UConn set up a heavyweight non-conference run on Monday, Aug. 17, announcing a 2026-27 schedule that puts the Huskies against South Carolina, Notre Dame and Tennessee before the heart of the season even begins. Sarah Strong is back for it, and the path starts with a home opener against Cornell on Nov. 2.
The release matters because UConn is not hiding from anyone. The Huskies, who own 12 national championships, also added marquee dates against Duke in Boston on Nov. 28, Maryland in Brooklyn on Dec. 5 and LSU in Nashville on Dec. 20, with 10 of their non-conference opponents having played in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Four of those games will be at neutral sites, which gives the early schedule the feel of a postseason tour before conference play starts.
The biggest target may be the meeting with South Carolina on Nov. 24 at the Hall of Fame Showcase at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. That matchup comes after UConn fell to the Gamecocks in the 2026 Final Four, so the Huskies will get an immediate chance to measure themselves against the team that ended their perfect season.
Notre Dame brings a different kind of weight. UConn will visit the Fighting Irish on Dec. 9 at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Indiana, for the 58th meeting between the teams. UConn leads the series 41-16, and the programs split their last 10 meetings 5-5. Geno Auriemma also noted that the Huskies beat Notre Dame twice last season, once in Storrs, Connecticut, and again in the Elite Eight in Fort Worth, Texas, which keeps this one from feeling like a routine stop on the calendar.
The one date that still leaves a piece missing is Tennessee on Dec. 12. UConn has won five of the last six meetings with the Lady Vols, but the location for that game was still to be announced, even as the rest of the non-conference slate came into focus. Tennessee’s last win over UConn came on Feb. 6, 2025 in Knoxville during Kim Caldwell’s first season as head coach, a reminder that this series has enough edge to travel well whenever the site is finally set.
That is the shape of UConn’s early season now: a home opener, a run of showcase games and a schedule built to answer questions fast. Before the Huskies get to Cornell on Nov. 2, they will also play exhibitions against Syracuse, Texas and Army, but the real test is already on the board. The only thing not yet pinned down is where the Tennessee game will land.
