📍 Knoxville, Tennessee
🏀 Home of Tennessee Volunteers basketball

For forty years, the Tennessee Volunteers have danced and dreamed on the court at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center – the heart of Big Orange Country. A monolithic palace in its own right, the venue has been the backdrop for scores of Volunteer victories as the decorated men’s and women’s basketball squads shaped the building into their forever home here on Rocky Top.

With a capacity of close to 22,000, Thompson-Boling was the largest basketball arena in the US at the time of its completion in 1987. Although it lost that title following a slight reduction in seating, it remains the third-largest on-campus college hoops venue in the nation – only the JMA Wireless Dome and Dean Smith Center are bigger.

As the Tennessee men’s and women’s basketball brands have flourished, so too has TBA. Its first major renovation came in 2007, with the addition of luxury suites, loge boxes and a center-hung videoboard propelling the venue into the 21st century. Although there were also additional improvements made less than a decade later, another major upgrade – thanks in part to a new sponsorship by local grocery chain Food City – is currently underway. These enhancements have grown to include a new jumbotron, sound system and premium club area and are expected to be completed by 2026.

The court itself – covered in an iconic orange and white checkerboard pattern – is named “The Summitt” in honor of longtime Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt, who led her teams to 8 National Championships during nearly 40 years at the helm. As of 2025, the Lady Vols have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since 1982 and are the winningest team in women’s basketball. They also hold the record for the most consecutive winning seasons and for the largest regular-season attendance, the latter coming during a 2006 game against UConn in Knoxville.

While not as adorned as the ladies, the Volunteer men have also had their share of success as an SEC powerhouse. In the modern era, the team has competed in the NCAA Tournament on nearly thirty occasions, advancing as far as the Elite Eight in 2010, 2024 and 2025. With the Vols on the doorstep of their first natty, it’s clear that the program is certainly trending up.

Food City Center has been a venerable home through it all. In addition to electric Lady Vols matchups, the cavernous building also played host to NCAA regional games in the ’90s and was the site of the 1990 Women’s Final Four. Along the main concourse, murals of Volunteer Olympians and legends of the past serve as a reminder to fans of the greatness that was – and is – within these walls.

And the atmosphere – increasingly intense during SEC play – only furthers the Vols’ reputation as an elite basketball school. Led by the obstreperous Rocky Top Rowdies student section, the energy here at Thompson-Boling Arena is unequivocal and reminds folks that it truly is “basketball time in Tennessee!“