I think I’ve made my disdain for the University of Memphis Tigers basketball program pretty well-known. So when I got a text message from my dad last night in the middle of the Lakers-Nuggets game alerting me of the allegations against the Tigers, I must admit I got a kick out of it.

The Tigers’ best season, where they won 38 games and should have won a national championship (thank you Mario Chalmers), now apparently will be null-and-void.

That 66-62 loss to Tennessee, however? That won’t change. So Memphis was cheating by using an ineligible player (allegedly Derrick Rose)…

…and they still lost to the Vols.

What? I had no idea Derrick Rose had someone else take his SAT...

That’s what first came to my mind. I know Memphis won this past January, but I have to say that hearing this news brought me some joy. In addition, I have to wonder if and how this might help Tennessee in the recruitment of PG Joe Jackson, a highly-touted guard from Memphis’ White Station High School. The Vols have been in with Jackson for awhile, but this week’s Benedict Arnold-like decommitment of Aaron Craft may have changed that situation. I’m not sure how much more of a chance these allegations and the consequences help Tennessee because I don’t see any future punishment from the NCAA, but who knows – only time will tell.

But I also must say I actually do feel just an inkling of pity for the city of Memphis (not Tiger hoops). The city really did love their Tigers and loved John Calipari, and he not only left them, took some of their recruits, but now he’s also partly responsible for the vacating of the school’s best season in their fairly successful history. To say he didn’t know about the fraud SAT score would be foolish if you ask me. And then again, how surprised should Memphis fans really be?

Add to all this the very likely possibility that Calipari bailed on the Tigers knowing that this was going to be revealed before too long, and I can only imagine how Tiger fans feel about the guy now. Talk about a common bond between Vols and Tigers…

And of course the other beauty of all this is how this might effect Kentucky. Now, I know that the report doesn’t mention Calipari as doing anything wrong, but this is the Marcus Camby/UMass situation all over again. That now of course means Cal has done this twice – left a program and had a Final Four appearance removed because of cheating.

Non-delusional Kentucky fans (wait, is that possible?) will tell you that it isn’t good for them (the others will say that they are invincible from the NCAA simply because they are the University of Kentucky), and there’s now way this is positive for the Wildcats, because past history would only suggest that they are next. Also, not only will the media take a negative stance on Calipari (and therefore Kentucky), but you have to think the NCAA is going to be keeping an eye on Calipari and the UK program. Add in that the university’s president knew about this when hiring Cal, and and there can be no way all this helps or doesn’t even effect Kentucky.

So all in all, I would say it’s not too bad of a situation from the Tennessee point of view.

– … to me.

Images Courtesy of: AP/ Daylife

About the Author:  I'm from Memphis but I'm now entering my third year at the University of Tennessee here in Knoxville. I am majoring in Journalism/Electronic Media and hope to go into sports broadcasting/writing/something like that. I'm a huge Vol fan and have been going to games for as long as I can remember. I started my on blog called "The View From The Hill" but moved here to Gate 21 for bigger and better things. In addition to my passion for Tennessee football and basketball, I enjoy watching the NFL and the NBA as well. Basically, sports are a big part of my life. >> Read more from this author

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