Most Tennessee fans knew we were gonna be pretty good coming into the season, and the team certainly didn’t disappoint. For me, I wanted an Elite 8 because it seemed like the next step – we had two senior guards, Bruce’s first class had a year of experience, and Tyler Smith and JP Prince were two new impact players. Well, we came up just short of that, but I’m totally thrilled with 31 wins, an SEC Championship, and the fact the Vols had a little (1) next to them for a week.

Tennessee opened up the season against Temple, a rare combination that makes for an excellent weekend – basketball game Friday night, football game the next Saturday (Arkansas). The Vols didn’t look like world-beaters that night, but the W was never in doubt, and Tyler Smith made an awesome debut, especially the oop off a Chris Lofton alley right at the rim. It was also the first real game in the newly renovated Thompson-Boling Arena. Talk about upgrage – the scoreboard, the new suites and most importantly the new cushioned black seats. Great work to those responsible.

The next real games were the Legends Classic games in Jersey. Again, the Vols struggled on offense against a good West Virginia team (ask Duke), but the defense was playing well. The offense had struggled, but we’re winning games. I honestly don’t remember much of the Texas game, other than that they hit EVERYTHING. Tennessee beat Kentucky that particular day, and I was too emotionally spent to care how bad Texas beat us. It was late November anyways.

Tennessee struggled with Chattanooga and Western Kentucky (not MTSU though), but the two straight road game weekends at Xavier and Gonzaga would tell me more about what to expect in the SEC. Prince had his coming out party (23 points) as that game was the epitome of Tennessee basketball under Bruce Pearl, except we finally had depth to wear teams down. That’s what we did to Xavier the last couple of minutes. Tennessee clamped down on defense and the play that sticks with me from the game was Ramar Smith’s diving steal to keep a play alive. The first of many GREAT Tennessee wins on the year.

I was in Ithaca NY for the Gonzaga game, so I only saw parts of the second half, but it was quite the half. Again, Tennessee’s defense was vital in that win, forcing a number of turnovers that led to easy points in a relatively easy win. Gonzaga has been the media’s little darling since they were the Cinderella team of a few years ago and beating them with some ease – and showing them some big boy basketball – was enjoyable (especially Tyler’s throwdown to rub it in right at the buzzer).

The SEC home opener was the best home game of the year, against the undefeated Ole Miss Rebels and the tight ends in their frontcourt. After seemingly taking control with about ten minutes to go, Ole Miss makes a run and leads with about 2 minutes left. We clamp down defensively and Tyler Smith makes a clutch basket on an excellent post move. I jumped through the roof (more out into the aisle), and TBA got LOUD. Sure, we got exposed inside, but we had beaten arguably our most difficult SEC opponent, at least matchup wise.

Then came a rare Thursday-Saturday two game home stretch. For the second straight year, I enjoy Tennessee’s domination of Vanderbilt in all phases and it was never close. That game was Wayne Chism’s coming-out party (18 points and 18 boards), as he got the best of freshman AJ Ogilvy, showing him how to play in the SEC. Chism has been getting better since then, and with Tyler next year should be a great inside tandem.

Then the revenge game against the Buckeyes, minus Oden and Conley. Despite them being in the NBA, I still wanted to beat them by 150. I was a little disappointed when we didn’t exactly blow them out, and they actually had a chance to tie late. Unusually, Lofton had continued to struggle with his shot, forcing questions about when he would break his slump. At the same time though, we were winning in spite of his struggles, which was very encouraging, because you had to think Lofton would return to form at some point.

He did, scoring 22 points against the school that foolishly ignored him, Kentucky. The Wildcats were 7-9 at that point, and I expected us to win without much difficulty. But I think we were tired from the 3 game stretch, and we settled for bad shots down the stretch. No sweat though, it was only late January, and I knew we would be fine.

After beating UGA at home thanks to Lofton’s 27, then came another two game road swing. Of course last year it took Tennessee all year to win an SEC road game, but championship teams have to be able to win on the road in college hoops. I expected us to beat Alabama, and we played very well offensively, despite letting the Tide hang around far too long. The tougher game was Mississippi State, the West’s best team. After a bit of a slow start, we took control of the middle 20+ minutes of the game in a very impressive performance. Yes, I was a little surprised at how well we played in Starkville.

But wait, Jamont Gordon and Barry Stewart, a pair of players from Tennessee, decided to start hitting every three they took. At that point, I’m thinking we’re about to get screwed by luck, but it finally ran out, they had an untimely travel, and we made enough free throws.

There was little doubt we were the best team in the SEC. But the Baby Gators thought they had a chance. They jumped out 16-3 in Knoxville. No sweat. Then Lofton and JaJuan Smith went all 2006-2007 on them, combining for 49 points, and our offense played to its full potential and hung 104 on them. Arkansas came in a week later with their big guys presenting a bit of a problem. NO problem. JaJuan went off for 32 that night, and I knew we weren’t losing at home.

The LSU and Georgia road games weren’t cakewalks. I found out how much JaJuan meant to this team in Baton Rouge, the ugliest basketball game I probably watched last year. JaJuan had the flu, but had enough in the tank to make the game-winning steal and basket. As if he wasn’t special enough a player as he was already. Tennessee struggled at Georgia too, but Lofton wasn’t gonna be denied at his personal playground of Stegeman Coliseum. And let’s face it, Georgia hasn’t beaten Tennessee in like 5 years. Even Buzz beat UGA.

After that win, with Kansas’ loss at Texas and Duke’s loss at Wake Forest, the matchup was set. Tennessee moved up to #2, and Memphis was already at the #1 spot, with a 47-game home winning streak. We took care of Auburn with ease, and the stage was set for the biggest game in Tennessee hoops history. I was planning on being home that weekend whether or not I was going to the game, but thanks to my “job” with the UT radio station sports show, I was able to obtain a media pass to the game, with a couple of catches – I couldn’t wear orange, and I couldn’t be vocal for Tennessee.

If you know me, you know how much control that would take. I had great seats in the beautiful FedEx Forum along press row with Rob Lewis of VolQuest, some Commercial Appeal writers, and the local sports guys from Memphis. The atmosphere was amazing, the best I’ve ever experienced for a basketball game (not against Florida last February). And let’s face it: Tiger fans hate Tennessee so much more than Tennessee fans hate Memphis. Most Tennessee fans don’t care about Memphis. For those of us from Memphis, though, it’s different, having to be around the Memphis fans. Let’s just say I don’t like Memphis – A LOT. Watching Lofton school their entire team last year was sweeter for me than many people (I’ll have a post explaining my Memphis sentiments at some point).

 
I took a picture with my phone of warmups from my press row seat for the Tennessee-Memphis showdown.

JaJuan hit some amazing threes in the first few moments, but Memphis couldn’t miss. CDR, Anderson, Rose, even Taggart and some Robinson guy who didn’t see much PT hit threes. Yet at halftime, the talk amongst the Tennessee folk on press row was that despite the early barrage, Tennessee was down just one. Throw in that I’m not even sure Lofton scored in the first half, and I was happy to be down just one.

Then JP Prince showed his disdain for Memphis for shunning him. He had two dunks in a personal 6-0 run that put Tennessee ahead. Chism even hit a pair of big threes, including a bank shot that forced a wide smile on face the way back down the floor (Wayne’s always smiling though, you gotta love him). But Derrick Rose had the answers. I really think it was the Tennessee game that he started his incredible play that has him in position to be the top overall pick in the draft later this month. The defenses in this game were also much better than many gave them credit for. All the media talk after the game was on the bad offense, when it really was more great defense.

Rose scored and Memphis took the lead, then CDR scored off a steal and it looked grim. Tyler scored inside to make it 61-60, and then Tennessee couldn’t get a defensive rebound. Enter Joey Dorsey tackling teammate Robert Dozier after three offensive rebounds…WALKING. So Tennessee has the ball, and I’m doing whatever I can to hold it in, though I’m nervous as hell. Much like Ole Miss, Tyler gets the ball in the post, and makes a move, putting in a tough, tough shot over the fouling arms of Dozier, who he had gotten the better of on a number of occasions in the game). Yes, he might have moved his pivot foot, but the kick returner in 1996 was clearly down.

I can only do a simple fist pump as Tennessee takes the lead. Next Memphis possession, Anderson drives, and puts up a shot. I’ve got the angle, and I see it’s off, and I basically yelled for someone to grab the miss. Prince does, which is great since it’s our ball, but Prince shoots free throws worse than I do (to that point at least, he got much better). Us Tennessee folk were talking about how unfortunate Tennessee was to have Prince at the line at this critical point with #1 in grasp.

Dorsey, the tool he is, talks smack (about his 1 point) to Prince at the line. Prince hits the first one after it hit every inch of the rim, and drains the second one, 64-61. Ramar Smith fouls Rose because Bruce always fouls in that situation (like Calipari didn’t) and it pays off. And Lofton ices the biggest win in Tennessee history. Boy, were the Tiger fans quiet leaving. Our players run to the locker room right below me, and I’m smiling and pointing at them, though I probably wasn’t supposed to.

Getting to do some postgame interviewing of Bruce, Tyler, and JP was an incredible experience. I really got to experience it in the midst of their joy and my own, although I wasn’t able to fully express it for the sake of being professional. Walking nearly onto the floor after I took care of my work and seeing Bruce salute the few hundred Vol fans, leading #1 chants and the such was surreal. The realization of Tennessee being #1 was some great feeling.

I had been watching Tennessee basketball for just a little while shorter than football, for about 10 years or so. I listened to games when we were below .500. I watched the home loss to Chattanooga online. I watched this collapse at Louisville in 2002. And I wasn’t even around during the O’Neill years of being the SEC cellar team. I could imagine how those folks felt. To see the day Tennessee was the #1 ranked team in basketball for the first time EVER was just beyond words.

As expected though, it didn’t last long. That damn Memorial Magic or whatever the hell they call it. We played like we were emotionally drained, and still almost won. Shan Foster, who had just an insane year (see the Mississippi State game), went off and we just couldn’t stop him. So #1 last a week, barely two days to be exact. Still it was GREAT while it was there.

Now the focus was on winning the SEC. Kentucky came to town, and we were fortunate to win, despite their incredible luck. Kentucky’s offense consisted of running down the shot clock and throwing up a tough shot, and they were falling that day. I expected a walk, especially with Patrick Patterson and his knee injury. It wasn’t pretty, but it was a W, one step closer to a title.

And I’m talking outright title. Sharing is nice and all, but our team and our fans wanted that title to ourselves. Another tough start at Florida made it look questionable, as Florida scored almost 60 points in the first half and couldn’t miss. But we were not to be denied. JaJuan and Chris started killing Gator fans again, and we pulled it out in an intense game. You could see it in Tyler’s eyes as he stared down the punk Dan Werner. And even Wayne hit two HUGE free throws to ice it, and he’s not the best free thrower on our team either.

I got to cover the South Carolina home finale, and it was a great experience to watch the championship festivities, which I thought were warranted. Look, Tennessee isn’t a basketball powerhouse, so we should celebrate the titles. In the future, maybe we won’t do it, but after not winning an outright title in four decades, we deserved to cut down our nets and get shirts.

I got to interview Lofton and JaJuan postgame, and I was amazed at seeing how humble and down-to-earth they were. This was their team, and they will always be remembered in the years down the road when Tennessee is winning SEC titles every year.

The Lofton/JaJuan legacy will get its own page because those two guys deserve it, and the SEC Tournament gets its own page too, since it was such an experience with the tornado and all that stuff.

All I’ll say about the SEC is F*** Steven Hill. That prayer you threw up cost us a 1-seed. You can’t convince me Georgia would have beaten us, despite that amazing run. We had the toughest schedule, #1 RPI most of the year, road wins at Memphis, Xavier, M-State, Florida, West Virginia. We deserved a top seed I thought. Kansas got ours, which was upsetting, but getting put in North Carolina’s region was just a crime. Were we not the best 2-seed?? Apparently not…

The silver lining was winning two games put us in Charlotte, where my dad lives and had gotten tickets for. So we take care of American and Butler/South Alabama and I get to see our run at an Elite Eight/Final Four. First Round, we underestimated American, plain and simple. They played hard, but we weren’t losing.

How the hell we get to play a 30-3 top 10 team in the second round I’ll never know. But avenging the NIT loss from the year before was great. We nearly blew that game, but prevailed in OT, thanks to Tyler’s block on white-boy AJ Graves and Ramar Smith’s play in OT. So I got my wish, and got to see us play in the Sweet 16.

I kinda wish I hadn’t. We weren’t the same team after the Memphis win for some reason, and I gotta question Bruce switching point guards going into the NCAA Tournament. We won the SEC, got to #1 and won 30 games with Ramar running things, why change? Why experiment in the postseason? Bottom line, Louisville had more talent and more length than we did (we took care of that with our recruiting class) and I sorta expected us to lose, but not that bad. It was certainly frustrating, but it didn’t take away from what this team accomplished in the season.

It’s already been a crazy offseason, with the unfortunate dismissal of Ramar Smith and Duke Crews, Tyler deciding to come back, and the signings of Scotty Hopson and Bobby Maze. Tennessee will be young this upcoming year, but my, oh my, are we gonna have some talent and length. I said it after last year’s tough loss to Ohio State, that Tennessee is in great hands with Bruce Pearl. I had no fear of him leaving to Indiana, and I see him coaching here the rest of his career.

Indeed, 2007-08 was a historical year for Tennessee basketball, but I think it’s safe to say many more years like this one are on the horizon for this program.