Tennessee has consistently ranked in the top 15th in the nation in terms of volume of attendance, averaging 14,817 (60.39% capacity) attendance from 1988 through 2006, and averaging 17,194 (79.34% capacity) attendance from 2007 through 2018.

Tennessee ranks third in the SEC in all-time wins. The Volunteers have appeared 27 times in the NCAA tournament, most recently in 2025. The team appeared in the Elite Eight in 2010, 2024 and 2025.

In 1963, the University of Tennessee hired Ray Mears to become the head coach of the men’s basketball program. The hiring of Mears ushered in the most sustained period of success in Tennessee men’s basketball history.

In his first year, Mears’s Volunteers improved from a 4–19 record in 1962 to 13–11, highlighted by two wins over the Kentucky Wildcats. Before Mears, Tennessee had only beaten the Wildcats twice in 39 meetings. Throughout his career, Mears gained notoriety throughout the SEC for frequently being a thorn in the powerhouse Kentucky’s side. In an era where Kentucky was coached by future College Basketball Hall of Fame members Adolph Rupp and Joe B. Hall, winning 75% of their games, Mears recorded a 15–15 record against the Wildcats.

The Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team represents the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee in NCAA women’s basketball competition. The team has been a contender for national titles for over forty years, having made every NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Championship tournament since the NCAA began sanctioning women’s sports in the 1981–82 season.

The Lady Vols were coached by the legendary Pat Summitt for over four decades. Under Summitt, the Lady Vols won numerous SEC titles, appeared in 18 NCAA Final Fours and 4 AIAW Final Fours, and won 8 NCAA titles including an undefeated season. Tennessee is the only team to have appeared in all 36 NCAA Tournaments, including 34 Sweet 16 appearances (23 of which were consecutive).