Georgia Tech to play LSU at State Farm Arena for Holiday Hoopsgiving

Georgia Tech will play a non-conference game at State Farm Arena for a second year in a row, this time against LSU. The Yellow Jackets and Tigers will play Dec. 11, as part of a four-game event organized by the Atlanta-based VII Group and company founder Chris Williams.

In December 2020, Tech played Kentucky in Holiday Hoopsgiving, which has long been a high-school event but last year debuted at the college level. The other matchups will be Auburn-Nebraska, Mississippi-Western Kentucky and Clemson-Drake. All four games will be televised on an ESPN network.

For Tech, it is the fourth known non-conference game against a power-conference opponent. The Jackets also will play Georgia on Nov. 19 in Athens, Wisconsin at home on Dec. 1 as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and USC on Dec. 18 in Phoenix. The Jackets also will play Georgia State at home Dec. 21.

State Farm Arena will operate at full capacity. A year ago, there were no fans permitted.

LSU made the NCAA Tournament this year and also in 2019 with coach Will Wade, finishing 19-10. Tech and LSU have faced each other 35 times, most recently in November 2011, a 59-50 win for the Tigers in the Charleston (S.C.) Classic. Perhaps most memorably, the Jackets defeated the Tigers in the 1990 NCAA Tournament on their way to their first Final Four.

Of the eight participants, four (Tech, LSU, Drake and Clemson) played in the NCAA Tournament last season and two more (Mississippi and Western Kentucky) played in the NIT. Auburn, Clemson and Tech are repeat Holiday Hoopsgiving participants. LSU was to play in it before it had to withdraw because of COVID-19 protocols.