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Women’s basketball’s most famous rivalry will continue on for at least two more seasons. On Monday, UConn announced a new home-and-home series with the Tennessee Volunteers starting on Saturday, Dec. 12 in Connecticut. The Huskies will make the return trip to Knoxville in 2027-28.
This will be the earliest the two schools have ever met. All but one matchup in the series history came after the new year — and the exception was a meeting on Dec. 30, 2000. But after UConn’s win over the Vols back in February, Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell openly complained about the timing of the contest.
“I didn’t really love where this was at in our schedule, ” she said, before adding later: “This is just too tough for us. You get two bye weeks in the SEC, so this takes away one of the bye weeks, which is unfortunate.”
Overall, UConn owns an 18-10 record against Tennessee and is coming off the most lopsided victory in the series. This past season, the Huskies throttled the Vols, 99-66. Not only did UConn score the most points in the history of the rivalry, the 30-point margin of victory was the largest ever between the two teams and the second-worst defeat ever suffered by Tennessee.
The Huskies went up 16 points in the first quarter, only to fall behind in the second quarter. They responded by pulling even at the half, then outscored the visitors 54-24 in the second half. Azzi Fudd had 27 points while Sarah Strong put up 26.
The Volunteers are coming off the worst season in modern program history. They went just 16-14, made it into the NCAA Tournament as a 10-seed and were unceremoniously bounced in the first round by Louisville. Over the offseason, their entire roster departed via either graduation or the transfer portal, meaning all 15 members of Tennessee’s current roster are new to the team.
From 1995-2007, the UConn-Tennessee rivalry defined the sport. They first met on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 1995 — a 77-66 victory for the Huskies at Gampel Pavilion which earned them the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll for the first time in program history. They faced off again in the 1995 national title game and UConn again came out on top to claim its first championship.
The next year, the Vols got revenge by beating the Huskies in overtime of the 1996 Final Four. The following March, they upset UConn in the Elite Eight on their way to a second straight national championship. After the turn of the century, the Huskies dominated the series. They kicked off the millennium by winning nine of the first 11 matchups, including triumphs in the 2000, 2003 and 2004 national title games as well as the 2002 Final Four. Tennessee responded by winning the next three games before Pat Summitt canceled the series in 2007 over perceived recruiting violations by UConn.
In 2019, the schools announced the rivalry would return. The Huskies swept the initial home-and-home, with the latter contest capped by a game-clinching 3-pointer from a then-freshman named Paige Bueckers. UConn continued on with two comfortable victories in 2022 and 2023, but fell in stunning fashion in 2025. That loss proved to be turning point in the season for the Huskies, who responded by winning their 12th national championship two months later.
This is the second home date on UConn’s schedule along with a Nov. 8 meeting against Iowa. The Huskies will also host Texas in an exhibition on Oct. 19. They’ll also hit the road to face Michigan on Nov. 5, Louisville on Nov. 15 as well as Notre Dame and Ohio State (dates TBA). On neutral courts, UConn will take on Syracuse in an exhibition on Oct. 12 and battle South Carolina on Nov. 24, both at Mohegan Sun Arena. It’ll also square off with Duke at TD Garden in Boston on Nov. 28, Maryland in the Champions Classic at Barclays Center on Dec. 5 and LSU at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Dec. 20.
That leaves the Huskies with one spot still open on their non-conference schedule.
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