Gonzaga and Tennessee face off for charity preseason game
Gonzaga's last game against Tennessee came in a 76-73 loss in the 2018 regular season (photo courtesy of The Spokesman Review).
Gonzaga has a new opponent to start its exhibition season, one you could say is volunteering.
Tennessee and Gonzaga will now kick off both teams’ preseason schedules with a game in Frisco Texas on October 28th, and it will be a pay-per-view.
It’s the featured contest for the Legends of Basketball Charity Classic, with proceeds going to the McLendon Foundation. The McLendon Foundation provides scholarships for minority students with aspirations to get into leadership, taking from the values of coach and civil rights activist John McLendon Jr.
You can find and pay for the game on PPV.COM and the game tips off at 6 p.m. PST on that Friday. If you’re looking to go to the game, tickets will go on sale Friday on Ticket Master’s website.
The game will serve as a litmus test for two of the country’s top programs heading into the 2022-23 season. The Bulldogs are preseason ranked No. 1 by CBS and Tennessee is ninth in that same ranking.
While Gonzaga boasts an obviously deep roster with a swath of players ready to make an impact at a moment’s notice. Tennessee has the experience to combat that depth really well.
They return four of five of their starters from last year’s team that made it to the NCAA tournament’s second round.
Both the Zags and Volunteers have schedules that will push them this season, while Gonzaga’s is front-loaded, Tennessee will have to run the gauntlet that is SEC basketball once conference play starts.
All time, Gonzaga is 3-1 against Tennessee. However, those three wins are probably meaningless to the Zags, as their lone loss to the Volunteers happened in the two teams' most recent showdown in 2018 when Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield shot the lights out on Rui Hachimura and Brandon Clarke to beat Gonzaga 76-73.
