Posts Tagged ‘Championship’

Last year, during the off-season, I began a series on the Great Games played by the Tennessee Volunteers football team over the many years as seen through my eyes.  As I am wont to do, I seem to have lost my focus and have not exactly done a capital job of keep that series going.  Imagine that.

Since the off-season is once again upon us—paired with the fact that I have been coming up pretty spare in terms of ideas lately—I’ve decided it is time to once again take a walk down memory lane and re-live some of the greatest games in Tennessee history.  For those of you who missed the 2008 installments of this series, here are the ones I’ve covered thus far:

The “Great Games” Series:

• Ole Miss 1991
• Florida 1992
• Alabama 1995
• 1996 Citrus Bowl
• Florida 1998
• Lawvol’s All-time Top-10 Games

In addition to my list, Will, one of the sages over at RTT has been counting down the top-50 games of the Phillip Fulmer era in grand style.  Predictably, some of his favorites are on my list as well.  Trust me, his list is worth a look (and is far better researched, far more thoughtful, far better written, and … well … just far better than my little foray into the ghosts of games past).  Since I don’t want to be accused of stealing his thunder, I will be citing to his accounts of his favorite games liberally.

In fairness, it might be best to just skip this article altogether and just go read his work.  Lord knows I would but for the fact that I have to write it…

22 November 1997

vs.

(5) Tennessee 59 •    Kentucky 31

Commonwealth Stadium  •  Lexington, Kentucky

Some folks might think I am crazy for including the 22 November 1997 contest between Tennessee and the Kentucky Wildcats on my list of great games.  I can understand why they might question my thoughts on this (or my sanity).  This game was anything but a flawless game for the Vols and was hardly the Tennessee defense’s finest hour.  In fact, the game as a whole was pretty darn sloppy, as was the weather.  Still, for reasons which I will attempt to explain (a feat I will likely fail utterly to accomplish), this game still ranks as one of the great games in Tennessee football history.  The short answer as to why can be summed up in two words:

Peyton Manning

I make no bones about it.  I am a huge fan of the guy  who wore No. 16 for the Vols from 1994 to 1998.  As many have pointed out, both Andy Kelly (1989-91) and Heath Shuler (1991-93) could—in their own right—claim to be the greatest Vol quarterback in the history of the program during the time they wore an orange shirt.  Then, starting only a few snaps into the 1994 game against the UCLA Bruins in the Rose Bowl, everyone in Orange Nation began the process of forgetting everything they ever knew about quarterbacks at Tennessee, as true freshman Peyton Manning took the reins from senior Jerry Colquitt, who quite tragically (and downright depressingly) suffered a career-ending injury in the first series of his first start at quarterback.

The rest, as they say, is history…

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The boys over at 3SIB have posted an absolutely priceless (a/k/a hilarious) look at some of the improvements made in EA Sports NCAA Football 2010.  A few of the best include:

• In addition to Dynasty, there is now an “Alternate Reality” mode where the season ends in a playoff that still doesn’t include Utah or Boise State.
• If you don’t edit Auburn’s schedule at the start of the season, the only team on the schedule will be Alabama.
• If you play as the Volunteers in Dynasty mode, during the recruiting phase of the game the volume on the TV goes way up to the point that your neighbors complain.

• via: New features in EA Sports’ NCAA 2010 | 3rd Saturday in Blogtober

Considering that I am all about riding the coattails of others, I added a few of my own suggestions in the comments, which include:

• New Gameplay Settings:

  • When playing as Tennessee, there is a special post-play celebration code (Easter Egg Code “CRUNK”) which leads to the entire coaching staff ripping off their shirts.
  • When playing as Florida, there is a special code which can pump-up the team, when entered, the head coach transforms into a giant monster and eats three of the Florida players.  This results in an increase in speed and accuracy of 10% for the next 8 plays for the Gators, but if overused can result in a forfeit due to having fewer than 11 players.
  • When playing as LSU, with each touchdown the coach’s hat grows by 1 foot.  If you score enough for his hat to reach the moon, then the team automatically advances to the National Championship.
  • When playing as Tennessee and the player is controlling No. 14 on defense, there are special “fatality” codes (a’la Mortal Kombat) which result in massive bloodletting and mayhem after open field tackles.

• New Crowd / Stadium AI Settings:

  • When playing as Florida, in the stadium settings you can select “Jorts-out.”
  • When playing as South Carolina, you can control the volume of the “ThunderChicken” (rooster-crowing / being slaughtered / getting run over by a truck) noise played over the PA, allowing you to turn it up to the point that it actually blows the other team out of the stadium (and into the nearby Cow Palace) for one quarter.  This, however, results in a 10% loss in effectiveness for the Gamecocks as a team due to the fact the entire team is deafened for one quarter and unable to hear the signals from the sidelines.
  • When playing as Kentucky if, after leading by 3 at the half, the opposing team scores a touchdown in the first 2 minutes of the 3rd Quarter, 3/4 of the fans in the stadium leave immediately.
    • When playing as Vanderbilt if the same situation occurs as above, then the Vanderbilt fans begin pulling for the visiting team, giving the opponent a home field advantage.
  • When Playing as Florida, there is a special code which allows the quarterback to levitate above the line, walk on water, cure the blind, and results in Florida automatically being awarded 8 touchdowns.
    • For all other teams a slightly different code can be entered enabling “Tebow Mode” which results in the same result as above.

Go check it out, it’s some great stuff…

– So it goes

In case you hadn’t heard, the United States Congress has been hard at work lately—tackling the hard-hitting issues that our country is facing.  Our representatives in the House have been addressing monumental concerns impacting the daily lives of all Americans far and wide.  What, you might ask, is the single most important question in the minds of Representatives Joe Barton (R-TX), Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) and Mike Simpson (R-ID)?

Whether the BCS / Bowl system for determining NCAA football championships needs to be replaced by a playoff system.

As a result, these congressmen introduced a House Resolution in April seeking to have the United States Congress and the United States Department of Justice investigate the Bowl Championship Series.  In particular, this obscenely overstated meaningful legislation resolves that the House of Representatives:

(1) rejects the BCS system as an illegal restraint of trade that violates the Sherman Anti-Trust Act;

(2) demands the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division investigate and bring appropriate action to have the BCS system declared illegal and require a playoff to determine a national champion; and

(3) supports the establishment of an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Championship playoff system in the interest of fairness and to bring parity to all NCAA teams.

• 111th Congress, House Resolution 68

Heavy stuff, that…

As a result of the tireless grandstanding efforts of these shameless self-promoters champions of the common man, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection held hearings this past week to look into the actions of the BCS in hopes of determining whether something nefarious is afoot.  This included taking testimony from: John Swofford (Commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference and Coordinator of the Bowl Championship Series), Craig Thompson (Commissioner of the Mountain West Conference), Derrick Fox (President and CEO of the Valero Alamo Bowl), and Gene Bleymaier (Athletic Director of Boise State University).

For those of you out there that hate yourselves, you can view a streaming video of the entire hearing through the committee website.  Note: Apparently the Congressional muckety-mucks are too busy to hire someone schooled in the basic art of video editing.  Thus, you will want to fast forward to approximately 19:45 to view the hearing (that is, unless you just enjoy watching a blank screen for almost 20 minutes).

During the hearing, the Committee specifically looked into whether the BCS amounted to a monopoly, running afoul of federal anti-trust provisions.  With the great all-encompassing seriousness that can only come from the stuffed shirts of Congress and with the aire of the Watergate hearings, the committee set about digging deep into the bowels of college football’s deep dark secret.  Having watched some of the video of the hearing, it was obvious, in the minds of some of the assembled officials, that they felt the very sanctity of our American Republic hung precariously in the balance.

Right…

Don’t get me wrong, I am not opposed to the idea of a college football playoff, in fact I would gladly support such a system—so long as it is fair.  The disdain that is oozing from this article comes not from my opposition to the notion that college football needs a playoff, but rather from the nauseating belief by those in Congress that they are the answer to this problem.  Oh yeah, there is also the minor fact that the entire nation is passed out from the H1N1 flu in the economic toilet of the world with chunks of last night’s General Motors and Wall Street flavored hot dog still clinging to its mouth while these clueless egomaniacs are wasting their time trying to determine how we end our football seasons.

I’d love to sit around in a fancy conference room with hospitality service and get paid to talk football all day as much as the next guy, there’s no denying that.  The thought that our Congressional leaders have nothing better to do than just that, is more than a little bothersome.  The fact that they can do it with a straight face while purporting to represent the best interests of their constituents, makes me think of three words: “explosive projectile vomiting.”  I suppose that this sentiment is precisely what led CBS Sports.com’s Dennis Dodd to note that “Retching is common for these kinds of mundane Capitol Hill gatherings.”

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I will be the first to acknowledge that both the blogosphere and the internet in general are full of vitriol directed toward various teams.  Any team that has ever enjoyed any success whatsoever has something written about it which drips of the sort of steaming hatred that accompanies sports rivalries great and small.  Most of the time these flaming rants come from fans of teams that are either rivals (or wish they were rivals) of the object of the spewing hatred.

This post is a flaming rant.  It is not, however, aimed at a traditional rival of the Tennessee Volunteers.  Furthermore, while it amounts to little more than a creative rationalization on my part, I feel that I have earned my bitching license on this one since — in addition to being a graduate of the University of Tennessee — I am also a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

I despise the Tarheels Tarheads…

From 1998 until 2001, I attended “trade school” at UNC.  For the record, I got a wonderful education at the UNC School of Law, and have nothing but good things to say about the educational aspects of that institution.  There are a few reasons for this.  First, UNC School of Law is an excellent institution with a fine faculty.  Second, as is the case at most professional and graduate schools, most of the students at UNC School of Law did their undergraduate work elsewhere.

See, I said something nice about UNC…

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Then I’m walking in Memphis
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel

• “Walking in Memphis” by Marc Cohn

Well, it seems that Bruce Pearl will be staying in Knoxville for the foreseeable future, which is good.  The question, however, remains: What are we to make of this “Memphis Incident”?

For starters, I am greatly relieved that Bruce Almighty will still be wearing orange next season.  That is the good news, not that there is necessarily some “bad” news, but keeping Pearl on the sidelines in Knoxville is definitely very good.

That said, what exactly are we to take away from the brief and furious flirtation (so brief and furious that I never even got a chance to comment before it ended) with the notion that Coach Pearl might bolt to the Pyramid City to take the reins as head coach of the Memphis Tigers?  The real answer is probably “nothing.”  Still there are a few thoughts that jump out to me—random observations, I suppose—which seem relevant, if less than timely.

Bruce Pearl is Happy at Tennessee…

It seems to me that Bruce Pearl sent two messages yesterday.  The first is a very positive one, namely that he is happy as coach of the Tennessee Volunteers and has no desire to leave behind what he has begun.  Bruce Pearl likes it here.

Why do I say that?  Well first of all is the obvious: he is staying here.  More importantly, however, is the what he said in his public statement last night.  To me, it makes it clear that Pearl is truly happy to be at Tennessee.

I truly love my job, and I want it to be clear that I’m not interested in any other job.  There’s no place in the country I’d rather be than the University of Tennessee.  My children are happy here in the Knoxville community—one is in high school, one is in middle school and two are currently attending the university.

My staff and I are building a consistent top-25 program and I’m honored and privileged to serve the greatest fans in the country. Tennessee has all the resources necessary to win championships, from our recently upgraded facilities to our ability to schedule.

It’s great to be a Tennessee Vol!

• Bruce Pearl commenting on rumors of him leaving Tennessee | UT Sports.com

Now in the era of sports double-talk and lip service (See Bobby Petrino at any point in his career), it is rarely advisable to take public professions of loyalty at face value.  I understand that.  Still, there are different degrees of lip service and there are different types of coaches.  Pearl’s statement was anything but tepid—it was largely unequivocal and pointed.  In other words, he could have simply said “I’m staying,” and left the other assurances out of the discussion; he didn’t.

Second of all, for reasons unknown to me (considering I have never met Pearl), I trust the man.  Maybe that owes to the side of him that exudes infectious enthusiasm about everything to which he is tied; maybe it is because of his well documented history of loyalty at Iowa and Wisconsin-Green Bay; maybe it is because he is a con man and I’m snowed.  Regardless of the reasons, Pearl is unique in my mind because I do believe that he is both loyal and trustworthy as a coach.  My gut tells me that if he was not happy and was considering a move, while he might not come out and say it, he would similarly not effervesce about how much he loves it at Tennessee.

Furthermore, if he had wanted to leave, it would have been hard to argue with his decision given the suggestion that Memphis was prepared to offer up to $ 3.25 million a year (approximately $ 1.25 million more per year than his new contract is reported to provide).

Thus, I believe him when he says that he never intended to leave, and that he truly loves coaching the BasketVols.  If he truly wanted to leave, he would have.

Yeah, yeah, I know—I’ve obviously been drinking the Kool Aid…

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Yes, friends and neighbors the NCAA Tournament is upon us.  Thus, we all get ready for the mayhem that accompanies that grand old tradition.  For what seems like forever, that has included watching endless hours of basketball courtesy of CBS Sports.  Now, generally, I am a huge fan of CBS Sports, and I favor their web presence when it comes to sports content on the internet. **

All that said, last year’s NCAA tournament almost drove me mad.  Actually it wasn’t the tournament, but the way that CBS covered the tournament on television.  That led me to fire off at the mouth a bit.  Since it is that time again, I figured it would only be appropriate to take a stroll down memory lane and look back on what I had to say about CBS’s coverage.  I do this for two reasons.

First, this seems relevant as we all get ready to become couch potatoes for a month.  This may be minimized a little bit due to the fact that CBS will be broadcasting all games online free of charge once again, but the fact remains a big flat screen is infinitely better than even the best computer monitor.

Second, I have been so busy that I haven’t yet gotten a chance to finish up my thoughts on the Oklahoma State Cowboys…

Thus, without further adieu, we go back in time to my post entitled simply:

CBS = Complete Bull Sh*t

The following is an excerpt from an archived post on Gate 21 which originally appeared on 31 March 2008.  To continue reading the original post in its entirety, simply click the title above, or the “Continue Reading” link at the foot of this post

I intentionally waited a few days before airing this complaint, mainly because I didn’t want my vitriol to be mistaken as nothing more than “sour grapes” over the BasketVols loss to the Louisville Cardinals.

Trust me, this has nothing to do with Tennessee, Louisville, or any other specific team…

For the past … well, it seems like quite a long time, now … CBS has been the exclusive home of the NCAA Tournament. I vaguely remember ESPN covering first and second-round games during the 1990s, but CBS is all we have had for a while. Either way, CBS has held a stranglehold on the Final Four since Billy Packer conned James Naismith himself into signing over the rights some time during the 1920s — back when Billy Packer was in his 50s.

First of all, I do want to applaud CBS Sportsline — CBS Sports’ internet division — for their ambitious decision to broadcast every tournament game for free on the web. Similarly, the CBS “Game Center” on the internet for each game — displaying myriad stats and information in real time — is amazing. It is as artful as it is impressive. Any fan can get up-to-the-second information on every facet of the game — including points, fouls, assists, shooting trends, whether a player is taking bribes to throw the game, which boosters the cute little cheerleader next to the basket is sleeping with, and so much more — via one of the best interfaces I’ve ever seen for statistical information of that kind.

Despite the minor fact that the bandwidth draw for the “March Madness on Demand” service has been so obscenely high that it has — at times — nearly crashed massive trunk lines on the web, I salute these efforts of CBS’s internet division. For reasons which will become clear in a second, in the future I may choose this as the only way I’ll watch the tournament — even if it is in a 5″ x 5″ low resolution streaming window.

Continue Reading >>

**Disclosure: While lawvol is a voting member of the CBS Sports Football Blog Poll and the CBS Sports BasketBlog Poll, neither this site, its editor, nor publisher receives any payment or other compensation of any type or kind in return for participation. Furthermore, neither Gate 21 nor lawvol received any benefit of any kind for this article, which was neither requested nor solicited by CBS Sports. This article represents the actual opinion of the author (for what that is worth) and was in no way influenced by any other person(s).

2009 SEC Tournament Championship Game

Final Statistics: Mississippi State 64 • Tennessee 61

Postgame: Quotes • Box Score

Try as they might during the 2009 SEC Tournament Championship game, the Tennessee Volunteers simply could not overcome the Mississippi State Bulldogs … or the officials.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not blaming the BasketVols loss on the officiating, because it was awful in both directions, but the calls in the second half were as poor as I have seen in a major tournament championship in a long time, notwithstanding the fact that Ted “Rah-spect mah Au-thori-tah!!” Valentine was nowhere to be found.

Here are a few highlights, courtesy of ESPN:

Miss. State Upends the Vols| ESPN.com

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I only have a few minute, but I wanted to take a moment to cheer on the Vols today as they get ready to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs today in the SEC Tournament Championship Game.  I do not know why or how, but suddenly the Vols look like the team we all thought they would be at the start of the season.

Better late than never…

It's time to finish strong, men!

The game will air today on CBS as well as online at CBS Sports at 1:00 pm. As always, the game will also be broadcast by the Vol Network through its broadcast affiliate stations, as well as via the live internet stream available through UT Sports.com, and via XM Satellite Radio on Channel 199.

Barring incident and time permitting, I will be joining in the Live Game Thread over at Rocky Top Talk, where everyone is always welcome to join in and either celebrate or commiserate throughout the game.

Go Vols, Beat the Bulldogs!

– So it goes

Probably a bit late, but what the heck…

via: The Onion

Well, I am—quite obviously—running behind.  I have yet to get my thoughts together on the BCS Championship Game—which President-elect Obama still thinks needs to be sacked in favor of a playoff—and the conclusion of the 2008-09 football season.

I’m going to blame it on the uncontrollable projectile vomiting that accompanied the realization that the Florida Gators had been crowned national champions…

I know, I know, I am supposed to pull for the SEC, and as a general rule I always do.  Had the Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs, or any other member of the SEC won, then I would be overflowing with my congratulations to the team in representing the conference on the most visible stage in the country.  There’s only one problem with this general rule of mine, it has one exception:

I have never and will never pull for the Florida Gators in any sporting event.  No way, no how, no sir.

Without re-hashing what I have already said, I hate to lose to many of the SEC schools (most notably Alabama) but I don’t “hate” those schools.  With Florida it is different.  I realize this will label me as a sour-grapes sort of poor sport who blames Tennessee’s poor performance this year on every one but the Vols.  It is petty, it is juvenile, it is silly.

Frankly, I don’t care…

Furthermore, had the thousands of classless thugs folks that I had to deal with during my three trips to Gainesville for games shown a little more class, then this wouldn’t be the case.  Of course I doubt the Gators care what I think either.  Thus, I’ll congratulate the LSU Tigers for a nice win against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the Georgia Bulldogs for their besting of the Michigan State Spartans, the Ole Miss Rebels for up-ending the Texas Tech Red Raiders, The Vanderbilt Commodores and Kentucky Wildcats for managing to win their bowl game when few gave them much of a chance.  To all of you, congratulations.  As for Alabama, well, thank you for representing the conference in the BCS, despite losing to a tough Utah Utes squad.  The Utes are a solid team and there is no shame in the loss.

Florida, however, can suck it…

Alrighty, I suppose that’s enough venom for the moment.  Then again, maybe not.

“You’d have to be out of your friggin’ mind not to want to play for the Gators,”

• Urban Meyer commenting after the Gators victory over the Oklahoma Sooners

• Via Go Vols Xtra: Meyer sees no end to Florida’s reign

Nice to see that Meyer isn’t smug about it all.

Fortunately, Lane Kiffin doesn’t seem to be the type of guy who really cares about impressions and opinions.  He spent his week giving the current members of Vols football squad the proverbial “Come to Jesus” experience as he has made it clear that he expects a lot from his players not just on the field, but in the classroom as well.  He drove this point home by showing up unannounced in a few classrooms around the Hill and by dismissing Darius Meyers and giving Brent Vinson one chance to straighten-up.  Other sources indicate that, in addition to these “visible” actions by the Blackjack General, there have been other disciplinary actions taken to shore-up various shortcomings by players.  Both Ramone Johnson and Demetrius Morely have also been mentioned as having been “encouraged” to find more focus.  I have a feeling that there will be more heard on this subject in the coming months leading up to the Orange and White game this spring.

All of this is fine by me.  Sometimes you have to do a little housekeeping when you are trying to make changes.

Speaking of changes, Mike Griffith posted a particularly interesting piece on the perceptions of various members of the national sports media on Kiffin’s selection as the new head coach at Tennessee.  The general consensus is that no one really knows how things will turn out.

I found the response of ESPN.com’s Gene Wojciechowski to be particularly insightful:

“I don’t know what to think. I know he’s hiring a great NFL staff – his dad from Tampa and Orgeron from the Saints. He’s going into one of the most impatient places there is. The whole thing is a chemistry experiment to me. It will be fascinating to see how it plays out. It’s one of the few hires where most people don’t have a feel for how it will work out. It’s one of the greatest calculated gambles I’ve seen in a while. If it works, Mike Hamilton looks like a genius. If it doesn’t, they fired a pretty good coach.”

• Via Go Vols Xtra: National Media sounds off on Kiffin hire

Personally, I find the reactions in Griffith’s piece refreshing for two reasons.  First, it is nice for once to hear the media talking-heads admit that they don’t know everything about everything—I guess they all forgot to pay the bill on their crystal balls due to the economic downturn.  Second, and most importantly, I like the fact that Kiffin represents a paradigm shift for Tennessee.  When given a choice between a hamburger or pizza, Smiling Mike appears to have chosen the Billy Barou (Nachos) with extra queso and hot sauce.

Thus far, when it comes to staff selections, Kiffin has been keeping up his end of the bargain.

As a result, the Vols are seeing a serious up-swing in their recruiting fortunes as National Signing Day approaches.  According to Scout.com’s Jeffrey Stewart*, it appears he has the right people out in the field knocking on doors—giving Tennessee a chance at a fabulous finish which seemed unlikely not long ago.  At present the Vols have 17 commitments, but the No. 4 wide receiver, No. 4 running back, No. 4 tight end and No. 2 offensive tackle in the nation are all making visits in the coming days.  At worst, it’s now looking like a top 20 class.  Basilio has a nice breakdown (courtesy of “X”) for those interested.

Oh, and despite the fact that Mike Hamilton’s little chemistry experiment is not a cheap one, UT announced that ticket prices will not be going up in Neyland Stadium this fall.

Note to self “Butts in the seats = Good”

Fulmer in the ACC?

Meanwhile, rumors are flying all over the place about the possibility of the Great Punkin being considered for the head coaching job at Boston College, after coach Jeff Jagodzinski was fired on Wednesday for interviewing with the New York Jets.  Fulmer has been a good friend of Boston College AD Gene DeFilippo from their time together as grad assistants on the Tennessee staff in the early 1970’s.  DeFilippo was instrumental in Fulmer’s decision to hire Dave Clawson prior to the 2008 season:

Ultimately, Fulmer settled on Clawson, who had interviewed the year before for the Boston College head coaching job. BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo was a graduate assistant at Tennessee in the early 1970s when Fulmer was getting his coaching start, and the two have continued to talk over the years.

DeFilippo’s endorsement of Clawson carried a lot of weight with Fulmer, who was even more intrigued after he met and talked football with Clawson. A dandy playcaller himself when he performed those duties under John Majors from 1989-92, Fulmer liked the idea of bringing some new blood into the program. And that’s not a knock against Cutcliffe, either.

• Via ESPN.com: Clawson, Volunteers planning to beef up running game

Many fans and media observers feel that Fulmer would be near the top of possible candidates outside of the existing Eagles staff members, especially considering the importance of loyalty in the mind of DeFilippo who has no problem following his instincts.  There has been no official word at present, but the possibility has begun to gain some traction in the press and the Blogosphere.  Whether anything comes of these rumors remains to be seen.

Oh, and the BasketVols lost to Gonzaga in overtime, snapping the Vols’ 37-game winning streak.  That pretty much sucked.

Up next, the Georgia Bulldogs, Saturday at noon—likely without Tyler Smith (sigh…).  As is my usual practice (and time permitting), I plan on jumping in the game open thread over at Rocky Top Talk—if you haven’t participated in one in the past, they are fun and you should give it a try.  Tell Joel I sent you.

I should post more on Bruce and the Barbarians (as well as the fact that Pat Summitt is only five games away from her 1,000th win), but—as I said from the outset—I’m still in catch-up mode.  We should be in full basketball mode here at the Gate by sometime next week.

Until then…

Go Vols, Beat the Bulldogs!

– Go Figure …

Image Courtesy of: UTSports.com

*Scout.com membership required to access article