This is the tenth year of SEC expansion, with Missouri and Texas A&M joining the fray in the 2012-13 season. It felt like it would be an immediate upgrade: the Tigers went 30-5 the year before, earning a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But the first year of league […]

Tennessee’s win over Auburn was the program’s 13th victory over a Top 5 team in the last 17 seasons: seven for Bruce Pearl, six for Rick Barnes. And there may be additional opportunities this season, as early as two weeks from now in Tampa. Yesterday felt like a celebration of […]

There will come a time when Rick Barnes is no longer our coach, riding off into an orange sunset, maybe some gold around the edges. Whenever that happens, we’ll hope whoever is next can continue the program’s momentum. And because of Rick Barnes and Bruce Pearl, we’ll know such a […]

For all that Tennessee and Auburn have accomplished in the last five seasons, it’s kind of strange to realize tomorrow is the first elite showdown between the two in Knoxville during that time. In Bruce Pearl’s first three seasons (2015-17), Auburn went 44-54. In that same span, the Vols went […]

What’s next for this Tennessee team? With five games to go, the Vols are 19-6 (10-3). Two of the remaining five are Tennessee’s first match-ups with the SEC’s basement: at Missouri (10-15) on Tuesday, at Georgia (6-20) the following Tuesday. Those, of course, need to be wins. The other three […]

One of the best, hardest lessons from the last two years: be in the moment. Sometimes you can’t rush ahead. Sometimes the past isn’t helpful. Just be here. In our orange-colored world, it was one of those things that was hard to internalize because the 2020 football season spiraled so […]

Heading into the first meeting with Kentucky, we looked at Tennessee’s struggles in keeping teams off the offensive glass. It had been a common thread in recent losses to LSU, Auburn, and Alabama, and Kentucky had Oscar Tshiebwe, who can dismantle you there by himself. Defensively, what the Vols allow […]

On January 15, Kentucky shot 67.9% from the floor in a 107-79 win over Tennessee. The Vols dropped to 11-5 (2-3), vanquished in three straight road tests as league play opened in Tuscaloosa, Baton Rouge, and Lexington. Since then, Tennessee is 7-1, the lone loss by one point at Texas. […]

The win at Mississippi State gave the Vols four Quad 1 wins this year, moving their record to 4-6 against top competition. It’s clear the dates with Kentucky, Auburn, and the trip to Fayetteville will earn Quad 1 distinction. And the Hogs – winners of nine straight – could also […]

If you’d been wondering what the Vols would look like on a day when they got hot from three, behold. I don’t know how many teams in the country are beating Tennessee when they shoot 43% from the floor, 14-of-27 (52%) from the arc, and 13-of-14 (93%) from the line. […]