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The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Georgia Tech have agreed on a two-year men's basketball contract that will have the Yellow Jackets playing in McKenzie Arena this season.

UTC coach John Shulman said Thursday that the Mocs are tentatively scheduled to play Georgia Tech on Dec. 14. The Mocs will play in Atlanta during the 2010-11 season and receive $30,000 to $40,000 in compensation as part of the agreement.

"We have to cross all the T's and dot the I's, but we are really close to orchestrating this deal," Shulman said. "I think the ACC has challenged its members to get off their tails and go play on the road a little bit."

Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt is out of the country on vacation and was not available for comment.

The Yellow Jackets, who played at Mercer in Macon last year, were 12-19 (2-14 ACC) last year but have four of Rivals.com's top 100 recruits coming in.

Other than a special visit by Tennessee to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of McKenzie Arena in 2007, no other BCS conference team has faced the Mocs in McKenzie Arena since Penn State on Dec. 3, 1996.

"We're excited about where we are with some great home games," Shulman said. "It's an exciting time to fill McKenzie Arena."

If the schedule goes as Shulman has planned, the Mocs will have 16 home games in the 2009-10 season. They played 13 regular-season home games last year.

Nine of the 16 will be Southern Conference contests, and there will be two Dr Pepper Classic games. Georgia Tech, East Tennessee State and Mississippi Valley State are likely to be on the schedule, which must be approved by the faculty athletics committee.

Shulman said the Dr Pepper schedule is set with three NCAA Division I teams, but he would not identify them.

The Mocs' schedule also includes the South Padre (Texas) Invitational, which is set up similar to the Las Vegas Invitational in 2006. UTC will play at Richmond and at Old Dominion before flying to Texas for the final two rounds.

UTC will begin its season over Labor Day weekend with a four-game trip against teams in Canada. The Mocs will leave that Friday afternoon and play the University of Toronto and York University on Saturday. They will face the University of Guelph on Sunday and Sheridan College that Monday morning.

"I'm looking forward to it because it will be brand new," Shulman said. "The 10 days of practice before we leave will be very important, and the trip will be a great bonding experience for us."