After wrapping up its non-conference schedule last month, the Tennessee basketball program announced its SEC slate Thursday.

Following a November and December stretch that includes games against Wisconsin, North Carolina, Illinois, NC State and the Maui Invitational, the Vols open league play against Ole Miss on Jan. 6 at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION

Tennessee will play back-to-back road games at Mississippi State and Georgia on Jan. 10 and Jan. 13 before returning to Knoxville for a two-game home stretch vs. Florida (Jan. 16) and Alabama (Jan. 20).

The Vols round out the month of January vs. Vanderbilt in Nashville (Jan. 27) and South Carolina at home (Jan. 30). Tennessee will play Kentucky in a home-and-home starting Feb. 3 in Lexington and in its regular season and home finale on March 9.

Other key home match ups include LSU (Feb. 7), Vanderbilt (Feb. 17), Texas A&M (Feb. 24) and Auburn (Feb. 28) and road contests feature Texas A&M (Feb. 10), Arkansas (Feb. 14), Missouri (Feb. 20), Alabama (March 2) and South Carolina (March 6).

Tennessee finished 11-7 in the SEC a year ago, its biggest a win a 68-59 victory over then-No. 1 and eventual conference champion Alabama.

The Vols swept Mississippi State and South Carolina and split games with Vanderbilt and Auburn before losing to Missouri in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals in Nashville ahead of their NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 run.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Tennessee basketball debuts in top 10 of Blue Ribbon preseason rankings

Tennessee is projected as a preseason top 10 team and is set to return its leading scorer in Santiago Vescovi and assist leader Zakai Zeigler along with key contributors Jonas Aidoo, Tobe Awaka and Jahmai Mashack.

Josiah-Jordan James opted to return for a fifth season after withdrawing from the NBA Draft process.

The Vols will feature a number of newcomers that are expected to make early impacts, including two transfers in Jordan Gainey and Dalton Knecht as well as freshmen D.J. Jefferson and Freddie Dilione V, both of which red-shirted last season.

Tennessee will play Michigan State and Lenoir-Rhyne in exhibition games at the end of October before opening its season vs. Tennessee Tech on Nov. 6.

–––––

– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.

– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @TMansfieldMedia, @ByNoahTaylor, @RealTBannerman, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media, @TylerIvens, @Hunter_DeNote.

–––––