TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

All Eyes Are On Volunteer State

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 23, 2008

Before this season, Memphis had spent just one week at No. 1 in polls - and it promptly lost.

Before this season, Tennessee had never been ranked as high as No. 2.

Before this season, could anyone have imagined Tennessee as, um, a basketball hotbed?

It has happened.

Tonight, it's No. 1 Memphis against No. 2 Tennessee in the biggest game to ever hit the Volunteer State. Graceland vs. Dollywood, if you will.

The Tigers and Volunteers operate inside the same borders, but have little else in common.

"It's not like they're 50 miles away from us," Memphis coach John Calipari said. "They're closer to Washington D.C., than they are to Memphis."

Ah, but this has the passion of a big-time rivalry.

Around the University of Memphis campus, bright blue T-shirts are being sold with the following words:

I HATE ORANGE.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, the Tennessee alum, was working some angles for tickets - before the Memphis athletic director got him into the building.

Manning is one of the lucky ones. This game is special.

The last time an undefeated No. 1 team played No. 2 this late in the regular season, top-ranked UNLV beat Arkansas 112-105 on Feb. 10, 1991, in Fayetteville, Ark.

And although Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl refuses to acknowledge Memphis as a true rival for his program - he wouldn't differentiate between the Memphis-Vanderbilt swing, calling it "an important two-game trip" - a victory tonight would be a highlight in program history.

Tennessee has beaten a top-ranked team once - South Carolina on Dec. 6, 1969.

"Memphis has the most talented team in the country," Pearl said. "They have all the pieces to the puzzle."

And although tonight's nonconference game may not determine the postseason fate of either program, it's a perfect fit for the basketball junkie.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT