#1 Tennessee 66 - Tiger High 62

(exhale)

It's after midnight and it's Saturday, which means I'm on in about nine hours. And it might take that long for me to get to sleep.

Tennessee will be the number one team in the nation on Monday. Right now, I'm listening to JP Prince on the postgame audio, and hearing strains of Rocky Top coming from the FedEx Forum. And right now, Memphis is feeling the love. Respect this: Tennessee runs the state.

Where do we start? The game may not have been the 100-99 shootout some were projecting, but it never lacked drama - biggest lead for either team all night was 7 points - and the intensity and will to win were fully on display for both sides, from the opening tip to the battles through cramps and injuries, to the physical play, to the very end. It felt like a Rocky fight. I just spent the last five minutes hoping it wasn't going to end like one of the ones where Rocky takes a moral victory in a split decision.

That performance may not have put the fear of God in North Carolina, UCLA or any of the other potential number one seeds. But I'll take it. Because there was no split decision on this night - the Vols are the victors, and Memphis goes back to Conference USA.

Credit the Tigers for locking down Chris Lofton - legally or gray area, depending on whether or not you think Bruce Pearl fouled Erin Andrews at halftime - but give more credit to the Vols, for beating the number one team in the country on their home floor on a night when Lofton was locked down and cold.

#5 was off. JaJuan Smith started the engine, then took a backseat (shooting, plus cramps, but still had 10 rebounds). Jordan Howell couldn't throw it in the Mississippi River. When your three best shooters are ice cold, and you're supposed to be a team that lives and dies by the three...and when Memphis never lives by the three and then makes eight of them in the first thirteen minutes...somehow, you live anyway.

That somehow is multi-faceted. It's part Bruce Pearl, who worked the situation to a power T all day long, from pep rally to postgame. I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it. Bruce Pearl is the new Peyton Manning in this state, Knoxville to Memphis. Check the hospitals in East Tennessee for baby names, and I promise you you're going to find about as many Lil' Bruces running around this time next year as Lil' Peytons getting ready for the 4th grade.

It's part Wayne Chism, with or without that bank service three with a smile, who more than amended for his poor performance against the hometown Tigers last year with a 13 point gritty effort, one of many who helped the Vols outrebound Memphis +15. And let's give some of that credit to Brian Williams, who got every key rebound in every key minute he played.

JP Prince scores player of the game honors, and here's another Memphis product who rebounded from a spotty early performance to dominate the second half, whether it's throwing it down off a steal, making a bea-u-ti-ful reverse layup, or most importantly, draining two free throws. Actually, draining is overstating it, because I'm pretty sure my heart stopped for at least a second while that first one bounced around the rim. But they both went in. Prince is the most talented sixth man in the SEC, and just another testament to the depth of this team, who does not win tonight without it.

But Tyler Smith is a man. Tyler Smith is the man. In Tennessee's two closest wins this season, on the most important offensive possession, the Vols have used Lofton to draw the defense, and then gone right to #1. And Smith has gone up on two Ole Miss defenders and three Memphis defenders, and is two for two. That was a man's shot he hit tonight. And he plays like a man every night. Tyler Smith is the difference between a streaky team good enough to win when they're hot, and being the #1 team in the country when you're anything but.

Man, this is fun.

It's a 72 hour turnaround to an even bigger game. That's not being dramatic - like the team, you'd better enjoy this one tonight, and then you'd better respect Vanderbilt. Memorial is one of the toughest places to win in the conference and the country this season, and once again, the Vols are the team with the bullseye this season. While Vandy may not catch Tennessee in the SEC standings, Kentucky could - and they're coming to town on Sunday, with Ernie & Bernie, and we'll want to win that one even more. But the focus must become Vanderbilt and it must become Vanderbilt quickly. Use the amount of time Pearl and Calipari spent shaking hands tonight as a measuring tool. Because as fun as tonight is, this thing can keep getting better.

...but it's pretty freaking great right now.