Bruce Pearl has put Tennessee basketball in the top 10. He has filled Thompson-Boling Arena. He has lifted the spirits of a sports community that was mourning a 5-6 football team.

"Bruce Almighty" reads a sign. "We are not worthy," says a UT fan as Pearl walks by after a victory over Kentucky at Rupp Arena.

He has done so much for so many, I knew he eventually would get around to helping me. Finally, he did.

The coach who gets things done so quickly and effectively gave me an idea.

The idea came to me while watching Kiefer Sutherland's character charge through the fastest one hour in television Monday night. My idea has since been copyrighted and will be on its way to Fox posthaste. So don't even think about ripping it off.

My proposed television series will be titled "48," and will have a similar premise as the popular TV series, "24." I call it "48" because a full-time basketball coach -- even one as competent as this one -- will need more time to save the world than a counter-terrorism agent.

Each episode of "48" will take place in a two-hour period before or after super-coach Pearl departs from a basketball game. Unlike "24," each episode will begin on a different day -- one episode per game for 24 weekly shows.

I've recommended Vince Vaughn to play the lead, but that's open for discussion.

Here's a synopsis of my first two episodes:

Episode I

On the bus ride from a game at Madison Square Garden, where the Vols defeated Connecticut 87-63, Pearl sees two men beating up an older man. Pearl leaps from the bus and races to the aid of the elderly man, who has been stabbed.

The man's dying words are in Arabic and describe a plot by terrorists to release nerve gas into the New York City subway system. Fortunately for the free world, Pearl learned Arabic on the plane ride from Knoxville to New York.

Pearl returns to the bus and directs the driver to the terrorists' apartment in the Bronx.

"I'll call 911," the bus driver says.

"I work faster," Pearl says. "Just drive."

Moments later, Pearl bursts through the apartment door, head-butting the first terrorist to the ground, then wrestling a gun from the other terrorist. He wraps his suspenders around the conscious terrorist and threatens to strangle him unless he reveals the location of the nerve-gas canisters.

The terrorist spills his guts. New York City Police are called to make the arrests and secure the deadly canisters.

Pearl returns to the team bus and says, "Looks like we won twice on this trip, guys."

The team gives him a standing ovation.

Episode II

The Vols have just routed Duke 83-65 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. As Pearl walks to the team bus, a little girl and her mother approach him. The mother speaks just enough English to ask for an autograph.

Pearl recognizes her accent as Korean, which he learned while waiting for dinner in a Durham restaurant the night before. Pearl notices something else, too. The girl has bruises on both arms.

"Who did this to you?" Pearl asks.

The mother breaks down crying and says in English, "Stepfather."

Pearl brings the mother and daughter aboard the team bus, then heads for their home. It's time to right a wrong.

Moments later, Pearl bursts through the front door, head-butts the stepfather to the ground, wraps his suspenders around the man's neck and says, "If you ever touch that little girl again, I'll hang you by my suspenders from the oak tree in your backyard."

As Pearl tightens his stranglehold, he detects a strange odor on the man's hand. Fortunately for the free world, Pearl took up chemistry as a hobby in the off-season. He identifies the chemical as an antidote for nerve gas.

This episode will be continued the following week when you learn the child abuser is also a North Korean terrorist who is involved in a plot to release nerve gas in a Durham mall.

But Bruce will have something to say about that in Episode III.