The Vols have won 13 straight season-openers.
UT is 42-2 in its last 44 home-openers and has a 20-game win streak in such contests.
In 25 previous home-openers at Thompson-Boling Arena, UT is 23-2 and the average attendance is 17,196. Three of the last five lid-lifters on Rocky Top have drawn crowds larger than 20,000.
Kennesaw State returns just two starters from last year's squad that went 3-28 (0-18 A-Sun), but the Owls welcome seven talented newcomers to the fold in head coach Lewis Preston's second year.
Versatile KSU senior Markeith Cummings is 81 points shy of becoming KSU's all-time leading scorer, as he enters the season with 1,603 career points to his credit (currently third all-time).
Other impact players for Kennesaw State include sophomore guard Delbert Love and senior forward Aaron Anderson. The trio of Cummings, Anderson and Love accounted for 58.5 percent of the Owls' total points last season.
Tennessee is 16-5 all-time against current members of the Atlantic Sun Conference but has never faced Kennesaw State.
Backup UT point guard Armani Moore is from Kennesaw, and he is one of four Vols from the state of Georgia.