Tennessee men’s basketball will host Alabama in Knoxville and play Kentucky home and away in the 2024-25 season in a new scheduling format, the SEC announced on Monday.

Only SEC opponents and game sites were announced. Dates of the games will be released later.

The Vols will play Kentucky and Vanderbilt home and away as permanent opponents. They also will face Florida twice as a rotating opponent.

Tennessee’s home game against Alabama is notable because of their deep NCAA tournament run last season. The Vols reached the Elite 8 for the second time in program history after earning the SEC regular-season title. Alabama made it to the Final Four for the first time.

Last season, Tennessee won both games against Alabama. Next season, they’ll meet only once, at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.

But the Vols should be tested throughout their SEC schedule, which includes 10 of 18 games against 2024 NCAA tournament teams.

However, Tennessee and Kentucky are the only schools that will not host new SEC members Texas or Oklahoma in 2024-25. The Vols will play both schools on the road.

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Tennessee’s SEC home opponents include: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

And Tennessee’s SEC road opponents include: Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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Jefferson County lineman Nic Moore picked up an offer from Tennessee on Friday after Glen Elarbee stopped by to check on the talented interior offensive lineman. It’s been a recruitment that has gotten more and more traction.

“I think the recruiting process has been coming in waves,” Moore said. “It’s been ups and downs. There have been periods where I get talked to by lots of coaches and there are low periods where I’m working on my own. Overall I think I’ve gotten recruited by a lot of great schools so I believe the recruiting process has gone very well for me.”

Moore got the offer he has been looking for as Elarbee delivered the good news.

“When coach Elarbee and I were talking, it was a more relaxed vibe,” Moore said. “He is a really chill guy and we were just talking about our lives and stuff like that. When I got the offer it was a great feeling because the team right down the road believes in me to offer me a scholarship to play at the University of Tennessee so it was a really great feeling.”

His dad played ball at Jefferson County. He has grown up in the area and Tennessee football is a big deal in the state.

“It’s meant a lot,” Moore said. “In this area where I live, everyone is Tennessee fans. Game day is one or the biggest things, even if we aren’t down in Knoxville. I feel like the University of Tennessee has always been part of the East Tennessee culture for me.”

So what do schools like about him? What would a school get in him?

“I feel like even though I’m an undersized athlete, I bring leverage,” Moore said. “When I’m going against 6-foot-4 and 5 guys, I’m obviously closer to their shoulder pads than their shoulders. I’m more close to their chest plate so I feel like I bring good leverage to the table. I believe my speed is elite for an offensive lineman. I feel like my improvement is constant. I’m always working and even if my career is going perfect I’m still striving to find ways to improve.”

Moore doesn’t have an official visit set up yet but is working on getting one set up with Elarbee.

“We are planning on going up there this summer and seeing it from a closer standpoint,” Moore said. “It’s something I’m looking forward to doing. We just have to get a date locked in.”

Moore will leave next week for the state track championship in Murfreesboro where he will compete in the shotput. After that he will take visits like one to Clemson at the end of the month. He is looking for a school that fits him both on and off the field. 

“I’m looking for a school that fits my academic needs and can give me good job placement when football is over,” Moore said. “I’m looking for a team that hasn’t necessarily had the best season but for a team is improving and a place with good culture. A place that is like a family. I’m looking for more than a business transaction. Now and days the NIL is getting crazy and I’m wanting to go somewhere not for the money but because this is where I want to spend my four years and live afterwards.”

When Karen Weekly got out of her coaches’ meeting Saturday, Tennessee softball players were already filing into the clubhouse.

The two-hour meeting ended at 10:30 a.m. and practice wasn’t supposed to start until 1 p.m. Weekly saw players putting on practice gear, and she asked them, “What are you guys doing?”

“They said, ‘Oh, we have a team meeting at 11:30,’ ” Weekly said Sunday. “They went in and had a meeting and some of them went out and started to get extra work. And I didn’t ask what their meeting was about, but I have a feeling it was, ‘Hey, we don’t want to be feeling the way we felt Thursday anymore. Let’s get to work and make sure that doesn’t happen.’ “

The “feeling” Weekly described came after No. 1 seeded UT bowed out of the SEC Tournament on Thursday after one game, losing to No. 8 seed LSU. The Lady Vols (40-10), who won their second straight SEC regular-season championship, are more determined than ever going into the NCAA Tournament.

Tennessee was selected as the No. 3 national seed on Sunday, the highest seeding in program history and will face Dayton (33-19) on Friday (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+). Miami (Ohio) and Virginia are the other two teams Tennessee will host in Knoxville.

It spoke volumes to Weekly that her team took it upon themselves to get things squared away on their own.

“It’s really gratifying,” Weekly said. “That’s when you know that your players are doing the leading. If I had told them, ‘Hey, you need to get in here and you need to do this, that,’ it would have been, it’s a have to, not a want to. When the players are initiating it, it’s a want to.”

Weekly still has upperclassmen who remember how it felt to be upset at home in the NCAA regional two seasons ago. For seniors like Kiki Milloy and Rylie West, it doesn’t take long for the bitterness to “swell up inside pretty fast” when thinking about those years, Weekly said, just like it does in her.

Weekly didn’t realize Tennessee had secured the highest seeding in program history, which beat last year’s highest seeding of No. 4. She figured legendary pitcher Monica Abbott’s years with the Lady Vols led to higher seeds.

“But now that you say that, I remember being a little bitter about a 7-seed when we were ranked number one all year (with Abbott),” Weekly joked. “I am very proud of this program. Obviously, I’ve invested a lot of years and a lot of my life and my time into Lady Vols softball, but it’s not just me … it’s everybody, and ultimately, it’s all about the players. Every win that we get is because the players go out there and win.”

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Tennessee brought back a strong core of veterans from last season’s run to the Women’s College World Series semifinal. Weekly doesn’t have to tell them how to spend their extra time now with classes over, and she doesn’t have to tell them to meet on their own. The players take it upon themselves, and they’re a step ahead of Weekly on a lot of things.

That kind of leadership is why the Lady Vols are primed for another successful postseason, starting with this weekend.

“It’s a player-led team,” Weekly said, “and we have some veterans who just understand how to win.”

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.