WrestleMania XXIV Preview

Sunday night in Orlando, the 24th edition of wrestling's pinnacle takes place, with the usual combination of main event level matches and celebrity appearances. So inbetween appearances from John Legend and Floyd Mayweather, you'll find two top tier championship matches, another high quality ladder match, and the final match of Ric Flair's career. A rundown of the festivities:


WWE WrestleMania XXIV
Sunday, March 30 - Orlando - 7:00 PM (EST)
24 Man Battle Royal
(Winner receives an ECW title shot later that night)
Elijah Burke - Lance Cade - Trevor Murdoch - Hacksaw Jim Duggan
Hardcore Holly - Cody Rhodes - Mark Henry - Tommy Dreamer
Snitsky - Brian Kendrick - Deuce - Domino
Val Venis - Chuck Palumbo - The Great Khali - Kane
Jesse - Festus - Jamie Noble - Shannon Moore
Jimmy Wang Yang - The Miz - Matt Striker - Kofi Kingston
Alright, you've got a lot of dead space here, with only about half of these guys being legitimate shots to win here. If you put Hacksaw in the thing, he's going to be the fan favorite. There are some once and future main eventers - Kane and Khali - in this thing as well, but you have to wonder if it's the best move to put the ECW belt on them so as to make them a more full time part of what seems to be a dying program on Tuesday nights. You've also got to consider who can turn around and go with Chavo later that night. If it were up to me, I'd love to see old school Tommy Dreamer get the win and go onto victory later...but I think the best bet, and the course WWE will take, is to take someone mammoth and put the belt on them, and then spend months playing everyone else on the roster against them.
Will's Pick: The Great Khali


ECW Championship
Chavo Guerrero vs. Battle Royal Winner
Chavo's held the belt for a little while now, but you probably don't go to all the trouble of a battle royal to then let him win again, and fresh blood may help. Chavo's proven and capable on the midcard level, which is probably about what ECW main event is in the grand scheme of things, but again - if it's Khali or otherwise - I'll take the battle royal winner here.
Will's Pick: Battle Royal winner


Women's Tag Team Diva Lumberjack Match
Ashley & Maria vs. Beth Phoenix & Melina
(Special Guest: Snoop Dogg)
The "let's get as many women as we can in one place" match - a lumberjack match, for the unfamiliar, involves the ring being surrounded by, in this case, all the women on the roster. In the ring, you've got the faces and the heels - shockingly, both the faces have been in Playboy - but my quick point would be this: you don't need them to win this match to make people buy more copies of Playboy. Beth Phoenix is the only real female athletic talent they've got, so they should sell her. Fo' shizzle.
Will's Pick: Beth Phoenix & Melina


No Disqualification Belfast Brawl
JBL vs. Finlay
Here's a "this is the best we can do with this angle after six months" match - Vince McMahon - who will make his WrestleMania appearance here, I'm sure - and his illegitimate son the midget Hornswoggle, which is probably the strangest line in the history of this blog - who turned out to be the son of Finlay, who's now facing JBL in a no DQ Irish flavor match. Right. Finlay is like 50 years old himself, and the crowd will be behind him, but JBL should absolutely get the win here to he can continue to be a top level heel. As quickly as possible.
Will's Pick: JBL

Money in the Bank Ladder Match
(Winner receives a world title contract)
Carlito - Chris Jericho - CM Punk
John Morrison - Mr. Kennedy - MVP - Shelton Benjamin
There are less stars in this thing than last year, but that doesn't mean it won't be a better match. Jeff Hardy's substance abuse suspension does take a little bit of the edge off, but what you've got here is Chris Jericho and six guys who could use a push. Don't just assume that Y2J is going to win here just because he's the only name you've heard of. Last year, they took Edge and Jeff Hardy out of this thing early with a swanton bomb off a 15 foot high ladder onto Edge below in an especially violent spot. Jericho, who is highly innovative and right behind Shawn Michaels in the creativity and big money big match guarantee line, is already promising something new. And the other six guys will put themselves on the line, because this match can make you a star. So while I love Jericho and wouldn't mind at all to see him win, Jericho can get a title shot by being Jericho; these other guys need this. Kennedy actually won this thing last year before getting hurt two weeks later, so he's an option. CM Punk will be a fan favorite option, but they may want to keep him in ECW. My money's on them having Kennedy steal a win again, and then just continuing his push from 365 days ago. Should be highly entertaining.
Will's Pick: Mr. Kennedy


Raw vs. Smackdown
Umaga vs. Batista
Not that this isn't an interesting matchup, but how is this the best you can come up with for Batista, who's arguably your second biggest draw? You could make a solid argument for John Cena vs. Batista as the main event for the epic WrestleMania 25 next year, but this time around, the best we can do is "let's take one guy from Raw and one guy from SmackDown and put them together"? However, this is an excellent opportunity to push Umaga. He's been hovering at or below the main event for six months - now's the time. Beating Batista at WrestleMania could cement him as a major player that the WWE could really use. They could move him to SmackDown and have him feud with Batista to continue this if it's a good match. If Batista wins it's just another win. If Umaga wins, it's a huge push. Use the push.
Will's Pick: Umaga

Big Show vs. Floyd Mayweather
What they're going to do here, no one's really sure. It's wrestling, so it's obviously going to be scripted - though credit Big Show for letting Mayweather jack him right in the nose a month ago - but no matter how in shape he is, a 160 pound Mayweather is in serious jeopardy of getting hurt against a 450 pound Big Show if even the slightest thing goes wrong. WWE really screwed this angle up, and honestly I don't know why - if you follow boxing at all, you know that nobody like Mayweather, he's always the "heel". And being that WWE fans hadn't seen Big Show in around 18 months when he came back, of course they're going to cheer him. After about two weeks of them trying to play Big Show as the heel, they just gave up (original plans put superface Rey Mysterio in Floyd's corner, which also wouldn't have worked). So the crowd in Orlando should be decidedly pro-Show...which means that when Mayweather wins, and you don't show up for something like this if you're Mayweather unless you get to win, people will be unhappy. This is a case of good publicity for a bad result. Or maybe Show will just get pissed and rip Floyd's arms off.
Will's Pick: Floyd Mayweather

Retirement Match
Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels
The real main event, if you will. The stipulation here is that Flair, who's 59 years young, has to retire the next time he loses, an angle they've been running since back in the fall and building momentum for this match by having him beat, along the way, Randy Orton, Triple H, Vince McMahon and a bunch of lesser foes. It's put Flair back in the saddle one more time, and now if you're looking for the perfect way to go out, there's no better place than WrestleMania, and there's no better opponent than Shawn Michaels. HBK's no spring chicken himself at 42, but there's still absolutely no one in this business who's better in big matches than Michaels. He won't have to fully carry Flair, but he'll certainly help along the way. This match could go 45 minutes and I wouldn't be stunned (HBK went 35 with John Cena in the main event last year). Now, Flair could still win and then retire the next night on Raw, that's out there. But in this business, you lose your last hurrah. Steve Austin lost to The Rock at WrestleMania XIX, Mick Foley has lost more retirement matches than I can remember, you get the idea. So being that Flair's business, I'm thinking Shawn gets the pinfall. They also screwed this up by deciding to have HBK play the icon vs. icon role for four weeks, the "Nature Boy vs. Showstopper" thing, which was fine...only to have him turn to the Old Yeller "I'm going to put you out of your misery" bit last week. I think maybe they're worried about the fans, who've been for both guys thus far, turning on Shawn at the beginning of the match spontaneously - but hey, Shawn's a big boy, he could've handled that. So instead of letting two of the greatest, if not the greatest mic-workers in the history of wrestling rip each other apart, they waited until the last week and then did it really quick. Still, you can't take much away from this match or either man's career. If Flair's gonna go, this is the way home.
Will's Pick: Shawn Michaels

World Heavyweight Championship
Edge vs. The Undertaker
Always more relevant at this time of year than any other, Undertaker is 15-0 at WrestleMania. Edge, lesser known fact, is also undefeated at 'Mania, if you don't count him not winning the Money in the Bank match last year. Edge is the champion and the heel, and a good one on both counts...but you just don't beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania, and if you do, it takes someone still a little bit bigger than Edge to finally do it, who I personally love but is still like a B+ level guy in the eyes of the majority. Taker and Batista put on a much better show than what I was expecting last year, and Edge can work, so this should be good as well. But at this point, it's just chalk, and even if they tried to swerve everyone by having Edge win, you'd be left feeling like he didn't deserve it when it was over.
Will's Pick: The Undertaker

WWE Championship - Triple Threat Match
Randy Orton vs. John Cena vs. Triple H
The thing about this match, which I have gotten more excited in the passing weeks, is that it's really going to be unfair to the two guys who don't win. For John Cena, my personal dislike of him aside, WWE built him as this determined, unbeatable champ - he won the belt back in September 2006, and then held it for more than a year, the longest WWE title run in almost 20 years - before he tore his pec and had to drop the belt to Randy Orton. Then, Orton received the (well deserved) push of pushes, getting Cena's belt in September 2007 and beating, since then, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho and Jeff Hardy. That's how you give someone like Orton real credibility and establish him as one of your top dollar superstars, and a solid heel. So when Cena makes a surprise return at the Royal Rumble and wins, they have Cena and Orton rematch at No Way Out in February, which ends in a DQ to no one's surprise. They could've had Orton vs. Cena rematch with some added gimmick at WrestleMania, and that would've been fine. The problem is, now you've added Triple H, who's over more with the fans than either of those two guys, and now he's the one everyone wants to see win. You've got Orton's current credibility, Cena's built-up credibilty and the fact that he hasn't been pinned since the Fall of 2006 (except by Shawn Michaels in a non-title WrestleMania rematch last April), and the fact that at WrestleMania, the fans are supposed to go home happy, which means Triple H should win. Tough call. If this was any other night but WrestleMania, I'd have Orton win this match straight up. It just makes him even more respectable and pushes that "Legend Killer" persona hard. If Triple H wins, he needs to pin Orton and not Cena, so they can then still use Cena's "I never lost the belt/I haven't been pinned" angle and build Triple H vs. John Cena for down the line (or next month, as Backlash has become the company's third biggest PPV it seems). If Cena wins, a lot of people are going to be unhappy, though some still love him, and it just seems to throw away what Orton's done. So...I'll take Triple H to win, but to do so in a fashion that builds either Triple H vs. Cena, or lets Triple H go face Umaga or the Money in the Bank winner while Cena and Orton face off again next month to finally settle their score, which needs to be done. The enduring image from WrestleMania XXIV needs to be Triple H holding that belt. They just need to do it in a way that builds for the future as well, because the road to WrestleMania XXV starts Monday night.
Will's Pick: Triple H

More things I think about while not sleeping...

Before we move onto Opening Day, the NBA Playoffs and/or WrestleMania, and before we start looking at Tyler Smith possibility going pro or recruiting...and before the fog eventually clears and we truly celebrate the 2008 Vols and all they accomplished, here's a couple more thoughts:

Is this a trend or a coincidence?
2006
Started: 20-4 (.833), ranked #10 on Feb. 20
Signature win: at #12 Florida, 76-72 on Feb. 22
Finished: 2-4 (.333), lost in SEC quarterfinals, NCAA second round

2007
Started: 21-9 (.700), ranked #22 on Mar. 5
Signature win: vs. #5 Florida, 86-76 on Feb. 27
Finished: 3-2 (.600), lost in SEC first round, NCAA Sweet 16

2008
Started: 25-2 (.925), ranked #1 on Feb. 25
Signature win: at #1 Memphis, 66-62 on Feb. 23
Finished: 6-3 (.667), lost in SEC semifinals, NCAA Sweet 16

Obviously, if you don't win the National Championship, your season ends with a loss. And these numbers aren't rock solid - you could argue that despite the ugly loss to LSU in the 2007 SEC Tournament, the '07 Vols did play their best basketball at the end of the season, if you count the first half of the Ohio State game.

But in each of the last three seasons, the Vols have gotten their biggest win of the season in the last week of February, and then never been quite able to return to that level.


Is there a relationship between football fans and basketball fans?
When I read some of the user comments on the News-Sentinel's govols.com site, and read things like "go back to Division III" in regards to Pearl, I think that Bruce has, for the first time, crossed that line with the legions of the miserable that Fulmer's been living on for six or seven years. The bar was set so high so quickly and so unexpectedly, now when the Vols don't meet it, the same fans who can't enjoy an SEC Eastern Division title in football seem to use the same spoiled mentality in basketball. And I'm too tired this morning to talk more about how sad that is, or how I want to punch those guys right in the face and hope they never tell anyone they're a UT fan.

The beauty and the curse of March is that everyone has a chance, and 63 other teams are going home empty handed. So while you know the Vols won't be as talented next year, you also know that if they can get back to the Dance, they've at least got a shot. And all I'll say about seeding is that good grief, it can't be as hard as it was this year. But Pearl has given us a chance. And now the Vols, next year and beyond, have to capitalize on it.

The journey comes to an end...

31-5 and SEC Champions, and a team that leaves much to be proud of. But the 2008 season comes to an end at the same place the 2007 season did, as the Sweet 16 has become a wall that we can't seem to get over. Right now, in the very immediate aftermath of the loss to Louisville, all I can think about is Ohio State last year. Because we had those guys, and sure looked a lot better doing it than we did tonight, and we let them get away. And then we took for granted that it would be that easy to get that close again.

It's a bitter pill for Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith and Jordan Howell, an especially bitter one. You come to Tennessee not expecting to do the things you end up doing, but then the expectations get raised so high so fast that you fail to meet them in your senior year, and now the whole thing probably leaves a bad taste in your mouth. That'll fade, and their legacy will ultimately be, we hope, as the guys who got it started, the guys who turned it around.

And we'll miss them. Assuming that Bruce Pearl doesn't bolt for Indiana, now his real test begins. The Vols, unlike the previous three seasons, will not be as talented next year as they were this year. You're losing two of the best shooters in school history and replacing them with absolutely no one - we've got no shooters on the roster. The Vols will still be talented, especially slashing and on the inside. But now he'll get a taste of what it's like to be Phillip Fulmer - you raised the bar, now we hope you'll enjoy trying to leap it every single season.

If the Sweet 16 is our wall, the program must be built higher to cross it. That comes from recruiting and continuing the process, and only works by keeping Pearl around and being in for the long haul. No one's talking about being terrible next year. But we've had a year since the Ohio State game, where the only thought that made it better was that we'd get it done next year, we'd survive and advance further. And a year later, we find ourselves in the same place with a future that isn't as bright this time around.

A suggestion: buy something that says 2008 SEC Champions on it. Don't throw away the greatness of the whole season with a loss in the Sweet 16. This hurts. Louisville beat us with poise and grit, and when we got in foul trouble and weren't hitting threes, we didn't respond in kind. Instead of playing our best, when we could never get the lead in the second half and lean on them instead of the other way around, we played out of control and paniced - a new version of what happened against UNC late in 2000.

But don't forget this team. Don't bury them for losing in the Sweet 16. The fact that we're disappointed and no longer playing with house money this deep in the tournament is a great sign - but the pain comes with it. But, among the many other feats of this team, the outright SEC Championship cements their place. It's rings. It's a championship. It's an accomplishment not to be taken for granted nor forgotten.

The legacy of this team, in part, will be determined by where it goes from here. Lofton and friends can continue to be the example of the Vols at their very best...or we can recruit well and continue to build the program - and that's a slow burn, friends, especially when you lose what we're losing - and this three year run is the beginning of something, not the pinnacle. We'll see what happens.

For now...congrats to Louisville. Don't talk about seeding or officiating. Thank God...thank God for the Celtics if you're me. But either way...when you invest yourself in a team that rewards you by being good enough to be ranked #1 and to honestly think about the Final Four, it burns you to be left in the same place you were before. But savor the journey, that hopefully isn't over. Tennessee will always be the 2008 SEC Champions. I'm telling you, buy something. Remember.

154 days until football season.

Tennessee-Louisville Pregame Thoughts

We keep playing these "biggest game in the history of the program" deals at around 9:00 or 10:00, and it's not helping anyone. Same as with the Sweet 16 Ohio State game last year and the Memphis game earlier this year, my day has been filled with trying to find ways to spend the hours and make them fly by. Unfortunately for me today, that included my three hour night class. So while normally I'm very interested in things like symbolism in the gospel of John (not sarcasm), today my mind wandered all over the place. And now that we're here at 7:45, and you're stuck with either the battle of previous Tennessee opponents (which currently Xavier is dominating), or watching the proof that no matter how good North Carolina was perceived to be, they're not so dominant over everyone else that they're just going to run the table totally unscathed - and if you're a West Virginia fan here in southwest Virginia, as several are, you're instead dealt the cold hand of the national powerhouse and her television ratings, and unless you've got Mega March Madness, you're watching the Tar Heels.

(I will say that I'm glad to see and hear Dick Enberg and Jay Bilas, the latter being one of my favorite and, for my money, most intelligent analysts in college basketball. He's also frozen in Tennessee lore for breaking the usual cold neutrality of analysts during the December 2006 Tennessee-Texas game when Chris Lofton hit that shot over Kevin Durant, which caused him to let out the same "OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!" that I did when it happened. Good stuff.)

But among the many, many wanderings of my mind as its related to tonight's Tennessee-Louisville showdown, this one to me is the most intriguing and the most irrelevant - but hey, we've got two hours to kill, so here we go:

Who would win a game between the 2008 Vols and Jerry Green's 2000 Vols, who also made the Sweet 16?

I think that it's indisputable that a win tonight would be the biggest in program history, as it would put the Vols in the Elite 8 for the first time ever. However, this is our third try this decade to accomplish that feat, meaning that this is really the third time we could use that "biggest game in program history" label (and if you disagree and want to talk about Memphis or a regular season SEC game with Kentucky or Florida, let's just call it the most important game in program history and move on). So while a win tonight, combined with the outright SEC Championship - something the 2000 Vols shared with three other teams - would cement these Vols as the best team in program history, it's a very interesting experiment to line the two squads up against each other and, theoretically, see who would win:

2008 Vols (Head Coach: Bruce Pearl)
(currently 31-4, 14-2 SEC, outright SEC Champions, #2 seed)

STARTERS
PG Ramar Smith
SG Chris Lofton
SF JaJuan Smith
PF Tyler Smith
C Wayne Chism

BENCH
G Jordan Howell
G Josh Tabb
F JP Prince
F Duke Crews
F Ryan Childress
F Steven Pearl
C Brian Williams


2000 Vols (Head Coach: Jerry Green)
(26-7, 12-4 SEC, SEC Champions (shared), #4 seed)

STARTERS
PG Tony Harris
SG Jon Higgins
SF Vincent Yarbrough
PF Isaiah Victor
C CJ Black

BENCH
G Jenis Grindstaff
G Harris Walker
G Terrence Woods
G Del Baker
F Vegas Davis
F Marcus Haislip
F Ron Slay
C Charles Hathaway

Harder than you thought, isn't it?

Let's remember and not confuse the 2000 Vols with the 2001 Vols, who flamed out after a hot start and ultimately ended Jerry Green's career. The 2000 Vols made the Sweet 16 before losing to North Carolina.

The similarities are actually very striking. Both teams got blown out in one non-conference game, the finals of a preseason tournament (this year against Texas in New Jersey by 19, in 2000 against Tulsa in Puerto Rico by 20). Both teams lost at Kentucky and at Vanderbilt (in both years where Vanderbilt was really good, who also beat the Vols in Knoxville in stunning fashion in 2000 - Dan Langhi, anyone?) The 2000 Vols also lost at Alabama, and flamed out on Friday in the SEC Tournament (in Atlanta) against South Carolina.

The 2000 Vols finished the regular season ranked #11 in the AP poll - #6 before the SEC Tournament loss - and struggled in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before putting away the Rajun Cajuns with a generous late whistle. In the second round, the Vols took advantage of an injury to Khalid El-Amin and pulled away late from 5 seed UConn, winning by 14. The Vols had a nine point lead on North Carolina, an 8 seed, late in the second half, but then watched the Tar Heels battle back, and lost their poise by taking a series of terrible shots down the stretch, ultimately losing by five points in a bitter defeat.

Point guard is the biggest difference - Tony Harris was a punk, as some might say, but he scored more than Ramar Smith and JP Prince put together, and played a different style. Otherwise, you've got more eerie similarities - incredibly three point shooters in Higgins and Lofton, slashes at the 3 with Vince Yarbrough and JaJuan (though Vince definitely had the height advantage), and a mirror image post duo, Tyler Smith & Wayne Chism with Isaiah Victory & CJ Black.

And the 2000 bench is deeper and more talented. Higgins, Walker, Woods, Haislip and Slay were all freshmen this season, but they still were impact players to various degrees. When this team was firing on all cylinders, they were awfully good.

But maybe that's a testament to how good Bruce Pearl is. Because even lining these two teams up against each other like this, and even if the '00 Vols are a little more talented and definitely deeper...who 'ya got? Because it's awfully hard for me to go against Pearl.

However - pulling things back to the present, as North Carolina has taken a big lead at halftime - if you're going to go against Pearl and the Vols, while Jerry Green may not be the best coach to have on the opposite sideline, I'm pretty sure that Rick Pitino is.

At Kentucky, Pitino went 14-3 against the Vols, including the last nine in a row. This includes a 60 point beatdown in an SEC Tournament games, and a host of other blowouts that featured Kentucky's very best - Derek Anderson, Tony Delk, Walter McCarty, Ron Mercer, Nazr Mohammed, Scott Padgett, Jeff Sheppard, Wayne Turner, Antoine Walker - against some of the Vols' very worst.

Then he left UK to go to the Celtics, and I remember thinking that despite the fact that I hated him, and I had never seen the Vols beat the archrival Cats in person at this point in 1997, that if anyone could get the Celtics back on track, it was this guy. Then Boston brought ML Carr to the draft lottery, Tim Duncan went to San Antonio, and instead of making the Celtics great, Pitino made them irrelevant. For this, he is the only human being on the face of the planet to rank above Steve Spurrier on the list of people who've caused me more personal grief in the sports world.

After ruining the Celtics, he thought he'd come back to college basketball at Louisville, who promptly signed a four year contract to play the Vols starting in 2001. The Cards won all four games. The first three were all heartbreak - the snakebitten 01-02 Vols, Buzz Peterson's first team, blew a six point lead with :30 to play at Louisville, thanks to some banked in threes, and lost by one point. The following year in Knoxville, the young Vols took #9 Louisville to the wire before losing by three. The next year, the Vols got the absolute shaft on an out-of-bounds call at the end of the game and lost to #5 Louisville, again, by three. And in Buzz Peterson's last stand, freshman Chris Lofton hit a three to put the Vols up 53-50 with under 12:00 to play, and then Louisville went on something like a 24-5 run. Rick Pitino is 18-3 against Tennessee, 13 in a row. The Vols haven't beaten a Pitino team since 1992.

Speaking of Chris Lofton...

He scored 15 points as a true freshman in that loss, and hasn't gotten another chance since. Will tonight be the night that we see the "return of Lofton", so to speak, and he goes off? Because it's equally important to note that he hasn't in both our tournament games so far, nor against Memphis, and we've won anyway. It's a luxury that we don't need him anymore. But if he ever gets and hits the looks, that elusive "best basketball game of the year" that we all feel like we haven't seen yet just might materialize.

It'll need to be him and more tonight - this is a daunting task, as you'd expect in a 2/3 Sweet 16 game. Palacios and Padgett inside won't be easy, and Louisville is like the Vols in that they're capable of beating you in a number of ways. Tennessee has to get contributions from all over the floor - not everyone is going to play really well, but we need more good than bad. How will JP Prince fare this time around? Will the Vols get hot behind the arc, or be forced to go to Chism and Tyler to get the win? Will we see the SEC or NCAA Tournament defense? Can Bruce Pearl coach effectively against Pitino? Can the Vols get it done?

Make no mistake - we're good enough. We've earned what we've got so far, and now this is the next step. Lose tonight, and we're taking about this team in the same "what might've been" we discuss the 2000 Vols in. Win tonight, and it's history - and more proof that this team is the best in program history, and that their story isn't over yet. Tennessee is capable. Is tonight our night?

March Madness Day Four

7:34 PM
All together now: survive and advance. The why and the how are less important. The fact remains - the Vols head to the Sweet 16 once again, and will try Thursday night to advance to the Elite 8 for the first time in the history of the program.

In the first five minutes, the Vols looked like they'd finally play that very best game that some of us still seem to be looking for, even though the Vols are now 31-4 on the year. But when Butler did what Butler does - and it should be said over and over, that this was a very good basketball team we played today, even if they too weren't at their best - the Vols first never let Butler get the lead in regulation, and then when they finally did take it in overtime, Tennessee never flinched. This was a gritty, toughness win that will make the Vols better, not worse.

And yeah, it'll need to get better. Right now both Louisville and North Carolina are playing Ivan Drago to some pretty good Apollo Creeds - if you like offense, Carolina wins by scoring 108 on the Arkansas Razorbacks and winning by 31. If you like defense, U of L holds 6 seed Oklahoma to 48 points in a 30 point win. And few teams have looked better than Washington State in this tournament, who'll join those two and the Vols for the all-chalk Regional Finals in Charlotte on Thursday and Saturday that might as well be a mini-Final Four.

For the Vols...the point guard play will continue to be a hot topic. JP Prince still probably puts our best five on the floor, but his meltdown at the end of regulation with consecutive turnovers on the game's most precious possessions opened the door for a fresh Ramar Smith, who came in and helped paved the way. Despite the late errors, Prince finishes with 9 points, 7 boards and 5 assists. But he also had 6 turnovers. Pearl will decide the call there (and I still feel like the moment that Jordan Howell hits the first three he tries, that'll all go away), but between now and then let's hope he figures out which is the best route to go.

But let's remember this as well: Chris Lofton has scored 14 points in the first two tournament games combined. And the Vols are going to the Sweet 16.

Wayne Chism has come up huge of late. I love what they're doing on the Vol Network immediately after the game is over in the tournament, where one player and then Pearl join Bob & Bert real quick for a more in-the-moment reaction. You can hear the raw confidence in Chism's voice, as if he knows exactly how good he is. And it's great fun to hear Pearl in the moment - to hear him yelling "Yeah baby, YEAH!" to the orange faithful just before he gets on the headset, to hear Rocky Top in the building, to get on the air and then wish everyone a Happy Easter and say that he hopes everyone went to church, that there are things today that are so much more important that basketball - and again, this is Easter and Pearl is Jewish - that the Vols felt the prayers today and God bless everyone...I love this side of Pearl.

And I'll tell you who I don't love: Rick Pitino. At all. Less than Spurrier. Bring it on, baby.

So here's what we'll see next weekend:

Thursday - Sweet 16
West (Phoenix) - 7:10 - 3 Xavier vs. 7 West Virginia
East (Charlotte) - 7:30 - 1 North Carolina vs. 4 Washington State
West (Phoenix) - 9:40 - 1 UCLA vs. 12 Western Kentucky
East (Charlotte) - 10:00 - 2 Tennessee vs. 3 Louisville

Friday - Sweet 16
Midwest (Detroit) - 7:10 - 3 Wisconsin vs. 10 Davidson
South (Houston) - 7:30 - 2 Texas vs. 3 Stanford
Midwest (Detroit) - 9:40 - 1 Kansas vs. 12 Villanova
South (Houston) - 10:00 - 1 Memphis vs. 5 Michigan State

And a few more random observations before we shut 'er down for this weekend:

- As scripted, the two most anticipated games will be Tennessee/Louisville on Thursday and Texas/Stanford on Friday. The first one should be called a literal toss up by all the experts between now and then, and the Vols get that extra added factor with Chris Lofton getting another shot at his home state before he graduates (and Lofton is 0-1 career against U of L, as the Vols lost to the Cards in 2005 back when Buzz Peterson was still here). If Tennessee plays to the level of its competition, expect better basketball Thursday. And again, you'd just better be ready to go the distance. I'm still proud of Marquette, but Stanford's also very good, and I think those Lopez kids are punks - which is an enjoyable thing to watch when I want them to win, as I will against Texas, and something I'd love a crack at at some point for the Vols to shut them up on the other hand. One thing at a time...

- I know Carolina just ripped Arkansas, but there's a part of me that'd really rather just go ahead and play them if we win rather than face Washington State and their defensive prowess. I know the Vols will be up and ready for UNC, and I worry about Wazzou's potential to quietly stun everyone and make it to the Final Four.

- I've got 9 teams right in the Sweet 16, and we're about halfway the rest of the way - I've got 4 of my Elite 8 left, and 2 (Kansas & Tennessee) of my Final Four still standing. Of all the crazy things I picked, I've been most right on Western Kentucky. So the insanity continues in my bracket, with WKU over UCLA. The problem is, I expected UCLA to play a flat game and get caught, and now I think we already saw it yesterday against Texas A&M, and the Bruins escaped. Could be trouble.

- If Stephen Curry ever shows up in the first half, Davidson might win the whole thing.

- A modified bracket at this point, for me, would have Tennessee, Kansas, Xavier and Stanford making the Final Four.

This weekend has been, as expected, one of the very best things about sports. And most importantly, for the Vols, this weekend has become next weekend. The best season in school history now goes back to the Sweet 16 for the third time this decade. And late Thursday night in Charlotte, the Vols will play the biggest game in the history of the program, to carry this thing one step further.

Go Vols...

1:37 PM
Happy Easter to one and all...here in Ceres it's an hour before, and I still find myself pacing the floor, if you will, still with about 90 minutes to fill even after finishing all my Easter duties. Plus, I'm pretty sure that the swiss cheese they served at the church luncheon was definitely past its prime, and so I may be celebrating the resurrection in all new ways for the rest of the day. It's for details like this that you read this blog, I know.

While we're waiting, here's a great article from Mike Strange about the Butler/Hoosiers connections. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt probably wants to bury its head somewhere if they're watching Siena and Villanova, because those yellow jerseys ain't what they were two days ago, that's for sure.

Will the SEC have anyone left standing after today? With the favored 'Dores making the first round exit and the Vols playing the role of the vulnerable two seed, and with Arkansas and Mississippi State facing the aces of their respective brackets today, the conference can either make a big statement or go home quietly today. Me and my bracket hope it's the latter.

March Madness Day Three

9:11 PM
While we'll be celebrating the resurrection here in Ceres with the sunrise at 7:24 AM, my bracket has entered the dark night of the soul on only the third day of the tournament.

(Also, may I add that I've started some weird Easter tradition of watching movies that relate in a backhanded way to what we're celebrating. I stole the idea of watching The Matrix Trilogy at Easter last year. This afternoon, we've embarked on part one of the walk through all three Indiana Jones movies, to be completed before May 22, with Raiders of the Lost Ark. Didn't you guys ever go to Sunday school?)

Unlike Duke's loss, I feel proud of the boys from Marquette, who just finished an immensely enjoyable and up-and-down game (as commented on by Jay Bilas, who does a great job with color and should do it more often) with Stanford, losing by one in overtime. The Golden Eagles fought hard with every possession - you could tell how much they wanted it in the way they celebrated little things like loose ball victories, etc. - they just came up on the wrong end of it at the end. Stanford, also, appears very solid and should have an interesting matchup with (probably) Texas next weekend.

So now with finalist Duke down and Final Four contender Marquette out, things look bleak. Western Kentucky and Mississippi State need to come through tomorrow to put me back in it, and if they can take care of business by beating one seeds along the way, they'll accomplish their task by taking everyone else's bracket out as well while I reap a small benefit. Because beating Memphis and UCLA (and San Diego before that for WKU) should be no problem, right.

And of course, the SESB bracket will go as far as the Vols do. So there's still a flicker of hope remaining. That hope carries forward to Sunday.

4:14 PM
Ouch, my bracket.

The problem with picking hot-shooting three point teams to go deep in March is that sometimes you can pick the wrong one. So while West Virginia got clutch threes from surprising places, Duke looks as sick and tired as their coach in the second half, and is currently playing "how many 3's can we miss in a row?" (currently at 16)

So, my premeditated decision to not pick UCLA to the Final Four, and the fact that we'll be rolling the dice again later today with Marquette, led me to pick Duke all the way to the title game almost as the best choice of who was left over. This, my friends, was a bad idea.

I also think that if Larry Bird got fat, shrank a few inches and dyed his hair, he'd be Bob Huggins.
I'm more upset by the fact that I can't celebrate Duke's exit along with the rest of the college basketball world than anything else. I feel like I cheated myself out of something great.

March Madness Day Two

11:50 PM
Just when I thought I was finally going to get a session where my bracket went 4-0, Villanova has come on strong and actually taken the lead, down 18 earlier, with under 7:00 to play against Clemson. It's been clockwork that I've lost one game every session to this point, so hey, why not?

The SESB bracket, should Nova hold on, will go 24-8 in the first two rounds, but is in relatively good shape for the future - I've got 12 of 16 Sweet 16 teams left standing, and 7 of 8 Elite 8 squads, with everything intact beyond that. So we'll see where this goes.

Arkansas and Mississippi State did a good job of repairing the damage caused by Vanderbilt to the SEC tonight, and the conference goes 3-3 through the opening round (slightly misleading from other years, with Kentucky an 11 seed and Georgia a 14). I'll say this for Vanderbilt - I do feel bad for Shan Foster, who had one of those Peyton Manning against Nebraska moments, where all of a sudden your collegiate career is over and it ends in a terribly opposite way than you imagined. Foster couldn't heat up and Siena couldn't cool down, and thus Kevin Stallings might not be getting any of those lucrative job offers. But with two young coaches in the conference set to take on one seeds on Sunday, if either pulls the upset, schools like Indiana could come knocking on John Pelphrey or Rick Stansbury's door.

But that's getting way ahead of ourselves. Here's a look at what you'll see over the weekend:

Second Round - Saturday
2:10 - West - 2 Duke vs. 7 West Virginia
4:20 - Midwest - 3 Wisconsin vs. 11 Kansas State
4:40 - West - 3 Xavier vs. 6 Purdue
6:40 - East - 4 Washington State vs. 5 Notre Dame
6:45 - South - 3 Stanford vs. 6 Marquette
6:50 - Midwest - 1 Kansas vs. 8 UNLV
9:10 - South - 4 Pittsburgh vs. 5 Michigan State
9:15 - West - 1 UCLA vs. 9 Texas A&M

Second Round - Sunday
2:15 - South - 2 Texas vs. 7 Miami
2:30 - East - 2 Tennessee vs. 7 Butler
2:40 - West - 12 Western Kentucky vs. 13 San Diego
2:50 - Midwest - 2 Georgetown vs. 10 Davidson
4:45 - South - 1 Memphis vs. 8 Mississippi State
5:00 - East - 3 Louisville vs. 6 Oklahoma
5:10 - Midwest - 12 Villanova vs. 13 Siena
5:20 - East - 1 North Carolina vs. 9 Arkansas

Some random observations...

- High seeds that struggled and didn't look good but still won their opener - Duke, Tennessee, and to a small degree Xavier - will face much stronger tests this time around, and it'll be interesting to see if any or all of them will be able to respond and play better. I think all three will still advance to the Sweet 16 no matter how they look.

- How far can individual superstars carry their teams? Michael Beasley and Stephen Curry face monumental tasks, while Luke Harangody will face an excellent defense against Washington State. Michigan State will need Drew Neitzel's very best game to beat Pitt, who's probably the hottest team in the nation right now.

- Tim Brando tells me that Villanova's impending win over Clemson marks the first time in NCAA Tournament history that all four lower seeds at the same site on the same day won their games, and these weren't 9 over 8 style upsets: if you had tickets in Tampa today, you saw 12 WKU over 5 Drake, 13 San Diego over 4 UConn (both in overtime classics), 13 Siena over 4 Vanderbilt in a stunning wash, and 12 Villanova climb all the way back (and survive an incredibly stupid technical on Jay Wright with under 3:00 to play) to beat 5 Clemson. So Sunday, my pick of Western Kentucky to the Elite 8 looks a little stronger (though so does Kentucky's loss to San Diego), Villanova - who shuts up people like me who said they didn't belong in the field - might also have an easier road to the Sweet 16 against Siena. And while 'Nova wouldn't really be considered one, you're guaranteed at least one true Cinderella playing into the second weekend.

- If the Vols survive Butler, the North Carolina-Arkansas game should be very telling. I'm not saying the Hogs are gonna win, though they are capable of really competing with anyone because they're good inside and out, but the level of competition should be high and you'll get a better idea exactly how good North Carolina is.

- And you've already heard it here once, but I like Mississippi State over Memphis.

Finally, Bruce Pearl once again proved he isn't afraid to tell it like it is, saying in the postgame today that he didn't feel like he could win a championship with Ramar or Jordan (who my heart goes out to as a senior who may never see the floor again), so JP Prince gets the look at point guard.

So...a few hours of sleep, and we're back at it again at 2:10 tomorrow.


7:23 PM
We should just go ahead and retitle this post "Why You'd Better Fully Respect Butler".

For my money, seeding for the Vols is now out the window. It certainly didn't help a whole lot today anyway, but from now on, I think you're going to see as many as five straight contests where the two teams on the floor are evenly matched. It's gotta be championship level basketball, right now.

Last year, the good folks at the Preseason NIT set up the first and second rounds to produce an MSG Final Four of Tennessee, North Carolina, Indiana and Gonzaga. One problem: Butler. The Bulldogs went to Indiana's region...

(...small break to give props to whoever's calling the Mississippi State-Oregon game for the "OOOOHHH, that's a MAN's jam!" call on the first bucket of the game, a Charles Rhodes throwdown)

...and beat Notre Dame and Indiana on consecutive nights to make their way to Madison Square Garden. They met the young Vols in the semis. I didn't see any of this game, but the final score - 56-44 Butler - tells much of the story. Then they beat Gonzaga to win the tournament, and would later make it to the Sweet 16 last March, and played the National Champion Gators closer than anyone else did last March before eventually losing 65-57.

You see a defensive theme in the scores, but what's also frightening is their ability to do what they did to South Alabama, a good team in a friendly Birmingham environment, who they busted 81-61. This team is experienced, deep, smart and good. And they're going to be a confident handful on Sunday.

When the brackets came out, I was both stunned and anxious about this matchup. Anxious because of what happened last year, where the Vols shot 25% from the field and turned the ball over 23 times, and Butler didn't even play that well offensively themselves, and simply carved up what we gave to them.

Stunned, because Butler's win today makes them 30-3 this year, and I didn't think there was any way they'd be seeded that low, especially the way they played in this thing last year and with so many returning players. They're #11 in the AP Poll. This year, Butler won the Great Alaska Shootout by beating Michigan, Virginia Tech and Texas Tech. They play really well in tournaments. They somehow convinced Ohio State to play them at home and then beat them by 19 - the Vols beat them by 3 in Knoxville. They also smoked Florida State in their non-conference schedule. Their losses - at Wright State and at Cleveland State in Horizon play, and then the stunner at home to The Drake on BracketBuster Saturday, which ended up unfairly killing them in the seedings (#11 in the AP Poll and #7 in the East Region, cause that makes sense) - are by a combined 12 points, and again, there's only three of them.

The Bulldogs hit 15 threes today. Pete Campbell was 8 for 10. Yikes. AJ Graves had another 18 points and generally runs the show. And all of these guys have been down this road before.

When you look at the postgame AP release from today's game with South Alabama, you can see lots of things jump out at you to further this frightening argument - that Butler is and has been for years the best mid-major program in the country, as Drake and Gonzaga are now one and done and Butler plays on. That Butler coach Brad Stevens - all 31 years of him - says all the right things, like "We'll have to be at our very best on Sunday to compete" in reference to the Vols. And that the Vols are, as the AP story says, "seemingly vulnerable".

For the Vols, Bruce Pearl in the postgame press conference said he was trying to get better point guard play and went with Jordan, who struggled, and then JP a lot, but felt like due to Jordan's struggles he needed to go back to Ramar in the second half. Brian Williams, he points out, had zero points and five fouls against Arkansas, so Ryan Childress got another look in the first half. I'm okay with both of those answers and I trust Pearl, and the Vols still played well enough to win.

But understand this - the B+ game on Sunday gets us beat. Tennesee is good enough to go the distance, but from this point on, they're not so much better than anyone they'll face - including and especially Butler - to beat anyone with talent alone. The Vols are deep and they need quality from all that depth - off days from one or more guys could kill us. If you still feel like you haven't seen Tennessee's best basketball so far this year, you'd better see it Sunday. Butler is for real. We're about to find out if the Vols are too.


3:47 PM
At one point during the opening session of games, Tennessee, Miami, Gonzaga and Western Kentucky were all up 10 points, and I was thinking about having my first 4-0 session of the tournament, and hanging onto three of my Elite 8 teams, two of them the dangerous outsiders in Gonzaga and WKU.

The Vols ended up winning in a game that was closer than the score, The U held on. Then Gonzaga gave up 30 points in the second half to sophomore Stephen Curry and Davidson took it away.

And Western - up 16 at one point in the second half - almost gave it away to The Drake, and ended up playing one of the best March Madness games we've seen in a long time.

BUT - and this should be noted - this game never should've gone to overtime, or at least Drake should've never had the last possession with a chance to win in regulation. With WKU with the ball in a tie game playing for the last shot, the baseline official blatantly ignored a Drake player grabbing a jersey, then made a four-letter word call on a charge that was beyond absurd. All is forgiven, because we got overtime and a sensational ending, with WKU draining a 35 footer to win 101-99 that you're sure to see about a million times in the next 48 hours (and rightfully so).

So, as Butler and South Alabama are ripping down the nets early, let's talk about the Vols. It seems to be mysterious about Ramar Smith and Brian Williams getting no playing time in the first half and Ryan Childress and Josh Tabb getting the extended minutes - and playing JP Prince at point does put our best five on the floor, but it's the chemistry therein that you just haven't seen together before, so hopefully they'll have that together before Sunday afternoon, as Butler looks about as good as everyone thought they would right now.

Credit American for being all those things that 15 seeds can be in a positive way, but credit the Vols for not showing any panic and simply getting it done to pull away and win. We're a little more uncomfortable than we were after the Long Beach State game last year, but that's one down and only 32 teams left come midnight. More thoughts here later today and after we figure out if it is, in fact, going to be the Butler rematch tomorrow.

March Madness Day One

As I type, UCLA is cruising, and if Wisconsin holds their 11 point lead and West Virginia hangs on, I'll finish Thursday at 12-4, 3-1 in each of the sessions so as not to be too elated or depressed. No serious damage was done to my bracket - I picked six upsets today and ended up getting the only two that actually happened right (Kansas State over USC, Texas A&M over BYU), while losing out on only two of my Sweet 16 teams, both in cinderella fashion with Winthrop (tied at halftime with Washington State, then scored 11 points in the second half) and Temple going down, but everything deeper than that remains intact.

It wasn't without some tense moments. There wasn't a lot of classic basketball today from what I saw, though Georgia/Xavier and Marquette/Kentucky certainly had their moments. I'm on the Golden Eagles' surprise train to the Final Four, and while Kentucky put some fear in me and all the Marquette faithful today, I was also reminded why I like them while watching them play - solid defense (except on Joe Crawford, good grief) and an attacking three guard set that can still knock down the outside shot. The interesting Marquette/Stanford "who ya got?!" matchup is now on for Saturday.

USC & Kansas State may have been a classic, but I never got the chance to find out. Instead of watching that one like I was sure I'd end up doing, I started with Duke and Belmont and never left, which ended up - at this point, though Arizona has pulled to within one - giving us the best moments of the day, by far, and almost put my bracket in hospice. Even with Duke preventing the cinderella outcome, this was a great basketball game, and it's enjoyable to see a group of kids play as hard as the Bruins did. There was a sequence around the 10 minute mark where you just knew Belmont wasn't going to pull it off - they got something like four offensive rebounds in one lengthy possession, and still couldn't hit a shot to tie or take the lead. Give Gerald Henderson credit for taking matters into his own hands to give Duke the lead late, and you've just gotta shake your head if you're Vince Gill or another Belmont fan, in the great state of TN or otherwise, at that last inbounds play with a sensational call to have a guy open five feet from the basket, and the kid just missed him with the lob pass. So Belmont's shining moment is coming close, and Duke plays on.

Tennessee's win over West Virginia is looking better and better every minute, I'll tell you that.

Speaking of the Vols, is American capable of putting a real scare in the 2 seed tomorrow afternoon? The tempo will need to be slow for them to do so, and the Vols should be able to dictate pace enough either way to put some distance between themselves and AU to get the job done. Even if it is easy, I'm sure it'll be the last time that happens this season.

UCLA just won 70-29. But don't worry, Western Kentucky will take care of them. You know, after they upset Drake and then beat UConn Sunday. They're just one of several teams (Mississippi State and Gonzaga especially) who make my bracket even more vulnerable tomorrow. But hey, what's the fun in picking all the favorites? And for once and for real, the success of my bracket is directly tied into the success of the Vols. And I like that.

Can you find Chris Lofton on this cover?

SI once again goes the regional cover route for the second time this year in college basketball, and continues to run their "every team in the dance" cover for at least the third year in a row, which I love. So does two regional covers equal one real cover for Lofton now? And do all six teams making the cut this time around get to claim the jinx if/when they lose?

10 hours. And I should really try and get some sleep.

ESPN's Page 2 hates on Smokey & Bruce Pearl

In what's actually a very cool feature - nine different mock brackets based on various categories, from inverse graduation rates to best uniforms - the Vols get slammed not once, but twice by ESPN's Page 2 staff. The link goes directly to the mascot bracket (where you can navigate through all nine brackets) where Mike Philbrick writes:

First-round flop: Tennessee Volunteers loss to the American Eagles. The Vols ... or Smokey the coonhound ... or whatever. They would be the play-in game in any mascot bracket. Needless to say, the American Eagles (while sounding like a commuter airline) are far more intimidating and go on to the second round.

Page 2 also writes in the coach appearance bracket:

Biggest upset (in entire bracket): No. 15 American over No. 2 Tennessee. The orange suit jackets are bad enough. But Bruce Pearl, shirtless, with his chest painted orange, is an image that's just never going to go away, folks.

All in good fun...15 hours to go.

Filling out the brackets...

The basketball vibes are already feeling better this week, with the Celtics erasing a 20 point deficit in San Antonio Monday night, and then putting the hammer down on the Rockets' 22 game winning streak in a 94-74 nationally televised win in Houston last night (Leon Powe with 21! Don't say we're not deep!). However, these good vibes are generally cancelled by the fact that March Madness is a week late and Easter is the earliest it'll be for the next 150 years, meaning that if you're me and you've gotta get DirecTV's Mega March Madness package to ensure you can see the Vols here in VA, you know you're not going to get much work done with every game televised over the next two days in what's usually the busiest week of the year for us pastor types. But don't worry, I'm sure we'll manage.

With that in mind, here's some thoughts on the bracket:

Full disclosure: I won my bracket group two years ago by being hot in the first round and then riding the Gators before most others thought to do so. Last year did not go so well, however, though I was still hot Thursday/Friday by not picking lots of upsets. But I usually go with the gut over the brain when it comes to these things, which can work both ways.

Looking back at my bracket after I completed it this year, there's a noticeable East Coast bias. And it's not that I hate the Pac-10 at all, it's that I've seen a lot of college basketball this year with the ol' Full Court package, but none of it involved Pac-10 schools, and the only West Coast school I really saw all year was a couple or three Gonzaga games. Head to head I usually put a much greater emphasis on what I've seen over what I've read, and sometimes that's not a good idea. So I have no real fear that anyone I'm playing with this year will read this and steal my ideas, because my gut instincts probably make the most sense to me. Hopefully, there's still a little common sense in here somewhere...

Here we go...

East Region
While it's tempting here to just take UNC and the Vols and put them in the Elite 8 because I want to see that so badly and then work backwards from there, let's walk through the journey before the destination:

- While this isn't a year where I'm picking all the SEC schools in the first round, I do like an Arkansas team that I certainly picked up more respect for last weekend, and who can beat you in a number of ways, to beat a shaky Indiana squad that lost three of four coming into The Dance and may still have some Kelvin Sampson issues.

- Upset alert: 12 George Mason over 5 Notre Dame, because it's George Mason and I hate Notre Dame in football, and that's just too much for my brain to overcome. 13 Winthrop over 4 Washington State - see, East Coast bias comes in early and often.

- In the lower half, I like Louisville and OU to hold serve, and I think Butler vs. South Alabama will be one of the best games of the first round. The Vols saw both of these teams last season, and Butler has been and is exactly the sort of team you don't want to see in March. They'll get it done.

- What do we know about American University? Other than the fact that Holy Cross alum Bill Simmons ran them down in his podcast last week for winning the Patriot League, a team that's only scored 80+ points three times this season might have some issues staying with the Vols, though if their SEC Tournament defense shows up maybe American will break some school records along the way. They did beat Maryland on the road, but also lost at Georgetown by 27. They'll try and be slow and deliberate, which means the Vols will want to take them out of their pace, but Tennessee should advance either way. (By the way, let me state how much I enjoy the fact that Tennessee plays on Friday, so I can make it through at least one day of tournament play without having a thrombo. And let me put my plug in right now for Kevin Harlan or Gus Johnson to call our games. Pretty please.)

(Edit: It's Verne Lundquist and Bill Raferty in Birmingham. Which isn't bad, considering that's the 1B CBS team.)

- If we do get UNC-Arkansas in the second round, it'll be a good feeler for Charlotte. And no matter the opponent, I do think you can go ahead and pencil the Tar Heels into the Elite Eight. I think you can pencil Louisville into the Sweet 16. It'll be the Vols who struggle the most to get that far in this bracket, and I do think it'll be that most difficult road possible: American-Butler-Louisville-North Carolina. Which, as we said on Sunday, would also be the most enjoyable road, getting revenge on Butler, beating Rick Pitino, and then facing the Tar Heels. More "experts" than I thought have been making the point this week that nothing the Vols face will be as difficult as winning at Memphis was, and that Tennessee should play like a team that belongs. They'll have to win several different ways to do it, and I'm sure we'll break that down if the Vols get to the Sweet 16, but the Vols are good enough to beat Butler (or South Alabama), good enough to outduel Louisville, and yes, Tennessee is good enough to beat North Carolina. I can write "Tennessee to the Final Four" here and have you take me seriously. I promise.

Midwest Region
If there's a number one seed I'd bank on, it's Kansas. I like their road, they won't have to deal with any push scenarios in the Elite 8 the way North Carolina and Memphis might, and they're one of the best all around teams in the field. For me, it's really hard to go anywhere else in this bracket.

- I think if you pick a 9 (Kent State) over an 8 (UNLV), it's not really an upset. I also think Villanova shouldn't be in this field and that Clemson is really good, and will prove both those points in the opening round. Vanderbilt vs. Clemson would be really fun in the second round...but again, I don't think either of those two is beating Kansas. Even on Vanderbilt's very best day from Foster and Gordon, I don't think they get it done.

- quasi-East Coast bias, part two: I've seen Michael Beasley play and he's the most exciting player to watch in college basketball. I've only seen OJ Mayo on SportsCenter. And even though I'm wise enough to remember that USC did this last year to Kevin Durant and Texas, I'm dumb enough to pick Kansas State and Beasley anyway.

- Gonzaga vs. Davidson is another one of these really good 7-10 mid-major showdowns. Gonzaga was trendy about three years ago, and now I think half the people filling out these brackets still think Adam Morrison plays there. Still, I like them to advance here. Georgetown vs. Gonzaga in the second round is tough, much like the game itself would be, low scoring and physical. Roy Hibbert is a force inside, sure, but when I look at these two teams, I'm not sure there's that much space between them. Gonzaga played with the Vols and with Memphis, and lost seeding in the bracket by losing to San Diego in their conference tournament. But I think Gonzaga can upset Georgetown and make it to the second weekend.

- Again, Kansas is the pick, whether they see Georgetown, Wisconsin, Gonzaga, OJ Mayo or Michael Beasley in the Elite 8. The Jayhawks are simply too good - I think there's more space between the one seed and the rest of the field in this region than anywhere else.

South Region
Unintentionally when filling it out, this became the "blow it up" bracket. One upset seemingly led to another when I was picking, and I ended up with something I'm almost afraid to commit to paper. But, you need to shake up at least one region, right? So here we go...

- Literally as soon as I saw this bracket released, I said "Memphis is going down in the second round." Do I hate Memphis? Sure. But having seen them and Mississippi State both a bunch, I think the Bulldogs are exactly the type of team in exactly the type of situation that can run them out. A team that's played in two straight Elite 8's, as Memphis has, and a team that's only lost once all year, might tend to take the early stages of the tournament for granted. MSU will not have that problem. Jarvis Varnado is a game-changer inside, and I think the Bulldogs are capable of playing well enough defensively to disrupt what Memphis does, and allow Jamont Gordon to match Chris Douglas-Roberts step for step. Since tournament seeding began in 1979, all four number one seeds have never reached the Sweet 16 in four consecutive years. All four number one seeds have made the Sweet 16 in each of the last three seasons. Trouble! Down goes Memphis! Down goes Memphis! Down goes Memphis! SEC! SEC! SEC!

- Alright, now that we've already made one bad decision in this region, let's keep going - how about Temple over Michigan State in the opening round, which is backed by a few folks on ESPN because Drew Neitzel can be streaky.

- Marquette-Kentucky seems interesting, but here's what I'm wondering: with the Cats so happy to actually make the tournament for a change, and still without Patrick Patterson, will that affect their sense of urgency and play? Tubby didn't win them all, but he always, always got out of the first round. Billy Gillispie is harder to project simply because we haven't seen it yet...but then again, Tubby was never an 11 seed. I just don't think UK is good enough to beat Marquette. Then if you look at Marquette-Stanford in the second round, it becomes about what type of style you like. Though Marquette had a talent for getting drilled on the road, the Golden Eagles are one of those four or five teams in this tournament - like Tennessee was last year - that can play really well behind the arc to compliment the rest of their scoring, and if they get hot, they can beat anybody. They've got three proven scorers on the floor, while Stanford will go all Lopez on you inside. The saying that the NCAA Tournament is all about guard play is only true when your guards are making shots - witness Georgetown over UNC last year - and consequently, if they're not, the team with the big bodies is going to wear you out. But the best teams these days aren't just the big bodies - Ohio State was way, way more than Greg Oden last year - so in a game like this, who's going to do the additional scoring for Stanford? Marquette's best scorers in McNeal, Hayward and James are all better shooters than Stanford's Anthony Goods. The truth is, as I'm sure you can tell by the length of the analysis here, I really like both of these teams...but against each other, you've gotta go with Marquette.

- I think you pencil Texas into the Sweet 16. I think if Mississippi State can beat Memphis, they can make their way deeper to the Elite 8. If it's Texas vs. Stanford, then again for reasons described above, I think it's Texas no problem and then Texas all the way to the Final Four. However, if it's Texas vs. Marquette, who's going to be hotter? Because that would be an insanely fun game to watch. Augustin and Abrams are proven commodities, but perhaps there's also something to be said for a Texas team that makes it to Houston with Memphis out of the way taking Tom Crean's team for granted? I fully respect Texas, and the Vols have the double digit beatdown to prove it...but this is one of those "it just feels right" things, and like I said, filling out your Final Four with all 1 and 2 seeds isn't the way it's supposed to be done, right? Because remember, I've got Mississippi State on the other half of that Elite 8 equation. So ladies and gentlemen, SouthEastern Sports Blog is taking Marquette all the way to the Final Four. Like I said, didn't set out to do it that way at all, just went matchup to matchup. Now that I've said that, I'm sure the Kentucky faithful will take great joy in busting my bracket.

West Region
You might think UCLA has an easier road to the Final Four than Kansas does, as I said earlier. And Duke is generally perceived as the weakest of the 2 seeds. So how does anyone pick someone other than the Bruins in this region...well...

- I do think UCLA makes the Sweet 16 no problem. However, here's a stat for you: since John Wooden's days ended, only three schools have ever made three straight Final Fours: Duke in the early 90s, Kentucky in the mid 90s, and Michigan State in the early part of this decade. UCLA has been bounced in the finals and the semifinals the last two seasons. Maybe I put way too much emphasis on the idea of a team in that position taking the path for granted, but I've seen it enough to believe it: somewhere along the way, UCLA will lose before San Antonio.

- And while Drake is another one of those hot shooting teams, I don't think they'll be the ones to do it, because I think this is another case of low separation between mid-majors, and Western Kentucky is going to beat them in the opening round. Perhaps even WKU could be the ones to make a run and take down the Bruins, who knows. I like their chances, or Drake's, better than UConn's in that half of the bracket.

- I'm also not going SEC when it comes to the Georgia Bulldogs, who had an incredible weekend that now their fan base thinks translates into them being a national power. Typical. Anyway, teams that make the magical conference tournament run almost never play well in The Dance, and typically they get bounced right away (see Syracuse three dances ago or Arkansas in 2000). And plus, Xavier is no gift. Sorry Georgia.

- I think the most difficult first round game to pick in the entire bracket is West Virginia vs. Arizona. If Bob Huggins and Kevin O'Neill get in a fistfight, the money I spent on Mega March Madness will instantly be worth it. When push comes to shove here, I think West Virginia has been more consistent and Arizona is the program in turmoil, so I think it's more likely that they crack under pressure than come together. Mountaineers move on.

- And now that I've talked myself into not picking UCLA in this region, I've gotta do one of my least favorite things: project Duke to advance deep into the tournament. On Facebook's official bracket challenge run by CBS Sports, every entrant is allowed to enter their favorite team and their most despised team. And so of course, there's a decisive edge to North Carolina and Duke for favorite team, with UNC holding a slight edge. So it also makes sense that these are the two most hated teams, because they hate each other, which they are. But while it seems like all Duke fans hate Carolina (approx. 21,000 Duke fans on Facebook and around 27,000 Tar Heel haters), there's absolutely no contest for hatred in college basketball: a whopping 57,000 people list Duke as their most hated team, with Carolina in second some 30,000 people behind. Take pride, Duke. But really, here's another potentially hot shooting team, who I don't predict running into trouble until the Sweet 16. And in a Duke-Xavier matchup...it's just hard for me to look at that and not pick Duke. I know they lost to VCU last year. I know Xavier is good. I'm picking Duke anyway. If we're not going with UCLA, we're going with Duke then, aren't we?

Final Four
Looking back at this, it reads like I got bored halfway through and then just decided to spice things up: we've got Tennessee vs. Kansas on one half of the bracket, and Marquette vs. Duke on the other half. But we're rolling with it. Tennessee's road in my bracket already goes through Butler, Louisville, and North Carolina, so it might as well stay at the top with the Jayhawks. These two teams play a home and home the next two seasons, by the way. Kansas is deep and would present many of the same challenges that Memphis did. But obviously, if you're familiar with this blog, you know that if we've got the Vols going this far, we're not stopping now.

And really, this whole piece isn't "how can we construct an argument for Tennessee to win it all?" You don't have to do much construction this year - make threes, win the rebounding, keep them more than honest inside with Tyler Smith, and this time around, let's play defense eh? - but it's In Pearl We Trust, and again, I believe Tennessee is good enough to win six.

If number five is Kansas, I've got Duke over Marquette in that half at this point, just really because if this all actually happens (and if it somehow does, I'll be several thousand dollars richer between my bracket pools, because I'm not picturing many others with a Tennessee/Kansas/Marquette/Duke Final Four) we might as well get a chance to join the Duke hating too. And I'll admit, on a national level, I don't like Duke. At this point, it wouldn't be anything worse than what the Vols had already seen.

So yeah, you're stunned, but I'm picking Tennessee to win it all. That's the whole bracket. But right now in real life, I'm just focused on American University. One step at a time, six times. But one at a time. The Madness has clearly already begun on this blog.

Gut Reactions: Selection Sunday

First thoughts: Jimmy Dykes made this argument just before the brackets were announced, about the Vols' overall body of work being stronger than Kansas', but the Vols pickup the #2 seed anyway. I'm not upset about being grouped with North Carolina, the overall #1 seed - in fact, we should be happy about going to Charlotte instead of traveling a much greater distance to Houston, Phoenix or Detroit, because by that point you're going to be playing another good team.

And here's the point: nobody, from Bruce Pearl to Joe Fan like me, needs to be talking about not being a #1 seed now. We've all gotta win six games, no matter where you're seeded. Talking about "we should've been a number one seed, we're getting disrespected!" makes us sound whiny, and takes the focus off the task at hand. If Pearl wants to use that behind closed doors as motivation, fine. But no one, players nor coaches, needs to be worried about that now. I love the team that says "we'll play anybody, anywhere." The Vols need to be that team.

And they'd better be, because my second thought is this: this is the toughest road I could've imagined to the Final Four.

The general consensus is that the Vols are the #5 team on the line, the first team to not get a #1 seed and the best #2 seed. So therefore, as a #2 seed and the strongest, supposedly, #2 seed, the road at least to the Sweet 16, and theoretically to the Elite 8 on paper, should be favorable.

Now - I'm not saying we got screwed in the draw. I'm just saying, this is going to be a long road.

In 2006, the Vols got the surprising #2 seed, and after dodging Winthrop, faced the winner of Wichita State and Seton Hall. Had the Vols beaten Wichita State, they'd have caught George Mason in the Sweet 16. That road was easy - on paper, because of course, the Vols lost to Wichita state.

In 2007, the Vols got, probably, the best #5 seed, matched up with the lowest #4 seed, Virginia in the second round. Right away, you knew this was a great draw - you're in the bracket with #1 seed Ohio State, whom you'd played to the last possession on the road that January, and #2 seed Memphis, whom you'd beaten by 18 points in December. You felt like you could really make it to the Final Four against that draw, that these were all good matchups. The Vols were one possession away from beating Ohio State and getting a rematch with Memphis in the Elite 8.

In 2008, I'm seeing more negatives than positives.

I don't know anything about American, but we're going to say that since they're a #15 seed, the Vols should win. Then, the giant red flag jumps out: Butler. My first question is how they're seeded that low. My second question goes back to Madison Square Garden last season, where they slowed the Vols down, held us under 50 points, and beat us soundly. This is not a team or a style that I wanted to see at all, let alone in the second round. Then, the idea of playing Louisville in the Sweet 16 and the Tar Heels in the Elite 8 - and in large part, because you haven't seen the Vols play toe to toe with those teams the way you had with Ohio State and Memphis last year - but it's not the most favorable draw I could draw up. I think right now everyone would agree that North Carolina is the best team in the country. And of the following three seeds - Louisville, Stanford, Wisconsin and Xavier - the Cardinals are the best team out of that group for my money.

But then, when you stop thinking about how difficult the journey will be for a moment, you start to realize how fun it could be.

You can get a small measure of revenge against Butler, something the returning Vols from last season I'm sure want.

If it's Louisville, that'll amp up Chris Lofton. And there's still no coach in college basketball I'd rather beat than Rick Pitino, without question. (Though John Calipari is giving him a run for his money, by mentioning about ten teams as possibly the best in the country, but failing, of course, to name the Vols - the only team that beat them - as one of them just before the brackets were announced.)

And look, if you want to make the Final Four and win it all, you're going to have to beat the best teams sooner or later. To be the man, WOOOOOOOOOO, you've gotta beat the man. And North Carolina - whose coach is probably still bitter about Buzz Peterson, and is another team that spanked us last year - might as well be the man. Dick Vitale just said the East is the toughest bracket by far. So be it.

We'll talk about the Final Four when we get there. We can generally discuss that defense wins championships, and the Vols seemingly forgot how to play it in giving up 87 points to a South Carolina team that scored 56 against you twice in the regular season, and then 92 (and getting outrebounded) to Arkansas. That, of course, must improve. But I'm over the SEC Tournament right now. Tennessee should be too.

I believe that you still haven't seen Tennessee's best basketball. Now's the time. I believe that this road is incredibly difficult. But that shouldn't matter. I believe, one seed or two, that the Vols are capable of going the distance. And that starts not with North Carolina, Rick Pitino or Butler. It starts with American, Friday in Birmingham. Survive. Advance. Go Vols.

Live from Atlanta, with more weather and less basketball...

It's Saturday afternoon and decisions have been made by this point that will move the remainder of the SEC Tournament to the campus of Georgia Tech, while ticket holding fans are left holding them.  And while the majority of my friends and family who've called this morning might think otherwise, I do understand that decision.

After the Vols once again played with The Curse of the Georgia Dome before Chris Lofton hit one of the biggest shots of his career to give the Vols an 89-87 entertaining victory over South Carolina yesterday, which put the Vols on Saturday for the first time for 17 years, I stayed with my family and watched Arkansas/Vanderbilt.  Then we decided to sell our tickets to the night session, which three Mississippi State students were happy to take.  My sister lives in Atlanta and was going to take us to Ted's Montana Grill downtown, but when we got there the wait was 90 minutes, and so we decided to just go back to her house in Alpharetta for the evening.

Around two hours later, the inside of the Georgia Dome was shaking, and the windows were blown out of Ted's Montana Grill.  So yeah, I want to see the Vols play today...but I understand why I'm not.

The damage here, as seen from the local news stations (and the familiar face of Ted Hall), is profound, and the fact that as of yet there's no reported loss of life is miraculous.  And so as I write these brief words this morning, some Tennessee and Kentucky fans are complaining about the ticket situation, even some who aren't in Atlanta.  But look, the point that's not being made enough is that having thousands and thousands of people go back downtown into what's the equivalent of disaster area - whether that's 26,000 in the questionable Georgia Dome, or 9,000 on the nearby campus of Georgia Tech - either way, it's just not the best possible idea.

It's not fair for us.  It's not fair for Kentucky and Georgia, who'll have win three games in 29 hours to take home the trophy.  And it's not what anyone wants.  But under the circumstances, and there are simply bigger things going on here, I understand why to the SEC it's the best worst option.

So as the city cleans up, I'll be in front of the TV like everyone else at 6:00, to see if the Vols can knock off Arkansas.  And yeah, it would've been great to see the Vols and UK, or anyone, on Sunday in the finals (which are now at 3:00).  But I also know that in about a week, we'll move on to The Dance and this will be merely a memory, and a cool collector's item hat that I bought for $22.00 yesterday.  It'll be surreal to watch the games today...but the show, and life, must go on.

Final Thoughts on The Road to Atlanta

I'm at my parents' house in Knoxville, and in the morning I'll be heading to Atlanta bright and early to watch Tennessee put 17 years of history on the line against a team they've beaten by an average of 27 points in two games this season with a coach on the brink of retirement. There's not much to scout out about the Vols and the Gamecocks other than those facts, and again, because of two of them I'd throw the third one out. A team playing for their exiting head coach and a team that hasn't played on Saturday in the SEC Tournament since 1991 makes me throw out the previous two contests (though the keys to success - which start with stopping Devan Downey - remain the same) and wait and see. I will say that there's never been a better chance in the last 17 years to advance, which seems like just another, newer way we could be heartbroken in about 16 hours. Or we could win by 30 again. Again, we'll just see.

I will say that while you didn't really learn anything new in the first two games today, you did learn some things in the night session - that Florida is brutally young and you just forgot it because it says "FLORIDA" on their jerseys, that Alabama is really talented and they just forgot it all season long, and that Ole Miss - down 10 with 12 to play against the homestanding Georgia Bulldogs, who are, incidentally, making their only visit to the Georgia Dome of the 2007-08 athletic season - isn't really an NCAA Tournament team. At least right now.

After the Vols and Gamecocks kick things off tomorrow, you'll get Arkansas and Vanderbilt immediately following, and then Mississippi State/Alabama and Kentucky vs. the winner of the ongoing UGA/Ole Miss contest tomorrow night. Hopefully, we can think about potential Saturday matchups, again, in about 16 hours. But even playing the team we beat by 30 or so just five days ago...I'll believe it when I see it.

And I expect to see it soon.

First Look: EA Sports NCAA Football 09

I'm about a week late on this and I feel completely embarrassed by that fact. Nonetheless, EA Sports has launched ncaafootball09.com, and the countdown is on for July 15.

This season, EA has announced that four different athletes will be on the cover of the game for four different platforms (XBOX 360, PlayStation 2 & 3, PSP), while the game launches for the first time on Nintendo's Wii, and that cover will go to the winner of a nationwide mascot online voting contest. You can go to the new site and vote once per day for any mascot of any FBS (which still needs clarification that we're talking about Division 1) school. Right now, Smokey's outside the Top 10 and voting closes on Friday. The folks at EA can't be happy about Wazzou's mascot - who I can't even name off the top of my head, unless he's just generically named "Cougar" (insert your Top Gun jokes here) - who's leading the polls right now.

It's become the in thing the last two years to print your own covers and slap them on the game - which is why in my video game drawer right now you'll find Arian Foster on NCAA 07 and Erik Ainge on NCAA 08 - but I'm sure all the winning athletes and their respective universities will take the honor.

NCAA09 features a new engine that touts breakaway ability in the open field, with greater individual control when you've got the ball. We'll see about that, because a feature like that has to be tested hands-on to get the final verdict. But as usual, for most folks including myself, they could just update the rosters and ship out the exact same game as last year, and we'll still be happily in line on July 15.

With all that said, feast your eyes on the first (and only) cover (that matters), the XBOX 360:

SESB 2008 All-SEC Team

The coaches revealed their All-SEC picks today, and the AP selections will come later on. Ties are not broken in the selection process, so there are nine names on the coaches All-SEC first team, with only Shan Foster (Player of the Year) and Jamont Gordon being unanimous, and eight names on the second team. So while it's good to see Chris Lofton and Tyler Smith on the first team and JaJuan Smith on the third team, we'll be sticking with the five-to-a-squad traditional basketball rules, of course.


Also, Bruce Pearl shares Coach of the Year honors with Billy Gillispie, who apparently was rewarded for sucking so much for the first three months of the season that everyone now believes he's a great story over the last six weeks. And no, I won't take it back.


JP Prince did win Sixth Man of the Year.


If I had a vote, it'd go like this:


SESB All-SEC First Team
G Shan Foster, Vanderbilt
G Chris Lofton, Tennessee
F Jamont Gordon, Mississippi State
F Tyler Smith, Tennessee
C Charles Rhodes, Mississippi State


SESB All-SEC Second Team
G Devan Downey, South Carolina
G JaJuan Smith, Tennessee
F Richard Hendrix, Alabama
F Patrick Patterson, Kentucky
C AJ Ogilvy, Vanderbilt


SESB All-SEC Third Team
G Nick Calathes, Florida
G Joe Crawford, Kentucky
F Marreese Speights, Florida
F Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State
C Dwayne Curtis, Ole Miss

Spring Practice '08

The first real look at the 2008 Football Vols will take place over the next six weeks, starting tomorrow as spring practice ramps up. The Vols will just go Tuesday/Thursday this week before taking next week off for spring break. Upon returning, they'll go another 2-4 times a week until the Orange & White Game on Saturday, April 19 (which, by the way, is still free - that Gridiron Bash featuring country music stars I don't care about is the night before for the tidy sum of around $50.)

While you won't get all the answers over the next six weeks, these are the most important questions:

The State of the Program
The most important thing to know here is this: the Vols are still the Vols, and will still be good enough to win every game they play. Tennessee is still one of those six-star programs, and even though the competition will be as good as it's ever been - signified by four losses in 2007 - the Vols are good enough to rise above it - signified by the SEC Eastern Division Championship in 2007. As has been the case each of the last two seasons and will be in 2008, the Vols should be a preseason Top 15 team, good enough to be in the conversation but not expected to dominate it. The fact that Georgia and Florida will be expected to field Top 5 level teams will do nothing to temper expectations in Knoxville, which is exactly how it should be. As I'm sure I should change the motto of this website to reflect the fact that I've said this about a million times in discussing the last three college football seasons, the SEC is good enough to offer a very real challenge every single Saturday, and the Vols are good enough to answer it.

New Faces on Staff...
Dave Clawson's offense becomes less talking and more walking starting tomorrow, and while the finished product won't be on display until August, this should be the most interesting spring practice we've had around here in awhile, and Clawson's offense should up the numbers at the Orange & White Game. With that territory comes the fact that every practice, and especially the Orange & White game, will be scrutinized by the media and especially the fanbase. This level of scrutiny, unfair or no, will be brand new for Clawson, and he should use this spring as his own practice in handling it when he faces it for real in the September heat. However, Clawson's level of success depends greatly on...

New Face(s?) at Quarterback
Now, I think that Jonathan Crompton is the man, and will be the man for the next two years, save for a few brief glimpses of Gerald Jones. However, the media and some fans are trying to make this into a competition, which hopefully Crompton will use to make himself better. As a true freshman thrown to the wolves, he performed better than anyone expected in losses to LSU and Arkansas. Erik Ainge stayed healthy all year last season, so the most enduring images of Crompton are still from 2006. But one that everyone enjoyed was him taking on LaRon Landry and the LSU defense head on during a downfield run, and jumping up with excitement after it was over. He's 6'4" 220, and will make defenders think twice if Clawson wants to use him that way. At the very least, he adds another dimension. Ainge, SEC Championship Game aside, became excellent at getting the ball to the right man at the right time, and was highly prolific under David Cutcliffe. Jonathan Crompton, both running and passing, must become prolific. He'll benefit greatly from the presence of Arian Foster, Montario Hardesty and Lennon Creer at tailback, and our offensive line is our greatest strength right now, but as Clawson's success is tied directly to Crompton, Crompton's success is tied directly to:

Wide Receivers: Encore?
The biggest question mark at this point last year revolved around the wideouts, who didn't make you feel good about things until the fall, but then they answered all the questions. And every single one of them is back. However, it's a new quarterback, a new system, and it must be noted that Trooper Taylor is no longer in charge. Lucas Taylor, Austin Rogers and Josh Briscoe will again get the 1-2-3 in the rotation this spring, but perhaps more importantly, spring ball can be used to establish some separation among the second group. Between Quentin Hancock, Denarius Moore, Gerald Jones, and Kenny O'Neal, can someone step up and become an asset to this offense? There will be balls to be had, especially with Chris Brown having graduated (and the mystery of Brandon Warren continues). Whether the numbers themselves rise or fall, this group has shown it can be reliable, and now it must continue to do so and become even more of an asset. This offense may not have any Heisman parts, but when you put them all together - Crompton, highly experienced tailbacks, proven wide receivers and an excellent offensive line - the whole could be very good.

Who will play defensive end?
Antonio Reynolds and Xavier Mitchell, gone. Along with all the starting experience. And so while Demonte Bolden and Dan Williams both return at tackle, the end space is wide open. These holes must be filled quickly, because rushing the passer - which the Vols struggled so mightily at until late last year - is a key component to the John Chavis defense, and that starts up front and off the edge. Robert Ayers will get the very first shot, and I really like his motor - he played the hunter in the Arkansas game and lived behind the line - but he'll need that motor to be cranked up all the time this season. The other spot could go to Wes Brown if you like experience, or Ben Martin if you like raw talent. Both will have their shot, along with other career backups like Andre Mathis and Chris Walker. However, it's more troubling when you consider that this isn't our biggest problem on the team or on defense, it's this one:

I challenge you to name our third starting linebacker right now.
We all know Rico McCoy. I'll give you Ellix Wilson and his one career start for free. Now. Go ahead. Tell me who the third guy is. Because this is the problem - it's not like we're choosing from all these experienced backups, or that we even have a good idea like at defensive end. This thing is wide open with lots of room for error. There's Adam Myers-White. There's Nevin McKenzie, who makes you say "hey, I know him!", but that's been as a nickel back and a human missile on corner blitzes, not as an every down player and never as a linebacker. Then there's a bunch of guys you only know if you followed recruiting last year - Savion Frazier, Nick Reveiz, LaMarcus Thompson. Both at end and at LB, spring practice is the proving ground, because there is definitely playing time to be had. Opposite problem in the secondary...

Who are the best four guys on the field at DB?
Eric Berry, Antonio Gaines, DeAngelo Willingham, Brent Vinson, Demetrice Morley, Marsalous Johnson, Dennis Rogan. Pick four. And yeah, take Berry and then pick three. The only real question with Morley is how quickly he can get back up to speed, but he'll be ready to go tomorrow. The other guys all have positives and negatives, but the Vols simply have to find the best combination and then roll with it. I really can't remember a time in my Tennessee football lifetime where the defense relied on the secondary to bail it out, but well, here we are. Better study up on the term "coverage sack". And last but not least...

Who punts the first five games of the season?
While Britton Colquitt is off giving John Adams material, somebody's gotta punt. And if you roll your eyes at the notion of this being an important spring topic, remember that it was arguably inexperienced Colquitt more than anyone else who got us beat at Florida in 2005, and inexperienced David Leaverton who almost did the same at UCLA in 1997. It should be Chad Cunningham filling this role, and we're not asking for greatness - we're just asking that you don't get us beat. The rest of the special teams news is all good - Daniel Lincoln and Dennis Rogan are both back, and are both difference makers. Maybe we can put the special in special teams in a different sort of way in 2008.

It's a learning process this spring, and again, the real answers won't come until August 30 and thereafter. But you'll begin to see the pieces come together. And, you know, once the basketball team wins the National Championship, maybe we can celebrate it at halftime of the Orange & White. Because that would be a feasible reason to come in for it, yeah?

Championship Week '08

The madness continues...between trying to live my life and pastor my circuit, and trying to find time to sit down and write out my thoughts about the huge upcoming week in college basketball conference tournaments and the start of Tennessee's football spring practice tomorrow (by the way, Mel Kiper currently projects Jerod Mayo to the Titans at #21), I picked up Super Smash Bros. Brawl for my Wii on Sunday, and it's been one continuous flood of childhood memories since. Aside from the addictive fun gameplay, the soundtrack to this thing is 300+ titles deep and contains everything from the familiar to the obscure in Nintendo video game history. When I go to seminary, I absolutely cannot take any video games with me. Seriously.

So, anyway, now trying to squeeze in some time before Raw's three hour show tonight, here's what we're looking at this week in college basketball:

If the season ended today, I think the Vols would find themselves good enough to earn a #1 seed, but not quite good enough to earn the #1 overall seed, or to surpass North Carolina for the valuable East/Charlotte region. If it comes down to the Vols and UNC and it's close, I just cannot see the majority of the selection committee giving an edge to the Vols over THE North Carolina Tar Heels.

Right now, I'd say you've got four #1 seeds and five teams in the running for them this week: UCLA, Memphis, North Carolina, Tennessee, and the winner of the Big 12 Tournament if it comes down to Kansas and Texas. I think Duke's home loss to a fully healthy Carolina team will keep them off the first line, even if they win the ACC Tournament, barring colossal upsets in the early rounds of the other conference tournaments.

Both ESPN and SI's current bracket projections back all of this up, both listing the Vols as a #1 seed but both putting UNC in Charlotte. So the Vols can only do what they can do - try to win in Atlanta thru the weekend - and hope that Carolina takes a tumble, preferably as soon as possible. And really, I'm not concerned about the #1 overall seed business - as we said here earlier, the only real threat for the Charlotte region is Carolina. So you won't have to do much scoreboard watching outside the ACC Tournament to get a sense of what's in Tennessee's best interest.

Here's the field and the breakdown in Atlanta (all games are Raycom/ESPN Full Court until the finals on Sunday, which will be on CBS nationally):

2008 SEC TOURNAMENT - ATLANTA
First Round - Thursday
Game 1: W4 LSU vs. E5 South Carolina - 1:00 PM
Game 2: E3 Vanderbilt vs. W6 Auburn - 3:15 PM
Game 3: E4 Florida vs. W5 Alabama - 7:30 PM
Game 4: W3 Ole Miss vs. E6 Georgia - 9:45 PM

Quarterfinals - Friday
Game 5: E1 Tennessee vs. Game 1 winner - 1:00 PM
Game 6: W2 Arkansas vs. Game 2 winner - 3:15 PM
Game 7: W1 Mississippi State vs. Game 3 winner - 7:30 PM
Game 8: E2 Kentucky vs. Game 4 winner - 9:45 PM

Semifinals - Saturday
Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner - 1:00 PM
Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner - 3:15 PM

Championship Game - Sunday
Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner - 1:00 PM

So, like we said, the Vols can only do what they can do - and dadgummit, it's time to do something in the SEC Tournament - and the Georgia Dome - for a change.

One year ago, on the heels of the SEC Tournament in the Georgia Dome and my second straight year of buying the full book of tickets up front, here's what I wrote on this blog:

March 7, 2007
Live from Knoxville, en route to Atlanta for what I hope is a long stay for the weekend...

Last year a friend of mine and I bought tickets to the SEC Tournament on ebay for slightly higher than face value. The 06 tournament was in Nashville, and their smaller venue, the Gaylord Entertainment Center. As a result, ticket prices were approaching astronomical rates on ebay, and I thought we got a pretty good deal for seats in the upper level, relatively speaking.

The tournament operates in six sessions - two on Thursday, two on Friday, the semifinals on Saturday and the championship game on Sunday, and you get a ticket to each session (one ticket for two games on Thursday/Friday sessions). The Vols had a first round bye as Eastern Division champions in 2006, and played in the opening game on Friday morning. So we left Knoxville around 8:00 AM on Friday morning, five hours before the Vols were set to face "lowly" South Carolina, heavily intoxictaed with Bruce Pearl's kool-aid and locked in for a long weekend.

The Vols played the opening game on Friday. They lost by eight points.

Instantly, it becomes "this sucks, let's go home." No long weekend. No "let's watch Florida and LSU and Kentucky." No good stories. No great return on our investment, financially or otherwise. This was easily the most expensive, least satisfying sports related trip I've ever been on.

So this year, the Vols are playing on Thursday, and they're playing in the final game (approx. 9:45 PM, but it'll actually be after 10:00 before the tip if history holds). And so you can bet the house that I'll be in my seat at 1:00 tomorrow, locked in to Kentucky and Alabama. Because I'm getting something for my money this year, should the Vols flame out.

I spent less than six hours in this environment last year due to the Vols' early exit, but you could tell that the SEC Tournament had great potential. You just don't see fans from all 12 schools in one place at one time, with large representation from Kentucky (by far the leader), Tennessee, Florida, Alabama and Arkansas. With the tournament in Atlanta, I'm sure Georgia will bring folks over from Athens this year. So hopefully, I've have something more to say on this after the weekend. Because I'm still drinking Bruce Pearl's kool-aid.

That said, what will it take for Tennessee to make a good showing in Atlanta?

Vols in the SEC Tournament History
When the SEC Tournament was reinstated in 1979, Tennessee won it by beating Kentucky in the finals. Since then, the trophy case is empty.

The real kicker comes in the modern era, when the SEC expanded to 12 teams beginning in 1992. The previous season, with Wade Houston at the helm and Allan Houston on the floor, the Vols went 9-21 in the regular season, 3-15 in the SEC. Then the Vols went to Nashville for the SEC Tournament, and magic started happening. The Vols beat Ole Miss in the first round 94-85. In the second round, playing #18 Mississippi State, who had beaten the Vols by 27 points a month earlier, Tennessee woke up. The Vols pounded MSU 87-70. Which was a nice story, but no one figured it would last. In the semifinals against Georiga - who had beaten the Vols by 21 points earlier in the season - Tennessee rolled, 85-65. Suddenly, this team was one win away from making the NCAA Tournament with a 9-21 regular season record. The dream died hard in the second half against #24 Alabama in the finals, as the Vols eventually fell 88-69. But those four days in Nashville were magic - I remember laying on my parents' couch and crying when we lost to Alabama.

That was 1991. That was the last time the Vols have played on Saturday in the SEC Tournament.

It's true. Tennessee has the worst record in the SEC Tournament since the league expanded to 12 teams. All 11 other teams have made at least one trip to the Saturday semifinals. But not the Vols.

And it's not that we haven't had our chances. In the 1996 Tournament, with the Vols still feeling the negative effects of the Wade Houston era, Tennessee needed one win to lock up a bid to the NIT Tournament. And Steve Hamer turned in a monster performance as the Vols beat Alabama 77-65. Believe it or not, that was a really big deal at the time. Tennessee did lose the following round, and then lost a heartbreaker to College of Charleston in the opening round of the NIT.

By the way, I'm pretty sure I saw Steve Hamer walk past me to his seats at the Florida game in Knoxville. My season tickets are on the second row of the upper deck. Hamer was sitting something like 20 rows behind me. It's Steve Hamer. C'mon Bruce, hook the man up!

In Jerry Green's first season in 1998, the Vols got the all-important 20th win by beating LSU in the opening round of the SEC Tournament, which locked up an NCAA bid. The Vols then lost one of the most entertaining games I've ever seen, 102-96 to #17 Arkansas in the second round, before losing another heartbreaker to Illinois State in the opening round of the dance. But again, it may not seem like it now, but at the time that was a very big deal.

The bad news starts in 1999, as the Vols began to be good enough to think about winning the SEC Tournament. At 20-7 and ranked #18, winners of six straight including Florida and Kentucky to win the Eastern Division Championship, the Vols headed to Atlanta with a first round bye...and then got bounced by Mississippi State 62-56. This was stunning, only to be topped a week later by the infamous 81-51 loss to SW Missouri State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. This was John Ward's final broadcast, which makes me sick.

The following year, back in Atlanta, the Vols were SEC Champions (in a four-way tie) and 24-5, ranked #6. The Vols were thinking about a number one seed. Read that again. This was Tennessee's most talented team since Ernie & Bernie. East Champions for the second straight year, they again get the Thursday bye, and this time it's South Carolina...and down we go again, 75-68. The Vols went from a 1 or 2 seed to a 4, but still made it to the Sweet 16 before losing to North Carolina. But oh, what could've been...

The 2001 season tailspun from 16-1 and ranked #4 to 18-9 and unranked, before the Vols won three straight to close the regular season. They almost blew something like a 30 point lead over Auburn in the first round of the SEC Tournament before winning, then got it handed to them by Ole Miss 86-73 in the second round. Jerry Green's final game would be a first round loss to UNC-Charlotte in the NCAAs.

Buzz Peterson's snakebitten 2002 team needed two wins in the SEC Tournament to qualify for the NIT. They got the first one over Arkansas 68-61, then lost to a very good #8 Alabama team 91-72. His 2003 team got screwed more in one week than any Tennessee team of any sport in history. The Vols finished the regular season 17-10, 9-7 in the SEC. Only one team in history had missed the Dance with a 9-7 SEC record. The Vols figured an easy win in the first round of the SEC Tournament would be the final padding on the resume.

Then Georgia got disqualified from the entire tournament, thanks to Jim Harrick, and instead of playing a pasty West team in the first round, the Vols got Georgia's automatic bye. Now, the one win they needed in the SEC Tournament would be in the form of the more imposing Auburn. Then Jon Higgins was kicked off the team for academic reasons. The Vols lost to Auburn, finished 17-11, and got left out of the NCAA Tournament, while 7-9 Alabama got in. I was driving to Myrtle Beach for spring break during Selection Sunday, and remember being on the phone with my friend, incredulous that we were left out...while stuck in Darlington post-race traffic.

Already locked into the NIT in 2004, the Vols ran into a buzzsaw in Alabama in the first round and were routed 84-49. This is when Ron Grizzard hit six threes in the first half, a couple of them while falling down that Lofton would've been proud of. I mean, what are you supposed to do about that?

Buzz Peterson's last stand in 2005 included a first round victory over Arkansas in very convincing fashion, before falling to #4 Kentucky 76-62. All of that "Is Buzz already fired? Will winning the SEC Tournament save him?" (yes. no.) talk was moot.

So for all the good that Bruce Pearl has done in Knoxville...he couldn't shake this one off. As already explained at the start of this one, the Vols walked into Nashville as the #1 seed in 2006...and walked right back out, 79-71 to South Carolina.

This is the biggest black mark when it comes to records and history and tradition in the entire Tennessee athletic department. I challenge you to find something that even comes close to our futility in the SEC Tournament. Once again - haven't won it since 1979, haven't made it to the semifinals since 1991, have won the Eastern Division three times and have been upset on Friday three times.

At least we won't have to worry about that one this year.

And then, there's this...

The Curse of the Georgia Dome
As we've just seen, it's not that we have a rosy SEC Tournament history anyway. But the Vols are 3-7 in the Georgia Dome in basketball. The monumental upset losses to Mississippi State and South Carolina in 99/00? Georgia Dome. Ron Grizzard's six threes? Georgia Dome. Buzz Peterson's last game? Georgia Dome.

The football team, the savior of the athletic department? Conspiracy theorists, unite.

The Vol football team has played six games in the Georgia Dome. They won the first two - the SEC Championships in 1997 and 1998. In 1997, the Vols turned the ball over six times and still won, 30-29 over Auburn. In 1998, Tennessee forgot how to play offense and gave up touchdowns on a punt return and an INT return. Still won, because 1998 cancels out all bad vibes, 24-14 over Mississppi State. 2-0, but two painfully bad performances.

In 2001, the #1 most heartbreaking game in UT football history, by far, don't argue - the 31-20 SEC Championship loss to LSU with a spot in the National Championship Game on the line. I can't bear to write anymore about this.

And then there are the Peach Bowls. Two embarassing performances, be it getting blown out by Maryland in 2002, or thinking that we're Florida State or Miami and trying to fight everyone on Clemson's team in 2003. Both losses, the first the punctuation mark on an 8-5 2002 season, the second a missed opportunity to finish in the top five (the Vols, for the forgetful, were ranked #6 going into that Clemson game).

The most recent trip, the 2004 SEC Championship Game, was what some people will call a "good loss", but we don't use that term in Knoxville. Undefeated Auburn beat the Vols 38-28, in a game that Tennessee did rally and tie 21-21 in the third quarter. But a loss is a loss is a loss.

Six games, two wins, zero good performances. In fact, the closest thing to a good performance in the Georgia Dome probably is the 2004 game that we lost. Tennessee does not play well in the Georgia Dome. Period. So we're hoping to change that.

Since that was written, the Vols went out and lost to LSU in overtime the very next night in the 2007 SEC Tournament, then went out and lost to (eventual National Champion, but still) LSU in the Georgia Dome in the SEC Championship Game in December. So both streaks are fully and embarassingly intact.

So...deep breaths, everyone...after dropping another $260.00 this year (and with much greater faith, having paid for these tickets back in August and being rewarded with the 16th row, woo hoo!) why is this time going to be different than all the others?

The competition makes me nervous. It's good to get the first round bye and the rest, but the result is that you usually don't run into terrible teams from that point. First there's LSU, reborn under Butch Pierre and playing with zero to lose, and this is already a team that defended the Vols - by far - better than anyone all year, and were a possession away from beating us, 47-45. LSU, as stated, is the team that put us out of the tournament last year.

Then there's South Carolina. And yes, I'm aware that in our two meetings this season, the Vols won 80-56 in Columbia and 89-56 yesterday in Knoxville. But the issue is Dave Odom, who's retiring at the end of this season. So all these Gamecocks know that the next loss is his last, so if they manage to beat LSU - and I think they will (LSU won the regular season meeting under Coach Butch 62-55 in Columbia) - they'll carry that x-factor into Friday morning. The Gamecocks also won back to back NIT Tournaments this decade under Odom, so he knows how to work tournaments. And South Carolina is the other team to one-and-done Bruce Pearl's Vols in this very tournament. This history is bad all around.

Let's dream for a moment that the Vols "escape" on Friday and advance to the Saturday semifinals for the first time in 17 years. Bruce Pearl, by the way, already put in the "convoy down I-75 for the weekend" plug, and I'll note that for any Vol fans reading who are thinking about doing the Saturday/Sunday bit, there will be tickets to be had on the streets, and the second Kentucky goes out, the potential for getting seats increases exponentially. Saturday, they'd face either Arkansas, Vanderbilt or Auburn. Let's assume Vandy deals with Auburn and plays the Hogs. Arkansas won this encounter in Fayetteville 78-73 two weeks ago. Vanderbilt was undefeated at home and only 2-6 on the road in the SEC, and those two were Georgia and South Carolina. How will they fare at a neutral venue? They should handle Auburn, but Arkansas travels pretty well in basketball, probably better than Vanderbilt fans (cause they'll be studying, zing!) Because of the road record, the Dores need some wins in this weekend to improve their NCAA seeding.

Meanwhile, is Arkansas in or out? They're 20-10, 9-7 in the SEC. At this point, I think you have to believe that Kentucky is a lock after beating Florida to get to 12-4 (and proving their worth without Patrick Patterson), even if they lose on Friday night. So the Cats will/should join the Vols, Dores and Mississippi State on the dance floor. Florida, Ole Miss and Arkansas all go to Atlanta with hopes, but all must know they need a win or two, and Arkansas won't get a favorable first round matchup to do it in. The Rebels are getting some love from the talking heads on ESPN, but they're 7-9 in the SEC, and unless they advance past both Florida and Arkansas this weekend, I don't see how you let them in and keep either of the others out (this is the Tennessee argument from 2003 that didn't work out). But the Rebels may have the easiest road, catching the short-handed Cats late Friday night and playing opposite the Vols until Sunday.

What will it take for Tennessee to advance and win this thing? I think the most pressure we'll face all weekend will be Friday, because the 17 years of baggage could get heavy if we struggle. If the Vols can find a way, by 1 or 100, to win on Friday, I think we'll be fast and loose over the weekend, and at our very best with a home-like environment. Make no mistake, the only fanbase that will outnumber the Vols in Atlanta will be Kentucky, and we wouldn't see them until Sunday's finals (and if I can dream, wouldn't that be fun). That same dream scenario includes another rematch with Vanderbilt on Saturday, to win the season series against the two SEC teams that beat us once. But no matter the competition, I think the Vols will gain so much confidence and comfort from a Friday win, that they can push through to victory against anyone else. Talent-wise, I think only Vanderbilt and Mississippi State can compete with us when we're at our best, and you have to throw Kentucky in that mix come this time of year. But the Vols have shown they're capable of turning on the afterburners and leaving others in the dust.

So we'll see. This week in Atlanta won't make or break us, but aside from getting off the weekend slump, this is a chance to lock down a #1 seed and continue to improve and play our best basketball at the right time of year. I can't begin to tell you what it would be like on Saturday against Vanderbilt or Sunday in the finals, because we've never seen it. And it all starts on Friday for the Vols, no looking ahead. But I think you'll continue to learn about this team over the next week, and hopefully those will be positive lessons.

The regular season is done and we've got the hats and t-shirts to prove its success. The Dance awaits. Inbetween is this opportunity to again separate ourselves from everyone else in this conference. 17 years of history can come to an end on Friday. And it could only get better from there over the weekend. Bring your wallets and your orange. Expect to win.

What's at stake this weekend...

Four games today, two tomorrow in the SEC to wrap up the regular season, along with several other high-profile non-conference games, including Georgetown just wrapping up the Big East Championship 55-52 over Louisville in a highly entertaining game. Duke and Carolina will go tonight in a game with #1 seed implications - the best case scenario for the Vols is for whoever wins tonight to lose in the ACC Tournament. And Championship Week is getting in gear already, with several small conference tournaments wrapping up and the mid-majors getting set to take center stage, before the big six kick things off later in the week.

What to watch for this weeked in the SEC:

SATURDAY
Vanderbilt at Alabama - 2:00 PM - Raycom/ESPN Full Court
Along with playing for NCAA seeding and trying to get another road win to boost their already impressive undefeated season at home, Vanderbilt can still secure the #2 seed in the East and a first round bye with a win today and a Kentucky loss tomorrow. Meanwhile, Alabama is 15-15 and Mark Gottfried's job is rumored to be in jeopardy. The Tide can virtually lock up an NIT bid if they win at home today, but a loss puts them one game under .500, meaning they'd need two wins in Atlanta to get there.

LSU at Mississippi State - 4:00 PM - Raycom/ESPN Full Court
State has locked up the SEC West and is only playing to improve their NCAA seeding, while LSU - 5-3 under Butch Pierre - has won four straight and can still get the #3 seed in the West with a win and an Ole Miss loss. The Tigers are too far under .500 (13-16) to really think about the NIT, but they've got plenty of momentum right now and could make a run in Atlanta.

Ole Miss at Georgia - 4:00 PM
Anyone still considering the Rebels (20-9, 6-9 SEC) for their NCAA brackets knows they absolutely must win this game. Winning gets them the #3 seed in the West and keeps them away from Tennessee, meaning they could pick up an additional set of wins next week that they desperately need. Dennis Felton is another coach on the hot seat in Athens, Georgia is 13-15 and 4-11 in the SEC and needs a win plus the Vols to beat South Carolina to even think about getting the #5 seed, which would then come down to a coin flip. And it'd really be better to finish as the #6 seed in the East, again, so as to avoid Tennessee. But they're probably not going to win anyway.

Auburn at Arkansas - 6:00 PM - ESPN Classic
Arkansas is another team who absolutely has to win today - at 19-10, 8-7 in the conference they've locked up the #2 West seed, but that also means they won't get an easy date in Atlanta, as they'll be in Tennessee's half of the bracket and they'll most likely see either Kentucky or Vanderbilt on Friday. 20 wins and 9 wins in the SEC has been enough every single year to get a team to the dance. We'll see...meanwhile, Auburn is in Alabama's boat, 14-14 and needing to win this one to get to the NIT. Both Alabama teams are playing to stay out of the SEC West basement.

SUNDAY
Florida at Kentucky - 12:00 PM - CBS
Two bubble teams in a game of survivor at Rupp Arena. For Atlanta, the Gators are locked into the East #4 seed, while UK can stay at #2 if Vandy loses, or by winning here. For the dance, Florida is 21-9 but only 8-7 in the SEC, and has only one marquee win all season, at home against Vanderbilt. UK is 17-11, 11-4, and a team with 12 SEC wins would be virtually impossible to keep out of the dance methinks. Fun stat: Kentucky's seniors have never beaten Florida.

South Carolina at Tennessee - 2:00 PM - Raycom/ESPN Full Court
The top teams in the country keep winning, so the Vols must do the same to stay in the #1 seed race. A win maintains the Vols' home court winning streak and would complete a second straight year of going undefeated at TBA, and will send seniors Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith and Jordan Howell off right. For Carolina, it's Dave Odom's last regular season game. We could easily see the rematch on Friday in Atlanta.

Top 5 Personal Favorite WrestleMania Moments

While fall Saturdays will always be my favorite time of year, March will give everything else a run for its money when the Vols are good at basketball. Right now, with the postseason college blitz about to begin and both the men and women in real contention for championships in Knoxville, with the Celtics adding Sam Cassell and now gearing up for their own playoff run, set to begin as soon as March Madness winds down (and when your team has a legitimate shot to win the title, the NBA Playoffs are just about the most exciting thing in sports with games every other night for two solid nights), with the Braves and baseball ready to go again and everyone feeling hopeful, and with The Masters right around the corner, and of course, spring practice set to begin at Neyland Stadium on Tuesday...you can see how you're always entertained this month.

As such, it's easy for things to get lost in the shuffle, but one of the other things that adds to the excitement of the month is WrestleMania, the annual Super Bowl of wrestling that draws both the rabid and the casual WWE fan to the television. I'd fall somewhere inbetween these days, but I'm still looking forward to it, will still throw down the cash to see it, and it still makes me nostalgic, because as any real wrestling fan will always tell you, it's never as good as it used to be.

This Monday on a special three hour Raw, all of the matches will be rematches from previous WrestleManias. As such, and as there's really nothing better to do here on a Friday night, it got me playing nostalgic back to my own personal favorite WrestleMania moments.

Now, I came to WWF/E in the spring of 1997, after WrestleMania 13. So although I'm certainly familiar with the history, as these are my personal favorites and all of which I saw live, you won't see Hogan slam Andre, Shawn Michaels and Razor on a ladder, iron man matches or Steve Austin busted open in the Sharpshooter. And as I left wrestling in early 2003 and didn't pick it back up until moving to Virginia a year and a half ago, you won't see Chris Benoit's title win, Steve Austin's last match or Shawn Michaels' return against Chris Jericho or Kurt Angle. But inbetween, these are the five moments that grabbed me the most, both in the moment and today looking back. Some are still famous and some less so, but all are a small part of why WrestleMania is what it is.

5. Brawl for All: Butterbean vs. Bart Gunn
WrestleMania XV - March 28, 1999 - Philadelphia
In the months leading up to WrestleMania XV, WWF had been running a tournament called "Brawl for All", where they took mostly lesser-known guys on the roster and put them in a real boxing tournament. As none of them were trained boxers, you had a mixed bag every night you saw it on Raw - some of the matches were brutal to watch because neither of the guys were any good, but some were entertaining simply because as non-boxing specialists...well, they weren't the best at protecting themselves, and occasionally you saw some really good knockdowns.

Among the guys who were in it, a couple stood out, most notably Bart Gunn. Gunn had originally been teamed with his "brother" Billy, who would go on to his own fame as one half of DX's New Age Outlaws, winning the tag team championship five times. But Bart was a minor player at best when the Brawl for All came around.

Since the Brawl for All was 100% real, WWF couldn't really tell who to push going in. "Dr. Death" Steve Williams was presumably in the midst of a real push, and then Bart Gunn knocked him out in the second round. Then he beat Bradshaw in the finals, and would end up getting his own solid push.

Trying to capitalize on this momentum, as Gunn had delivered a couple of really good shots during his 4-0 run through the tournament, when WrestleMania came around, they booked Gunn to face Butterbean in a real Brawl for All match. The match was well hyped, as you'll see below, and carried a real level of interest, since it was, again, very real.

Check out the video...you'll note that it's 3:26 in length. The actual bell to bell action represents about :30 of that.




In thirty seconds, Butterbean effectively ended the career of Bart Gunn in the WWF. He was released shortly thereafter, never pushed again. Shockingly, nothing like this has been tried since, even though this year's WrestleMania will feature Floyd Mayweather against the 7'0"+ Big Show, though something tells me that'll be scripted.


4. Tables Ladders & Chairs 2
WrestleMania XVII - April 1, 2001 - Houston
The bell curve of violence in the WWE hit its apex here. What started with Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon on a ladder seven years before had been jacked up significantly by the arrival of two things: the Hell in a Cell match, and Mick Foley.

When Hell in a Cell was introduced in October 1997, Shawn Michaels broke new ground by having The Undertaker send him off the side of the 20 foot high structure through the announce table below. That clip today looks mild, but at the time it was the most violent and risk-taking thing you'd ever seen. Then when Mick Foley stepped inside one in June 1998, he broke the mold by having Undertaker send him off the top, (accidentally) through the roof, and onto thumbtacks on three separate occassions. While that match still stands as the most insanely violent display in WWE history, the bar continued to be raised over the next several years, just in different ways.

Ladder matches had come and gone since Shawn and Razor, but the intensity and originality of the first one had yet to be topped. That all changed the previous year at WrestleMania, when Jeff & Matt Hardy took on Edge & Christian and The Dudley Boys in a ladder match for the tag team championships. With six risk-takers in the ring, the stakes were raised significantly. The match went over so well that the situation was repeated at SummerSlam that August, but instead of calling it a ladder match, they called it a TLC (Tables, Ladders & Chairs) Match, with each team having used one of the factors predominantly in the months leading up: the Dudleys' thing was to throw people through tables, Edge & Christian used a finishing move called the ConChairTo, and well, the Hardys' were good at high spots off ladders.

The SummerSlam match was an instant classic, and so WWE figured if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The rematch was set for WrestleMania XVII. This time around, the match added run-ins for each team, with Spike Dudley, Rhyno and Lita joining the action at various points. This made for nine bodies in the ring, and a match unlike anything that's been done before or since. The action and violence in this thing kept going higher and higher and higher, all the way to the finish. Never, in any other match, had you seen so many highspots, and it was just like one continual game of "can you top this?"

When it was over, I think WWE figured they couldn't top it, both in terms of highspots and for the safety of their guys. Jeff Hardy and Edge have gone on to great individual success in WWE, and Christian likewise in TNA Wrestling today. But no matter how long their careers, they probably won't put anything out there as crazy as what you saw in 20 minutes on this night. Here's 4:00 worth of highlights below - remember, this is all the same match.




3. Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels
WrestleMania XIV - March 29, 1998 - Boston
The night the torch was passed. Shawn Michaels had been headlining WrestleMania and the WWF for three years, but a number of factors led to this being the definitive night that Michaels' time was over, and Stone Cold Steve Austin's time had begun.

This came during the peak of the Monday Night Wars, when WCW and WWF were neck and neck for ratings and both companies were putting on excellent shows. The "Attitude Era" of WWF had begun, most will say, in the months leading up to this night. Steve Austin had been legitimately injured at SummerSlam in August 1997 when Owen Hart nearly paralyzed him. Austin's subsequent four month absence put his rise to the top on hold temporarily. That same August night, Bret Hart won his fifth WWF Championship, which fully put the wheels in motion for the most infamous night in wrestling history at The Montreal Screwjob that November, when Shawn Michaels would "win" his third title. The formation of D-Generation X and the rise of Austin, The Rock and Mick Foley were all underway at this point...but it was still Michaels' show as the champion.

That changed in January 1998, when - in a move that still looks relatively tame - Undertaker sent Shawn Michaels flying over the top rope in a casket match, and Michaels overshot the casket and instead of landing flush, hit the small of his back on the edge of the casket and went flying off, crushing a disc in his back and herniating two others. Michaels would finish the match, and Steve Austin would win the Royal Rumble later that night to set up the WrestleMania main event, but Michaels couldn't wrestle again between that night and WrestleMania.

This fact was covered up by the inclusion of Mike Tyson to the fray, who joined the main event as a special guest referee and appeared on television several times leading up to the contest. Most folks knew that Michaels was hurt, but didn't know how bad, and most assumed that Steve Austin, the crowd favorite, would be winning his first title at WrestleMania anyway. But when that night in Boston unfolded, no one knew how bad Michaels was hurt, and no one thought at all that it would be the last time they'd see Shawn Michaels in a WWF ring for almost five years.

Now, I'm biased because Shawn Michaels has always been my favorite wrestler. But his guts through real pain and injury on this night helped him keep his status as the best main event performer in WWF/E history - the fact that he was hurt had no impact on the quality of the match, as he still took every bump and every spot, and worked long into the night with Austin in the main event. Injury or no, it was Austin's time - but Shawn's performance on this night was legendary through the pain.




Sadly, this would be the second and the last meeting between these two icons. Michaels was out of wrestling from this night in March 98 until his dramatic and triumphant return in August 02, and during that time Austin rose to his iconic status. But by the time Michaels came back, Austin was also riddled with injuries and was on his way out; his last match would come in March 03 at WrestleMania XIX, and the two never crossed paths again.

2. Steve Austin vs. The Rock
WrestleMania XVII - April 1, 2001 - Houston
Speaking of Austin's last match, the two icons of our time, Steve Austin & The Rock, met three times at WrestleMania. Their first was at WrestleMania XV. Their last was at WrestleMania XIX. But of the three, the middle bout at WrestleMania XVII is easily the best.

The first time around, The Rock was still a heel and Austin was clearly going to win, because that's what good guys do in the WrestleMania main event. And win he did. And the last time around, everyone knew Austin was going out, so the match had a special quality, but you also knew who was going to win, as it's business custom that you lose your last one out, and so The Rock has the distinct honor of retiring Steve Austin.

But inbetween, with both men at their absolute peak, this one had everyone guessing from bell to bell. Austin had been out due to injury - his original neck injury from 1997 had never received the surgery it needed, which finally sidelined Austin in November 1999, just on the cusp of a Austin-Rock-Triple H match at Survivor Series, which never happened, which means that those three elite superstars of the Attitude Era were never in such a match together. During the nine months that he was away, The Rock took over as the WWF's dominant superstar. So when Austin finally made his return, the two would be pitted against each other after Stone Cold won the Royal Rumble, making for a modern day Clash of the Titans in the WrestleMania main event.

Austin had been popular longer, but Rock had been the most popular the most recently. Fans seemed to be divided across lots of levels, with Austin - in Texas - receiving probably a 60/40 split. Neither of these two are the very very best in ring performers, but both could go and draw your attention, and this night they pulled out all the stops.

The match would go on to be known as the "The Rock won't stay down" match, but both men did the work. The match went 35 minutes, and with both men fully busted open deep into the no disqualification match, the ending sequence was intense.

The Rock blocked a stunner and put Austin in the sharpshooter, but Austin got the ropes. Austin then countered into a sharpshooter of his own, which Rock powered out of, then got the ropes on a second sharpshooter. Austin then went old school by locking in the million dollar dream, his original finishing move as "The Ringmaster". Rock countered with an off the turnbuckle counter into a rollup for a long two count, and the crowd knew they had to hold their breath from this point.

Rock hit Austin's own stunner on him, but Austin kicked out. At this point, Vince McMahon makes his way to the ring, and no one knows exactly what to think (watching it live, I was thinking "great, way to ruin it with a McMahon"), but based on all wrestling history we know, Vince will be against Austin.

Rock hit's People's Elbow, and stunningly McMahon pulled Rock off of Austin at a two count. Rock chases McMahon around the ring and runs right back into Austin, who hits Rock's own finisher, the Rock Bottom, on him...Rock kicks out. Rock blocks a stunner and sends Austin into the referee. Then Austin gets a steel chair from Vince, which begins to make it clear that we've all been fooled and Austin and McMahon are together. Vince decks Rock with a chair...Rock kicks out. Rock blocks a chair shot, Rock Bottom, Vince distracts the referee. Austin hits a stunner, Rock kicks out. Austin hits a chair shot, Rock kicks out (JR: "The Rock won't stay down! The Rock's heart is beating!")

Then Austin unloads on The Rock with 16 consecutive chair shots, and that'll do it. The end may not have been exactly what everyone wanted, but it was what no one expected, which is hard to pull off in wrestling these days thanks to the internet. Austin and Vince share the classic wrestling villainous handshake after it's over, and for the first time in the Attidue Era that he helped build, Steve Austin turned heel.

The last few minutes of the match can bee seen below:





1. The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan
WrestleMania XVIII - March 17, 2002 - Toronto
If The Montreal Screwjob is the most important night in modern wrestling history, this might be its most enjoyable. There are other matches that are of better quality, but for pure energy and once-in-a-lifetime quality, nothing beats the icon vs. icon match at WrestleMania X8.

A surreal few months in wrestling history had seen WWE purchase WCW, raid its lesser talent and let the bigger contracts stay at home or negotiate new deals. However, what could've been a groundbreaking storyline for months and months went sour, with The Rock off making movies, Shawn Michaels still retired and Triple H nursing a nine month quadricep injury. The "invasion" angle fizzled and fell flat at Survivor Series in November 2001, and action needed to be taken to bring the WWE back to the high quality it had enjoyed before the merger.

Then, two things happened: The Rock finished his movie and came back, and WWE finally came to terms with WCW's biggest stars. It started with Ric Flair, but then in February 02 they made the deal everyone wanted them to make: WWE inked Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Hulk Hogan to new contracts, and brought them back to WWE as the nWo.

In the blink of an eye, wrestling fans went from frustrated to elated. All of a sudden, at one time on the same roster, you had Austin, Rock, Triple H, Flair, Hogan, Hall and Nash. The dream matchups everyone could only theorize in years past now had a real chance to play themselves out. And on the road to WrestleMania, with Chris Jericho as champion set to face Triple H, there was plenty of room to fill out the undercard.

On paper, this was going to be the best WrestleMania of all time. Aside from the Last Man Standing main event between Jericho and Triple H, you'd have Ric Flair vs. The Undertaker and Steve Austin vs. Scott Hall. But there was only one matchup at this point that could truly steal the show...

What you'll see below is the genesis for Rock vs. Hogan, from Monday Night Raw a month before WrestleMania. This is still one of the most unique moments in wrestling history, because not only was it totally surreal to see Rock and Hogan in the same ring, but you just can't script crowd reactions...so when you hear the Chicago fans go from Rock to Hogan back to Rock in the span of about sixty seconds, just know that something like that doesn't happen every night:




From there, the WWE tried to play Hogan as the villain that he'd been for most of his run in WCW, and it worked pretty well until WrestleMania. Once those two got in the ring together - Hogan's first match in almost a decade in WWE - the WrestleMania fans in Toronto (and you're a special breed of fan who buys tickets for WrestleMania, one knowledgeable and full of memories) needed about as long as it took Butterbean to knock out Bart Gunn to decide who they wanted to be for.


The match isn't that spectacular like I said, but about thirty seconds in Hogan throws Rock to the canvas and flexes just like the good old days in the 80s, and the Toronto crowd absolutely eats it up. From that point on, there's no debate - they're 100% behind Hogan. And it's safe to say that no one saw it coming.


Hogan would kick out of three Rock Bottoms and land the pattented leg drop, which Rock then kicked out of. After missing a second leg drop, which always signals doom, Rock countered with the People's Elbow and the 1-2-3 for the huge victory. But the crowd reaction alone probably made WWE scrap their entire plans for Hogan, Rock and the nWo - the crowd was so solidly behind him in a moment of pure nostalgia, they had Hall and Nash turn on Hogan the very next night and Rock come save him, which eventually turned into one more title run for Hogan. All that started on this night, the most surreal and passion-laced WrestleMania moment I've been a part of. Will we see something this year to make this list? Who knows, with Ric Flair going out against Shawn Michaels and a triple threat main event. But either way, it's WrestleMania, and no real wrestling fan can resist.

Two down, two to go

When making a list of goals for the 2007-08 Tennessee basketball season, the most idealistic projection goes something like this:

- Win the SEC Eastern Division
- Win the SEC Championship
- Win the SEC Tournament
- Win the National Championship

The Florida Gators and their hostile crowd tried to get in the way. The referees tried to get in the way (more on that momentarily, believe me). But on this night, and in this season, nothing else matters. The Vols rise above. The Vols overcome. And the Vols are SEC Champions.

There's so much to throw out there, on what's been one of the most enjoyable days in sports for me in a long time (to see the Celtics winning the season series over the Pistons and clinching a playoff spot, and to see Rajon Rondo throw down, click here - and to read about the young Braves throwing 26 outs of no hit baseball in spring training today, click here). That combined with Shan Foster putting the finishing touches on his SEC Player of the Year season with 42 points and a win or go home three with :01 left in overtime to beat Mississippi State which opened the door for the Vols to claim the SEC Championship with a win, makes for a pretty solid day.

(By the way, somehow the #16 Vanderbilt vs. #25 Mississippi State game wasn't televised, but aside from the overtime drama, it included Foster hitting nine straight threes. When asked about it postgame, Foster said:

"I would describe it by saying `I look to hills for whence cometh my help and my help cometh from the Lord'. I really did not want to lose my last game in Memorial Gym and I was willing to do whatever it took to make sure that that didn't happen. My teammates did a great job of finding me when I was open and God took care of the rest. Some of those shots amazed me. I was deep on a lot of those. I put it up there and the Lord took care of the rest; that's the only way I can describe it."

All those Mississippi State fans who double as Christians now know what it was like to hear Kurt Warner invoke the name of God for the victory in Super Bowl XXXIV. Also, while looking through Vandy's official site for video and finding Foster's quote, I also discovered that you can order a DVD of Vandy's victory over then #1 Tennessee from last week. I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've been immortalized on an opponent's DVD in basketball, which is definitely a sign of arrival.

And wow, this is a long tangent. This is why I can't deal with these 9:00 tipoffs in basketball, because I get all jacked up and then can't sleep and I have to be up in about six hours right now. But I don't care. Back to the subject at hand.)

Of course, to lock up the East and to win the SEC outright, the Vols would have to beat the Gators. And here's something else I bet you didn't know: with the win tonight, the Vols have beaten Florida 7 of the last 9 meetings. Which of course includes going 3-1 (and the 1 sans Lofton) against the two-time National Champion squads.

And look, before we get into the Vols and the referees tonight, you do have to like the future if you're a Gator fan. These kids are young and they play very hard, and will probably be a real handful for about the next three years. The present might not be as pretty, though who knows, the Gators could still sneak into the NCAA Tournament.

But the tone of both games between the Vols and Gators this season reveals the same truth: it's only a matter of time. Florida jumps up 16-3 in Knoxville, and it doesn't matter. The Gators start an unconscious 9 of 9 from the field in Gainesville, and it doesn't matter. The longer the game goes on, the more clear it becomes. The Vols are simply too good to stay down long. And sooner or later, by God, here we come.

What actually impressed me the most about Florida tonight was their ability to come back after the Vols had surged ahead 79-69. Again, young and talented, and that's going to be a better and better combination the longer they play, because they're only going to get older and better. But even when Florida went back in front, even when it came down to the finish, even with the Rowdy Reptiles trying to will it...the Vols still won.

Now, a big part of both Tennessee/Florida matchups this season has been the referees. In the Knoxville meeting, the refs called 51 total fouls - 26 Gators, 25 Vols - and neither team could establish any rhythm until the Vols exploded over the last four minutes to pull out the 22 point victory. I was at that game, and the refs were calling every little instance of contact. But they were calling it on both ends.

Tonight, not so much.

At one point in the second half, the refs had called almost twice as many fouls on the Vols as they had the Gators. It evened out more after the double technicals, but it didn't get any better in terms of quality. Tennessee finished with 26 fouls to Florida's 18, meaning the Gators shot 8 more free throws. Down the stretch, where's the intentional foul call on Florida for hammering one of our guys? How come the ref standing at the three point line has to call a foul inside in the last minute while the ref right on top of it is choking on his whistle? How come we've got so much disagreement between two refs on so many calls (which also, by the way, Tom Hammond used to bail himself out on some horrid play-by-play work).

And why in the name of all that is holy are the Gators allowed to make physical contact with Chris Lofton every second of every offensive possession he's on the floor - from hand checking to jersey grabbing, the same way it's been done the last four games - and no fouls are ever called, but when we breathe on them, it's the whistle? Especially on the final inbounds - and yes, it was the correct call to award Florida the ball when it was deflected off Tyler Smith's foot - but what about the two guys who are committing assault and battery on Lofton while he's trying to get open?!?! Absolutely wretched and biased officiating.

And you know what? Didn't matter.

Not the refs, not the reptiles, not the grind of four high level basketball games, nothing...nothing gets in our way. The Vols still found a way. And after finding a way 27 times this season - a school record - and now 13 times in 15 SEC games, the Vols are rewarded with an SEC Championship.

Now, we're not done. Senior Day on Sunday will be special for Lofton, JaJuan, and Jordan Howell (who so desperately needs to continue to hit his shots, so let's hope it happens for him early this weekend). And then we go to Atlanta, where the Vols will have yet another opportunity to make history by just winning once, but will face a tough road no matter the opponent: the East #5 seed will be South Carolina, who if they win Thursday will be playing every game as if it's Dave Odom's last, because it will be. And the West #4 seed will be either LSU or Ole Miss, whom the Vols beat by a combined 4 points on the final possession. From there, we go deeper in Atlanta, and then we go dancing. Lots of fun left to be had.

But for the first time this year, now we've got something tangible. Now we've got the hardware. Even if, God forbid, the Vols get bounced on Friday in Atlanta or in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, at the very least you've got a championship. You've got rings. For the first time since 1967, the Vols stand alone at the top of the Southeastern Conference. This is our year.

And it ain't over yet. Not by a long shot baby. When the whistle and the road crowds get loud, we shut them up. When the other team plays us in the 60s or the 80s, we find a way. When we look great or when we look gritty, we get the W either way. We are good, we are special, and we are right now.

Tennessee is good enough to win them all. Good enough to get a good senior day send off, good enough to right the wrongs of the SEC Tournament and leave Atlanta with another trophy, good enough to beat anyone and everyone we dance with. These are no longer idealistic statements or the ravings of a super mark. The Eastern Division title backs it up. The SEC Championship backs it up. Two titles down. Two more to go. And a senior day inbetween for one last look at some of the biggest names in making it all possible. One at a time.

And tonight's - refs, Gators and all - was pretty fun.

Bruce Pearl in the postgame kept encouraging and reminding everyone to enjoy this. Enjoy this. I've told my friends and family multiple times that I feel like we could really make the Final Four this season, and I'll enjoy it less than what's happened the last two years both because of the unexpected greatness of 06 and 07, and the expected success that we've seen this year. The way that we generally seem to have less fun in football season because we're always finding something to complain about or talk about how it used to be better started bleeding over to basketball as soon as we reached #1. We've struggled at times and not looked great at times...but you blink, and we're 27-3 and SEC Champions.

Don't blink again. Enjoy this. Appreciate this. Live this. And Sunday...the train keeps rolling.

I'm off to bed, but tomorrow I'll be in the market for a new t-shirt with "SEC Champions" on it. And I've got plenty of room in my closet and just enough room in my wallet for a couple more of those in the next four weeks. Two down. Two to go.

Go Vols.

The Final Week of the Regular Season

Games 30 and 31 will help determine the next piece of the Vols' 07-08 basketball puzzle, as we move from the final days of the regular season into the frenzy of Championship Week and then March Madness. Tennessee stands 26-3, 12-2 in SEC play, #4 in the polls and #1 in the RPI. It's been good so far, and that's an understatement. This week will answer the final questions of just how good the regular season can be, and lay the foundation for the more important postseason work.

Here's what we know: the Vols have clinched a share of the SEC Eastern Division and have clinched a first round bye in the SEC Tournament, which means I don't have to skip class next Thursday, hooray. The Vols have tied the all time school record for victories in a season with 26, set back in 2000 under Jerry Green. And even if the Vols somehow lose their final two regular season games this week and get bounced on Friday in the SEC Tournament, I still don't see them falling below a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and I still don't see the first two rounds for the Vols being played anywhere other than Birmingham, AL.

We also know that Vanderbilt and Mississippi State have put the deadbolt on their NCAA Tournament resumes, and that there are still four other SEC teams who still believe they are in the mix for an at-large bid, while Alabama and Auburn will spend the week trying to stay at or above .500 so as not to miss out on the NIT.

What's on the line this week for the Vols, who will play at Florida on Wednesday night (9:00 PM, ESPN Full Court and Raycom on local listings) and home for senior day against South Carolina on Sunday (2:00 PM, also ESPN Full Court and Raycom on local listings):

- It's easier to explain it this way: the only way Kentucky ties the Vols for the SEC East title is by winning BOTH of their final two games (at South Carolina, vs. Florida) AND having the Vols lose BOTH of their final two games (at Florida, vs. South Carolina). Any Kentucky loss OR any Tennessee win means the Vols will take the SEC East outright, which would be two division titles for Bruce Pearl in three years. It is worth noting that should the above apocalypse scenario happen, the Cats would get the #1 East seed in Atlanta based on a better division record.

- Tennessee has a one game lead on Mississippi State (and two on Kentucky) for the SEC Championship race. The Vols did beat the Bulldogs in Starkville, however, I think that ties are not broken when it comes to the regular season championship. Since divisional play began in 1992, there has yet to be a season where one team from the East and one from the West finished with identical records atop their divisions, so if it happened this year it'd be a new thing. However, I know that in 2000, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky and LSU all finished 12-4, and all four were awarded a share of the SEC Championship. The fact that the Gators went 1-3 against Tennessee/Kentucky that season and yet still shared in the conference championship suggests to me that ties are not broken. But the Vols can win the title outright by staying a game ahead of Mississippi State, who plays at Vanderbilt Wednesday and home to LSU on Saturday. The Bulldogs, of course, could also win the title outright with two wins and two Tennessee losses. By the time the Vols and Gators tip off at 9:00 tomorrow night, Tennessee will know if both Kentucky and Mississippi State have won or lost, and if the Bulldogs lose in Nashville, the Vols can win the SEC Championship tomorrow night. If both win, the Vols can wrap it up on senior day. An SEC Championship of any kind would be the first since 2000, and an outright title would be the first since 1967.

- If the Vols finish first in the SEC East, it appears that one half of their potential opponent on Friday will be South Carolina, who is two games ahead of last place Georgia. The #1 East seed plays the winner of #4 West vs. #5 East on Thursday. The #4 West business is a lot more complicated - it would be LSU if the tournament was today, but it could still be any one of Alabama, Auburn, LSU or Ole Miss. If the Vols do finish first in the East, they'll play all of their SEC Tournament games at 1:00 PM, Friday-Saturday-Sunday if they kept winning.

- Going deeper to the NCAA Tournament picture, as stated I think at this point it's impossible that the Vols go anywhere else but Birmingham for their first two games. There are 8 sites for first and second round games throughout the country, which are no longer tied to specific regions further down the bracket. Starting with the one seeds, the first two rounds are placed based on proximity to the highest seeds; teams as low as a 4 seed could still play games relatively close to home, and the one and two seeds are virtually guaranteed a great opening draw.

The first and second round sites are as follows: Anaheim, Birmingham, Denver, Little Rock, Omaha, Raleigh, Tampa, and Washington DC.

Six games are played at each site; the first and second round being played there means that if a one seed is placed in Anaheim, whoever the 8/9 matchup is in the same bracket also goes to Anaheim. Likewise for a 2 seed in Birmingham and the 7/10 matchup, and on down the line. The breakup of the regional distinction a few years ago means that, for instance, in the East Region, you could have the 1/16 & 8/9 games being played in Raleigh, and the 4/13 & 5/12 games being played in Tampa - it doesn't have to matchup for the Sweet 16 anymore. I'm sure all of that is perfectly clear.

Okay, the real point - right now, with two games plus conference tournaments left to play, who are the contenders for #1 and #2 seeds?

Generally speaking, you're still looking at Duke, Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina, UCLA, Tennessee, and Texas in the running for #1 seeds. Just based on those teams, none of them are going to be competing with the Vols for the Birmingham spot - Duke and Carolina can both play opening games in Raleigh, Memphis would rather go to Little Rock, and everyone else is across the Mississippi. Even losing three straight between now and selection Sunday, I'd say it's a safe bet to pack those bags for Birmingham in the opening round.

The real pressing issue for the Vols is Sweet 16/Elite 8 location. Whether it's as a one seed or a two seed, you want the East Region. Your Regional Final choices are as follows: Charlotte, Detroit, Houston, Phoenix. You don't need a map to figure that one out.

The biggest problem here is that the Vols could easily get stuck in the middle - playing good enough to earn a #1 seed, but not good enough to be the #1 overall seed. If the Vols are behind Duke or North Carolina in the selection committee's mind, but still good enough to be a #1 seed, the Tobacco Road winner is going to get the Charlotte region, and the Vols will be playing somewhere else. One could make the argument that it would be better to be a #2 seed and play in Charlotte than be a #1 seed and play in Detroit or Houston, but then you've also got to figure that if the Vols are in the East Region with either Duke or Carolina, those tickets are going to be hot anyway. This is getting about three light years ahead of ourselves, but if the Vols are matched up with Duke or Carolina in Charlotte, Vol fans need to ante up and get tickets muy rapido, or else those are going to turn into hostile environments regardless of who's the one seed. I think we'd come through.

That's all ridiculous speculation that I'm free to make for the first time in my life since the Vols can still earn the #1 overall seed. So here comes more ridiculous speculation: let's take a look at the road remaining for each of the #1 contenders before they each go to their conference tournaments:

Duke: at Virginia, vs. North Carolina
Kansas: at Texas A&M
Memphis: at SMU, vs. UAB
North Carolina: vs. Florida State, at Duke
UCLA: vs. Stanford, vs. California
Tennessee: at Florida, vs. South Carolina
Texas: vs. Nebraska, vs. Oklahoma State

So again, for the Vols, even though for some it may feel like we're just winding to the finish, these games this week are important. The outright division and conference titles are on the line. A #1 seed and the #1 overall seed are still on the line. And next week, which we'll discuss further then, a chance to do something in Atlanta and play on Saturday for the first time in the history of the divisional format. None of them are givens. All of them will count.

Plus, the Vols still carry the bullseye. Gator fans who are feeling nervous about their selection promise are pointing to Wednesday and Tennessee, not Sunday at Kentucky, as their best chance to make a statement and get the win that puts them in. That's weird, isn't it? But it's also very true. Tennessee can lock up some championships Wednesday night, but the Gators can lock up an NCAA bid. This game is huge, as they've all been for the last two weeks.

Bruce Pearl has said it, and I'm sure it's true: the Vols wouldn't face a tougher road from the Sweet 16 in than at Memphis, at Vanderbilt, vs. Kentucky, at Florida. It's worn on us and you can see the scars. If I'm just a fan and I'm worn out, I can only imagine where the players and coaching staff are. But now is not the time to phone it in.

What's more interesting is the scoring potential tomorrow night. The Vols have put up 60s in their last three big games, and to their absolute credit they won two of them. Against the Gators the first time around, the Vols scored 104 in Knoxville. If Tennessee puts up 60s again on Wednesday at the O'Dome, then I'll start worrying. Pearl has said that outside of Lofton and JaJuan, the Vols don't have much confidence from the three point line right now. And that just sounds all wrong. How is it that a team that can put a lineup of Howell, Lofton, JaJuan, Childress and Chism on the floor is lacking confidence from the perimeter? Yet that's exactly where we are right now.

The cream has to rise to the top in this game for the Vols or anyone to have success at tournament time. I still feel like we haven't seen our best basketball, and we're 26-3 and #1 in the RPI. Through the fatigue and grind of the regular season, the Vols have to keep pushing. I'd love to see the scoring outburst tomorrow night and build some confidence. More than anything, I'd love to see another W. All this speculation is fun, but the most important game this time of year is the next one. Tennessee needs to go to Gainesville and lock it down. Winning on Wednesday puts us one step closer to the ultimate goal. Right now, beating Florida is the only step that matters.

Expect to win.