The Tennessee Volunteers aren’t just a college basketball team. They are an experience. They are responsible for some of the most intense games of basketball in the world. Star players and rising rookies alike join together to take on the Volunteers in what ends up as some of the most exciting basketball of the season. But everyone knows that no games are tougher than when a team defends their turf. Which is why Volunteers fans are always rushing to their box offices to catch them playing at Thompson Boling Arena.
Tickets are on sale now for this coming season’s home games and you can still skip the lines and book your tickets today. Because we make it easy to keep tabs on when the team’s coming home. Then you can secure the best seats in the house so you can watch stunning basketball action this season and every season.
About Thompson Boling Arena
Thompson-Boling Arena is a multi-purpose arena built on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. Ground broke for the arena’s construction in November 1983 and was finally opened to the public on December 3, 1987. It was later renovated in 2007.
Currently, the arena is home to the Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Vols basketball teams. It also serves as home for the Lady Vols volleyball team. The basketball court is nicknamed “The Summit” after the late Lady Vols basketball coach, Pat Summit.
At the time of construction, Thompson-Boling was the largest facility ever built specifically for basketball in the US with an impressive seating capacity of 24,535 until its 2007 renovation. Currently the capacity is 21,678. Despite these numbers, the record attendance was a crowd of 25,610 for a game against Kentucky on January 21, 1989. This is also the SEC record for a regular-season game. The Lady Vols’ record crowd of 24,653 was set in a match against their archrival UConn on January 7, 2006. Which is also the all-time record for an NCAA regular-season women’s game.
Besides sporting events, the venue has also hosted Knoxville’s Living Christmas Tree event since 2001.
Basketball Team Summary
The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Vols are collegiate basketball programs playing for the University of Tennessee. These teams compete in the NCAA Division I as part of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The teams currently play their home games in Thompson-Boling Arena on a court nicknamed “The Summitt”.
The men’s team has a record of placing in the top 15 of the nation in terms of average attendance with their home games having an average attendance of 14,817 (60.39% capacity) between 1988-2006 and averaging 17,194 (79.34% of capacity) from 2007-2018. Also, this program traditionally ranks no less than third in the SEC in all-time wins.
The team is also known for fielding players who have gone on to strong careers in the NBA including Bernard King, Dale Ellis, Allan Houston, Tobias Harris, and Grant Williams
Basketball Achievements
Since its founding, the Tennessee Volunteers have had many strong seasons. They rank highly in their conference, and have a history of NCAA tournament appearances and have often broken into the round of 32 and better. But to get an idea of the team’s achievements, here is a brief list of what they’ve managed across their many seasons of play.
- NCAA tournament Elite Eight
2010
- NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
1967, 1981, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2019
- NCAA tournament round of 32
1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014,
2018, 2019, 2022
- NCAA tournament appearances
1967, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1989, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006,
2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
- Conference tournament champions
1936, 1941, 1943, 1979, 2022
- Conference regular season champions
1936, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1967, 1972, 1977, 1982, 2000, 2008, 2018