In just about a month, the Memphis Tigers basketball team will return. The 2025–26 season tips off with a pair of exhibition games with plenty of intrigue. First up, Penny Hardaway’s squad will play Arkansas in the St. Jude Tipoff Classic—a game that will mark John Calipari’s first trip back to Memphis as a head coach since 2009. Calipari’s return adds extra emotion to a preseason event that already draws big crowds and supports the lifesaving mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. face the Auburn Tigers in Atlanta. Then, just days later, Memphis will head to Atlanta to face Auburn to close out the exhibition portion of its schedule.
Once November arrives, the games start to count—and Memphis faces one of the most competitive non-conference schedules in the country. The Tigers will open with San Francisco and UNLV, before diving into a gauntlet that includes Purdue, Louisville, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Baylor, Vanderbilt, and Utah State. It’s a loaded slate, designed to give Memphis the kind of resume that the selection committee cannot ignore.
Why Non-Conference Play Matters So Much for Memphis
Unlike teams in the SEC, Big Ten, or Big 12, Memphis doesn’t have the luxury of stacking up tournament-quality wins during conference play. The American Conference provides some tough opponents, but not nearly the number of Quad 1 opportunities that power leagues can offer. That reality means Memphis must build its tournament resume in November and December.
The past two seasons prove how well Penny Hardaway and his staff understand this. In 2023–24, Memphis went 11–3 in non-conference play. In 2024–25, they were even better at 12–1. Those schedules featured—and defeated—some of the best teams in college basketball.
Memphis has recently knocked off Clemson, Texas A&M, UConn, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Virginia, and VCU. Many of those teams went on to make deep NCAA Tournament runs, adding even more weight to the Tigers’ resume. Clemson, for example, reached the Sweet 16. A&M has been a consistent contender. These wins have mattered not just for rankings but for national respect.
The Highs and Lows of Recent Seasons
Memphis’ 2023–24 campaign showed how fragile even the best non-conference resumes can be. The Tigers flew high early, with bracketologists projecting them as a potential Elite Eight or Final Four sleeper. But once American play began, the team unraveled, hitting a five-game losing streak that derailed momentum. The resume lost some luster, and Memphis fought to protect its tournament position.
Last season was different. Memphis started 12–1 in non-conference play, carried that momentum into league play, and avoided the collapse that had plagued the previous year. Despite some losses along the way, the Tigers’ overall body of work was too strong to ignore. The result: a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament after winning both the American regular-season and tournament titles.
More: Ranking the Top Transfer Portal Additions Under Penny Hardaway
What the 2025–26 Season Could Look Like
This year’s slate offers a chance to replicate or surpass the last two non-conference resumes. Games against Baylor, Louisville, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Purdue all provide marquee opportunities. Winning three or four of those matchups would once again give Memphis one of the best resumes in college basketball.
The formula is simple:
- Win the games you’re supposed to win. Memphis can’t afford bad losses like last season’s stumble at home against Arkansas State.
- Stack marquee wins early. Baylor at home, Purdue in the Bahamas, and Louisville on the road are resume-builders that power conference teams envy.
- Maintain consistency in league play. Avoiding long losing streaks in January and February is just as important as strong non-conference wins.
If Memphis can check those boxes, they’ll be in great shape to earn another high seed in March—possibly even higher than last year’s No. 5.
The Big Questions
Of course, the Tigers have plenty of questions heading into this season. For the third straight year, Penny Hardaway has rebuilt the roster almost from scratch. Who becomes the top scorer? How will the frontcourt come together now, featuring Aaron Bradshaw, Thierno Sylla, Simon Majok, and Arop Arop? Can the backcourt rotation find stability quickly enough to compete against top-tier competition in November?
The answers will come in time. But one thing is clear: Penny Hardaway has consistently built teams that embrace tough scheduling—and those schedules have delivered some of the best non-conference resumes in college basketball.
So, can Memphis basketball match its previous non-conference resumes? The opportunity is there. Suppose the Tigers can beat teams like Baylor, Louisville, and Mississippi State while protecting home court against mid-tier opponents. In that case, they’ll once again find themselves with one of the most impressive resumes in the country.
And with momentum from the past two years, Penny Hardaway’s program has shown it can take on these challenges and thrive. The path is set—whether this roster can live up to the standard Memphis has built.
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