Vols Finally Win In SEC Tournament and I Eat Free Food

In a season of firsts, Bruce Pearl won an SEC tournament game for the first time in his coaching career with a thrilling victory over the tough South Carolina Gamecocks.

Before we get the actual game, let me talk about my personal SEC tournament fun. Since I'm on Spring Break this week, I thought I'd head down to Atlanta and watch the Vols live for the first time this year. I walked around for about 15 minutes with my index finger up looking for a decently priced ticket. My friend Michael and I got a free ticket to the Big 10 tournament in Chicago a few years back, so I had high hopes for something good.

Who knew it would be this good? A pack of Vols approach me with a ticket extended. "Come up and join us," the orange-clad gentleman invites. My first thought, after excitement about the free ticket, is "Up?". I pictured a crappy seat in the nose-bleed section, but instead "up" meant an executive suite with free food, beer and televisions for watching whatever games we wanted. I'm not sure I can ever sit down with the commoners again.

The game - the Vols once again failed to put a team away and once again won the game at the end. South Carolina's Devan Downey dominated the Volunteer guards who could not contain the Gamecock backcourt players all game long. In the end, however, it was Chris Lofton stepping up big with a clutch three-pointer and a final Volunteer defensive stop sealed the game for Tennessee, who plays Arkansas tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.

* Before I get to my Tennessee thoughts, Dave Odom deserves a quick word of praise before he heads into a semi-forced retirement. I don't understand why Odom's had such a difficult time in Columbia, but the guy is a coach's coach. His teams always played solid, textbook basketball at both Wake Forest and South Carolina. Enjoy the rocker, Coach.

* The referees were miserable at the beginning of the 2nd half as they whistled Tennessee for seven fouls before the first television timeout, but they deserve some credit for not calling an illegal screen on Lofton's three. I have watched it several times and still am not sure what happened, but there were three bodies on the floor when Lofton let the ball go. That usually means a whistle and probably could have been.

* Josh Tabb was huge. You just never know when your chance will come with this team, but Tabb was ready today. Lofton got into some foul trouble and no Volunteer guard could defend Downey, so Tabb got an extended run that turned into three assists and some huge defense for the Big Orange. Both Tabb and Williams were big off the bench.

* Pearl had a short leash with Ramar in the 2nd half, even going so far as starting Jordan Howell coming out of the locker room. Besides his mediocre defense, Ramar forced impossible passes and turned the ball over with the dribble. I don't know why, but he has taken a major step backwards this season.

* Tyler sleep-walked through the first half, but came up big in the second. The Vols shot poorly in the Dome, but Chism and Tyler were key inside to score the basketball.

* If I told you the Vols would score 89 points, would you have expected a close game? The defense was miserable today.

*To break down the final play to Lofton, it was a classic screen the screener play. Lofton started it with a back screen for the in-bounder, then came off a screen from Ramar to receive a dribble hand-off from Tyler. Tyler spun to make contact with the defense after the hand-off, so it ended up being a double screen. The screen the screener action is fantastic because Lofton's man must help to prevent a lay-up, then must recover as Ramar comes to set the screen. Screen the screener is a principle of the flex offense that Pearl likes to run.

* Arkansas is a great match-up for Tennessee. They like to run and press, but don't do it as well as the Vols. Pearl can out-coach Pelphrey too.

Other March Madness Thoughts

* Did Arizona State get hosed or what? The officiating in basketball is just miserable these days. It seems to be especially bad in the Pac-10. If UCLA gets a #1 seed instead of Tennessee, it can thank the piss-poor referees who punished Stanford for a beautiful block and then ignored the out-of-bounds rules against California.

* Speaking of the Pac-10, I'm watching UCLA-USC right now. As much as I want to dislike OJ Mayo, he is tremendous to watch. He is working over the Bruins right now.

* I hope Dennis Felton saved his job last night against Ole Miss. Felton deserves better than a pink slip after taking over the Georgia job after the Jim Harrick mess. I'm afraid Bruce Pearl might be the reason Felton is let go - if Tennessee can find someone to rebuild so quickly, why not UGA?

* Doesn't it seem like nobody wants to dance this year? So many bubble teams popped yesterday - Florida, Ole Miss, UAB, Houston, Maryland, Miami (FLA), Virginia, Baylor...wow.

The Madness continues tomorrow...and for the next three weeks. Forget Christmas - this is the most wonderful time of the year.