NC State’s non-conference basketball schedule includes Tennessee, per report

Jon Rothstein reported Thursday that NC State and Tennessee have scheduled a game for mid-December in ... San Antonio. San Antonio? Kind of an odd destination for a game that isn’t part of a larger event.

Could be that Kevin Keatts is looking for a chance to smuggle Victor Wembanyama out of there.

Anyway, this game is not part of the ACC/SEC Challenge, which begins this season with the same format as the ACC/B1G Challenge. So NC State will have two SEC teams on the schedule this year, and there’s the possibility of facing Vanderbilt in Vegas as well.

Tennessee will almost certainly be the best team on State’s non-conference schedule and gives the Pack the opportunity for an excellent resume-boosting win. The Vols made the Sweet Sixteen last season and finished at No. 6 in the Pomeroy Ratings. They’ve been a top-15 team in the ratings in four of the last six seasons.

It’ll be a tough matchup, but I don’t mind scheduling a game like this because the ACC has been so mediocre lately that the big-win opportunities have been sparse. And DJ Burns, who started his college career at Tennessee, might have a little extra motivation to win this one.