Tennessee’s final public tune-up of the 2026-27 preseason comes Tuesday night in a tough setting, with the Vols traveling to Cameron Indoor Arena to face Duke at 7 p.m. ET on ACC Network.
Rick Barnes said the matchup will come without two pieces he’s still working around: Tyler Lundblade and Jalen Washington are not expected to play.
Lundblade is still working his way back after a back procedure, but Barnes said the forward is making visible progress and inching closer to a full return. His workload in practice is growing as Tennessee keeps building him back carefully.
“He’s getting back,” Barnes said about Lundblade. “I mean, if you guys watch practice, he’s out there with us, but he’s on a timetable where the doctors wanna make sure he’s slowly building back into it.”
Washington’s situation remains tied to eligibility. He was previously granted a fifth year by the courts earlier this offseason, but recent rulings have changed that status.
Barnes said Tennessee still believes Washington eventually will be able to take the floor, but for now he’s not being counted on for games or exhibitions. Even so, he continues to practice with the team while the situation plays out.
“We think he will be eligible to play. We think it will happen, but until then, he’s going at it,” Barnes said.
“Obviously, we start thinking about rotations in games. We’re not planning on him doing that, obviously, tomorrow night, or Tyler.
So we’re trying to figure out what group we’ve got to really get ready for tomorrow. And then when he comes back, it’s no different than, like with Tyler, trying to just incorporate guys that have been hurt, and he would be like that.
“But his attitude’s great. He’s getting better, and I’m sure he’s frustrated inside.
He hasn’t said that to me, but he has to be, because he knows he’d like to have a chance to play. And it feels like he deserves that chance.”
Tuesday’s game serves as Tennessee’s last open exhibition before the real thing begins. The Vols open the season Nov. 3 at home against Wofford, with tipoff set for 6 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
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The postgame celebration in Knoxville came with a costly catch. After Tennessees win over Alabama, the Southeastern Conference fined the university $500,000 for violating its access to competition area policy, punishing the fan rush onto the field that followed one of the programs biggest victories in recent memory. The leagues policy is designed to keep spectators out of competition areas for safety, and it only allows exceptions when procedures are approved in advance and clearly communicated.
The money will go to Alabama, adding another layer to a rivalry that already had plenty of juice. Tennessee still has a path to have the fine reduced if it can show it tried to prevent the field storming or that there was only minimal interaction during the scene, but for now the SEC has made clear that the celebration crossed a line it wasnt willing to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
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Tennessee's Alabama Celebration Just Reignited A Debate Vols Fans Know Well
The celebration in Knoxville is already carrying a pricey reminder. Tennessee was fined $500,000 by the Southeastern Conference after fans stormed the field following the football game against Alabama, a scene that quickly turned a big win into a league issue. Under SEC policy, spectators are not supposed to enter the field except in specific circumstances, and the penalty is being passed along to Alabama.
There is still a possible path to a smaller bill if Tennessee can show it made efforts to keep fans off the field, but the visuals from Saturday make that a tough case to sell. Video showed a large number of fans spilling onto the turf, which is exactly the kind of moment the conference has tried to discourage as it keeps revisiting how to handle field-storming celebrations. [Read more 🡒]