road opponents are: Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Texas, and Texas A&M.
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Lady Vols basketball's SEC opponents announced for 2024-25 season
