Alabama Basketball Set to Visit Memphis in High-Profile Non-Conference game

The University of Alabama men's basketball team isn't shying away from anyone this season, and that includes on the road.

Tuesday afternoon, Memphis announced its 2021-22 non-conference home schedule which included a game against 2021 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 participant Alabama.

The Crimson Tide will visit on Dec. 14.

"We've put together a challenging home schedule to start the season," Tigers head coach Penny Hardaway said in a release. "These first couple of months will certainly help prepare our team for conference play, and we are excited to play in front of Tiger Nation at FedExForum."

The Crimson Tide, the SEC regular season and tournament champions, went 26-7 last year and defeated Iona and Maryland in the NCAA Tournament before bowing out to eventual Final Four participant UCLA in overtime.

Alabama has yet to formally announce its non-conference schedule, but most of the opponents are already set. Topping the list are three of the Final Four teams from last season in Baylor, Gonzaga and Houston. The Crimson Tide will host Baylor and Houston, but travel to face the Zags in Seattle.

It'll also face Colorado State in Birmingham and have a rematch with Rick Pitino's Iona squad in the in the opening round of the 2021 ESPN Events Invitational, which will be held Nov. 25-28 at HP Field House at ESPN Wide World of Sports near Orlando, Fla. The tournament field includes Belmont, Dayton, Drake, Kansas, Miami (Fla.) and North Texas.

The Alabama-Memphis home-and-home was announced last summer, with the Tigers scheduled to visit Coleman Coliseum this season. Instead, the Tigers will likely make the trip to Tuscaloosa in 2022.