Memphis Tiger head men's basketball coach Penny Hardaway has announced the team's non-conference schedule for the 2022-23 season, featuring home contests with Texas A&M, Ole Miss and VCU and a total of five games against SEC opponents.

Including Seton Hall in the first round of the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando, Fla., Memphis is scheduled to play seven teams that finished in the top-66 of the NCAA NET rankings last season.
 
The American Athletic Conference schedule will be announced at a later date. The Tigers will play home-and-home series with Houston, Cincinnati, SMU, UCF, Wichita State, Temple, South Florida and Tulane while traveling to Tulsa and hosting East Carolina.
 
"Our non-conference schedule was designed to challenge our team, as well as give Tiger Nation some exciting home games and the chance to travel regionally to Nashville, St. Louis, Tuscaloosa and Atlanta," Hardaway said. "We continue to work each and every day this offseason to build on last season's successes."
 
The non-conference schedule includes seven games against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament or National Invitation Tournament. Along with Memphis, Auburn, Alabama and Seton Hall also appeared in last season's NCAA Tournament. Texas A&M was the runner-up of last year's NIT, and Vanderbilt, Saint Louis and VCU also played in the 2022 NIT.
 
A second-round matchup with Oklahoma (39 NET, NIT appearance) in the ESPN Events Invitational would mean Memphis would face eight teams that finished in the top-66 of last year's NCAA NET rankings and eight teams that played in either the NCAA Tournament or NIT last season.
 
The ESPN Events Invitational Field, which runs Nov. 24-27 at State Farm Field House on the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, also includes Nebraska, Florida State, Stanford, Ole Miss and Siena.
 
Game times will be announced at a later date.
 
2022-23 Memphis Tiger Men's Basketball Non-Conference Schedule (2021-22 NCAA NET Ranking in Parenthesis)
Oct. 23 – Christian Brothers University (exh.)
Oct. 30 – Lane College (exh.)
Nov. 7 – at Vanderbilt (62)
Nov. 15 – at Saint Louis (66)
Nov. 20 – VCU (57)
Nov. 24 – vs. Seton Hall (48) (ESPN Events Invitational; Orlando, Fla.)
Nov. 25 – vs. Oklahoma (39) or Nebraska (145) (ESPN Events Invitational; Orlando, Fla.)
Nov. 27 – vs. Florida State (104) or Stanford (106) or Ole Miss (110) or Siena (230) (ESPN Events Invitational; Orlando, Fla.)
Nov. 30 – North Alabama (316)
Dec. 3 – Ole Miss (110)
Dec. 6 – Little Rock (315)
Dec. 10 – vs. Auburn (13) (Holiday Hoopsgiving; Atlanta, Ga.)
Dec. 13 – at Alabama (32)
Dec. 17 – Texas A&M (36)
Dec. 21 – Alabama State (312)
 
The Tigers finished the 2021-22 season with a 22-11 record and the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014. In four seasons at the helm, Hardaway has amassed an 85-43 record, four-straight 20-win seasons and the 2021 National Invitation Tournament championship in addition to the 2022 NCAA Tournament appearance.
 
Hardaway's 85 wins are second-most among 14 first-time NCAA Division I head coaches hired prior to the 2018-19 season and tied for third-most among Tiger head coaches in their first four seasons. In his tenure, Hardaway has mentored three first-round NBA Draft picks and four overall, three AAC Freshmen of the Year, five all-conference selections and five all-freshman honorees.