It was nerves. The tension in that building was insane, plus both teams were playing really tough D.

2/24/2008 7:44:17 PM

and they are both really really athletic, lots of tough D

2/24/2008 7:52:41 PM

Great game...but Tennessee will lose at Vandy next week

2/24/2008 8:20:50 PM

yeah, I am almost viewing that as a given. But baring a total collapse (losing in the first round of the SEC) I think they have a 1 locked up (with Duke and Kansas losing multiple times)

2/24/2008 8:21:46 PM

UT should have a #1 with their SOS. Duke/UNC/UT/Memphis, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if Texas or UCLA got a 1 if they win their conference tournaments.

2/24/2008 8:24:30 PM

Watching these two teams run up and down the floor last night and then watching the pile of shit at 4:30 where a certain team couldn't get a shot off shows how far away ncst really is

2/24/2008 8:31:13 PM

Quote :

"They flanked both sides of the walkway beneath Pratt Pavilion, the building itself a glimmering beacon of the basketball resurrection here on the banks of the Tennessee River. It mattered not that midnight, 1 a.m. and then 2 a.m. all had disappeared in the hour glass, Saturday night yielding to Sunday morning. A delirious crowd of Tennessee fans -- from toddlers to old-timers -- alternated chants of "It's great to be a Tennessee Volunteer!" with a slight twist on the venerable cheer: "It's great to be No. 1!" That had been assured mere hours earlier, a gritty 66-62 win at top-ranked and previously-unbeaten Memphis assuring No. 2 Tennessee would ascend to that final spot. The Vols had won in a hostile, FedEx Forum environment, 400 miles on the opposite end of the state. And light years -- if that close -- from where this program rested, dormant, three years ago. "I'm shocked, as everybody is," said Jason Hobbs, of Knoxville, who woke his 10-year-old son Turner to experience the bedlam. "I'm not sure there's been a bigger turnaround in college sports that I can even think of. In two-and-a-half years to take a program that people were uninterested in, had never won many basketball teams and is going to be the No. 1 team in the country on Monday. "I can't think of another example where a coach has done that, energized the fan base and taken a team to No. 1. That's what I told them: We have to go down there tonight, because you may not see this again." Bruce Pearl is that coach, an overnight idol in Big Orange country. His string of unprecedented on-the-court feats and off-the-court "evangelizing," as athletics director Mike Hamilton, the man who hired Pearl in spring 2005, has labeled it are but part of the story. Pearl can work a crowd, big or small, the way few can in any profession, let alone coaching. Players want to play for him. Fans want to cheer for him. And politicians, if they haven't already, should want to learn from him. Engulfed by adoring masses -- some with "Bruce Pearl is my homeboy" T-shirts; others with "Bruce for President" signs, Pearl was even staggered by the hero's welcome. This, after all, is a program that never has won more than two NCAA Tournament games and previously worried about popcorn sales. "This is unbelievable. It's the passion of the Vol Nation, and tonight these students and these fans weren't going to be denied," Pearl said between photos, hugs and autographs. "They wanted to celebrate with their teammates. That's what it's all about. But this (welcoming party) is way bigger than what we expected." Fans like Hobbs weren't quite sure what to expect when Pearl was lured from Milwaukee to take over for the affable but underachieving Buzz Peterson not 36 months ago. "I've sat through Don DeVoe, Wade Houston, I mean I've sat through them all," Hobbs said, referencing just two of the five coaches who have stalked UT's hardwood since 1989. "It's unreal, it really is." That feeling was shared by Chris Caldwell, who trekked down from Campbell County Saturday night at 12:30 to revel in the moment. "It's unbelievable. I never thought I would ever see the day where Tennessee basketball would be ranked No. 1 in the country," said Caldwell, decked in the orange-and-white, candy-striped warm-ups that suddenly are all the rage. "I thought this whole year is that way, (a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity), and just enjoy the ride. Enjoy it while you can, because it doesn't happen often." Indeed, never was the last time Tennessee had even occupied the second spot in the polls, as it had done last week. Never had the Vols been 24-2, and now 25-2. Never had a state other than North Carolina or Ohio played host to a 1-2 matchup. Vol guard Chris Lofton, his career already the stuff of legends, iced the victory with two clutch free throws inside the final five seconds. Known as a player who always lets his syrupy-sweet shot speak for him, the senior gunner latched onto the phrase of the evening in describing the scene. "It's unbelievable," he said. "Unbelievable." Really, what else can you say?"

2/24/2008 10:22:50 PM

Quote :

""I'm not sure there's been a bigger turnaround in college sports that I can even think of."

I can think of one...

I rooted for UT though. Cal is a sleazeball... now I'll root for Vandy this week.

[Edited on February 24, 2008 at 10:24 PM. Reason : x]

2/24/2008 10:23:58 PM

Northwestern back in the mid 90s?

2/24/2008 10:25:44 PM

Haha, they had a good few years and I'm talking solely basketball.

You know exactly who I'm talking about and they have 2 national championships now. Dick Vitale calls Calhoun the best program builder in the history of the NCAA, but I'd put Lute Olson right up there with him. Both programs were mediocre at best for their entire history and are now elite programs. Tennessee might get there one day.

Actually this year's Tennessee reminds me a lot of UConn's dream season ('89-'90), only nearly all of the UConn players were local Connecticut kids that year... but underrecruited stars just like Lofton.

[Edited on February 24, 2008 at 10:28 PM. Reason : x]

2/24/2008 10:27:59 PM

^^^ SIDNEY!

2/24/2008 10:29:59 PM

true... but Tennessee had done so little with so much for so long... didnt UConn just kind of come out of nowhere?

2/24/2008 10:30:30 PM

Quote :

"""I'm not sure there's been a bigger turnaround in college sports that I can even think of.""

Kansas State Football

Virginia Tech was pretty awful too

2/24/2008 10:30:51 PM

Kansas State is a good one

2/24/2008 10:33:43 PM

Quote :

"Bruce Pearl has never done anything like the staid coaching handbook says and he sure wasn’t going to start now. Oh, he knows how to coach; there isn’t any doubt about that. But play the part of the dour teacher? He’s having way too much fun for that. He paints his chest for Lady Vols games. He wears outrageous suits. He says crazy things and challenges everyone around him. He stands there after the greatest win in school history and tries to laugh the loudest, tries to enjoy it the most. Two hours before this game of the year – a No. 1 vs. No. 2 tilt that had electrified the Mid-South – Pearl decided to stop in on an alumni party on his way to the game. As nervous fans downed drinks in a crowded back room of Jillian’s, Pearl barged through a side door and surprised them all. Then he took the microphone and let loose. “All I can tell you is we’re 40 minutes away from being No. 1,” Pearl said, sending the crowd into a roar. “With your help and God willing, we’re going to kick their ass!” You think Coach K would try that one? “Why (do it)?” Pearl said. “Because this is what I started doing when I got here and I’m not going to change. Success is not going to change us. This is what we do. The hay is in the barn two hours before the game. I mean, there’s no more tape to watch. “That’s part of my job, engaging our fans.” When you’re No. 1 you get to write the rules. Not that he ever followed the ones written for him. At this point, he shouldn’t change and shouldn’t have to apologize to anyone. He’s long been a trailblazing breath of fresh air in a sport with too many self-important suits roaming the sidelines and he wasn’t going to suddenly grow shy in the middle of this circus, with Priscilla Presley and Justin Timberlake leading the celebrity brigade in the stands. Besides, you don’t go from looking out of a mascot costume to looking down the national rankings at Mike Krzyzewski without a world of moxie. Pearl has a way of sweeping everyone right along with him, making everyone believe that the impossible is possible. When he took over at Tennessee, forever a middling SEC program, his first meeting with his players left their heads spinning. Here was this ball of energy telling them that they’d soon be standing up to Kentucky and Florida, that they’d win the SEC one day, that No. 1 rankings and Final Fours were possible. Here was Pearl telling them the world was there for the taking. Just two and a half years later, well, here they are. “The only thing I wanted to focus on was, ‘I don’t know if we’re the best team in the country, but I know we’re 40 minutes from No. 1. I don’t know if we’re the best. But can you believe we are 40 minutes from being No. 1?’ ” Perhaps only Pearl truly believed Tennessee would get this good, this soon, but he eventually got everyone to buy into it. So here were the Vols, withstanding a ferocious start by this fearsome Memphis team, one that would have finished virtually any other team. The Tigers didn’t enter the game 26-0 for nothing. But UT isn’t 24-2 by accident either, so they matched the early fireworks, shook off the earthshaking crowd and then slowly, methodically took a victory for the ages. “We (found) a way to win tonight,” he said. “When you make the stops we did, rebound, execute? Great story.” Great story, indeed. Up next is a daunting swing with merely Tennessee’s first outright SEC title in 41 years on the line. Pearl was trying to warn about that, trying to stay grounded, but it wasn’t working. He was going to enjoy this. His program had come a long way to get to the top. He had come so much further. “It’s not the time to reflect other than to be proud of who you are and where you’re from and being very, very blessed,” he said. “I spent nine years in Division II, 14 years as an assistant coach and like a lot of people in this country; this is the land of opportunity. “What a great country.” So says the coach of its No. 1 team."

[Edited on February 24, 2008 at 11:10 PM. Reason : f]

2/24/2008 11:09:00 PM

Quote :

"With your help and God willing, we’re going to kick their ass!"

awesome

2/25/2008 12:23:48 AM

typical Memphis thugs, and Calipari is a little bitch, a fucking grown man resorting to this shit, sad

Quote :

"The Memphis players attempted their usual intimidation tactics in the hallway prior to the game by yelling and screaming at the top of their lungs at the Vols, with a security guard standing between the two clubs. Pearl's team maintained its composure, then displayed its toughness. "They got up near us," said Tennessee's Tyler Smith, who finished with 16 points in the 66-62 victory. "They were talking crazy to us." "We don't fear anyone," Vols shooting guard Chris Lofton said. "We weren't worried." These types of games rarely live up to the hype, but this one did. The two teams combined to make the first seven shots in a crisp, well-played and intense first half. Memphis was unconscious early on from long range, making 7 of 13 trifectas to begin the game. However, the Vols were feeling good about themselves when they went into halftime trailing by just one point. After the break, Memphis native J.P. Prince — or as Calipari had recently taken to calling him, P.J. — took control. Prince, who grew up as a diehard Memphis fan and actually wore his Memphis shorts to sleep Friday night, scored six consecutive points in a key spurt early in the second half and finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. "I bet he won't say my name wrong now," Prince said with a wide grin. "

2/25/2008 1:34:54 AM