Well, I am finally back from my guest posting stint over at Rocky Top Talk. Hopefully, none of you thought I had “died or moved to Georgia.” Thankfully, Rocky Top Talk wasn’t closed down under the Patriot Act as a conduit of subversive activities. The jury is still out here on Gate 21.

Anyway, despite having to fight down to the last second, the BasketVols managed to beat the Kentucky Wildcats 63 – 60, thereby all but ensuring themselves a share of the SEC Eastern division title. It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t necessarily pretty. Be that as it may, the Vols won, and — in the process — have given themselves a chance to be the SEC Regular Season Champion. In an uncharacteristic fashion, the Vols seemed very “tight” against Kentucky, and until a late-game timeout, seemed completely out-of-sync offensively in the second half of the game.

To Kentucky’s credit, Billy Gillespie came out with a solid plan, which allowed the Wildcats to match-up against the Vols. Knowing that they could not run with the BasketVols and hope to keep up, Kentucky was methodical in their attempt to control the tempo via a ball-control frontcourt approach. By, essentially, sitting on the ball until the last 10 seconds on the shot clock, they were able to keep Tennessee from running them to death, and control the momentum of the game. While Tennessee never really seemed to get any rhythm going — in the end — Bruce and the Barbarians managed to pull it out at the very end. As Basilio noted today, I’m not sure that there has ever been a coach at Tennessee in the past that would have managed to get a win in this game.

That is the biggest thing I say about this team — and about Bruce Pearl coached teams in general — they just find ways to win. This season they’ve managed to do that a lot — the Kentucky win bringing the Vols record to 26-3 (12-2 SEC), tying the school record. You can get a more in-depth breakdown on the Kentucky game over at the Bruce Ball Blog

Of course, if the Vols want to clinch their spot at the top of the SEC East, and preserve their chance to win the SEC regular season title outright for the first time since 1967, they have to beat the Florida Gators in Gainesville on Wednesday night. While the Vols absolutely manhandled the Gators the first time around at the Tommy Bowl, it will definitely be more of a challenge at the O-dome. Furthermore, with the season drawing to a conclusion, Florida is guaranteed to want to add another victory to their win column (21-6, 8-6 in the SEC) in hopes of improving their seeding in the NCAA tournament. It’s guaranteed to be a fight as the defending national champions look for payback against the Vols for their 5 February pummeling.

Meanwhile, the Mississippi State Bulldogs will surely be hoping that the Gators win. If Mississippi State wins its remaining games, and Tennessee loses at either Florida or against the South Carolina Gamecocks, then Mississippi State would share the SEC Regular Season Championship with the Vols. If Tennessee loses both games, then Mississippi State would claim the crown outright, and Kentucky would slide in through the backdoor to take the SEC Eastern title.

Let’s hope that the BasketVols keep up their winning ways, defend their new No 4 ranking, and dig deep as they try to make history. They control their own destiny, and based upon their performance throughout this season …

… I’m betting on Orange.

– Go Figure …

About the Author:  "Lawvol" -- I'm just a guy living in North Carolina who has an unnatural fascination with the color orange. Just because I'm a Tennessee alum and die-hard Volunteer fan doesn't mean that I can't poke a little fun at the Big Orange and anybody else for that matter. Feel free to complain all you want. >> Read more from this author

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