Arizona, Tennessee basketball finalizing home-and-home series, starting in 2021-22

Gonzaga is out, Tennessee is in.

Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd told Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports that the Wildcats are finalizing a home-and-home series with Tennessee in the 2021-22 season. They will play the Volunteers in Knoxville this winter, then Tennessee will travel to Tucson the following year.

The Tennessee game will take place on Dec. 22, according to Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star.

The Tennessee series effectively replaces Arizona’s postponed matchup with Gonzaga. Lloyd confirmed to Rothstein that Arizona and Gonzaga will not play in Spokane as initially scheduled.

Tennessee is coming off a 18-9 season that ended in a blowout loss to Oregon State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Volunteers are losing two top freshmen to the NBA Draft but return a healthy portion of their roster and bring in a talented recruiting class. Jeff Goodman of Stadium has Tennessee at No. 14 in his preseason top-25 rankings.

Arizona is 1-3 all-time against Tennessee and 0-2 in Knoxville. The most recent meeting between the two programs came in 1998, when the No. 18 Wildcats upset the No. 9 Volunteers 73-72 in the season opener, played in Albuquerque.

Current UA assistant coach Jason Terry led Arizona with 26 points.

Here is an updated look at Arizona’s 2021-22 non-conference schedule, as reported by Pascoe:

• Nov. 19: MGM Main Event (UNLV, Michigan, or Wichita State)
• Nov. 21: MGM Main Event (UNLV, Michigan, or Wichita State)
• Nov. 27: vs. Sacramento State
• Dec. 8: vs. Wyoming
• Dec. 11: at Illinois
• Dec. 15: vs. Northern Colorado
• Dec. 18: vs. Cal Baptist
• Dec. 22: at Tennessee