Is there a future for Memphis-ut in football, basketball?
Tennessee's Big Orange Caravan made its last stop in Memphis Tuesday.
More than 500 Vols fans flooded Hardin Hall at the Botanic Garden where three of the school's coaches – Josh Heupel (football), Rick Barnes (men's basketball) and Kellie Harper (women's basketball) – took photos with and signed autographs for each one.
It might be the only way the Midsouth's UT faithful will see them in the Bluff City, at least for the foreseeable future. Neither Barnes nor Heupel gave any indication they would be willing to work with the University of Memphis on future scheduling efforts. The Tigers and Vols have thus far failed to complete a three-game basketball series that began in 2018. That's when UT defeated Memphis at Fedexforum in a game that got heated late in the second half. In 2019, the Tigers evened things up with a win in Knoxville.
But the neutral-site rubber match has been called off in back-to-back years, first because both sides agreed to it due to Covid-related attendance restrictions. Last season's date at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena was sacked approximately an hour before tip-off after multiple positive COVID-19 tests and the ensuing contact tracing left the Tigers without enough players to field a full team.
In the aftermath, Barnes would not commit to rescheduling the game. On Tuesday, he said UT and Memphis will not play during the 2022-23 season, adding the future of the series is not completely off the table, but it is on the backburner.
“To be quite honest, I've got great respect for (coach) Penny Hardaway and his program, but we haven't thought about it,” said Barnes. “Certainly, this year, it's not on the schedule. But we always look at what we think is best for our program and we'll continue to do that going forward.”
Memphis and UT have not squared off in football since 2010. The Vols lead the series, which dates back to 1968, by a wide margin (22-1). The Tigers' lone win came in 1996, a 21-17 upset over quarterback Peyton Manning and the sixthranked Vols.
Heupel, who was 2-1 versus Memphis as coach of UCF, is entering his second season at UT. He was more dismissive of the notion of the Vols and Tigers meeting again in football than Barnes.
“We're excited about what Tennessee's doing,” he said when asked whether he had any interest in getting Memphis on the schedule. “We're excited about the product we put out on the football field last year. We understand the expectations are only going to continue to grow. But really excited about the future of it. You look at what we brought in in this last recruiting cycle and the 14 guys that we had at mid-year and the development of our guys – really excited about what we've got going on right now and excited about getting to next fall.”
Heupel also cited how most football programs handle the scheduling process as a reason why adding Memphis is not a priority for the Vols.
“Our scheduling is done, we're talking, way out,” he said.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.