Hoops

It was a rough night for the Tennessee basketball team Saturday at Alabama, as they were beaten mercilessly in every way and lost 78-50 to the Tide.

Will wants to burn the film, but not before we learn the most important lesson: When Tennessee struggles, they struggle defending elite guard play.

More specific to Saturday night, the Vols couldn’t keep Alabama’s elite guards (or anyone else for that matter) out of the paint. Wes Rucker of GoVols247 put it this way:  There was a party in Tennessee’s paint, and everyone from Alabama was invited.

Rick Barnes’ list of grievances was longer, but did include the paint problem. He also said this: “I don’t think I thought we could be that bad.”

The good news is that not only do road losses generally not count against you very much when seeding time comes, margin of defeat apparently doesn’t matter much at all. The NCAA Selection Committee released its top 16 seeds yesterday and not only did Tennessee still come in at No. 13, the committee chair explicitly said that the Vols getting run over at Alabama didn’t hurt Tennessee in the eyes of the committee:

(The discussion about the Vols begins at around the 3:45 mark.)

NFL Draft

Somebody’s mocking John Kelly. What? Oh, I see. A mock draft has Jon Gruden and the Raiders selecting John Kelly in the fourth round. Okay, then.

All aboard! A draft analyst is shoveling coal into the Rashaan Gaulden hype train, saying that he’s a top 50 pick. The thing also says that Gaulden has “discipline issues,” which surprised me. I know that picture of him giving the double bird to Alabama fans is still circulating the internet and that Kirk Herbstreit didn’t like it (but also loved Baker Mayfield, go figure), but honestly, having lived through it vicariously myself, I’m inclined to extend a little grace for a short outburst in the heat of the moment in the middle of last season. Is there something more that I’m missing?

Lady Vols

The Lady Vols softball team beat nationally-ranked Utah in Tempe 6-5 on a walkoff, bases-clearing double courtesy of Abby Lockman:

Meanwhile, the No. 11 Lady Vols basketball team beat No. 18 Georgia 62-46, and Mercedes Russell became only the sixth Lady Vol to reach 1,000 rebounds. Highlights:

And the Lady Vols tennis team got a big 4-3 win against Indiana this weekend, giving the Hoosiers their first loss of the season. The tennis team has won its first nine games this season, which is its longest winning streak since 2001.