We all know where this is headed on Saturday. But let’s take one more minute to celebrate what these guys have done.
Tennessee, as you know, is now 23-1 (11-0). Nineteen wins in a row, nine SEC wins by double digits. But the majority of these players are also now 37-5 in their last 42 games.
Last time Tennessee beat South Carolina without Jordan Bowden. Tonight they did it with Grant Williams as the sixth-leading scorer. On the Vols, not in the game. The Vols actually lost the second half scoring 37-36, and still never let South Carolina get it to single digits.
Two of those five losses in the last 42 games – at Alabama and at Georgia last year – the Vols have seemingly eliminated from the realm of possibility. No bubble-or-worse squad has beaten Tennessee, and most haven’t come particularly close. Two of those five are to Kansas and Kentucky. And the other is where all of this is ultimately going: Loyola-Chicago, who still should get credit for making the Final Four, but also beat the Vols on a bad bounce with no Kyle Alexander. Injury can still strike – we all said a few words or held our breath when Jordan Bone went down tonight – but the depth of this team suggests no one absence is taking Tennessee out in the early rounds this time.
That’s the goal at the top of the bracket: be good enough to eliminate the bad bounce possibility, at least until the Elite Eight. And in the regular season, plus-or-minus two games when the Vols could’ve gone to number one, then ultimately did and almost stumbled immediately? The Vols are simply a machine. The opposition can even seem like they’re playing well – alarmingly so from the three point line at times, like the first half tonight – and oops, the Vols are still up 10. The best punch from teams with that chance usually gives up a transition bucket on the other end and is back down double digits a few possessions later.
There will be plenty of words to spill about Rupp Arena. That’s coming, then Vanderbilt, then five straight games against tournament opponents. This is all about to level up.
But what we’ve seen through the first 11 games of league play…is it even fair to call it a grind? For the opposition, definitely. For Tennessee, it’s just business. And it’s better than ever, longer than ever.