After this week, Tennessee's men won't have to worry about anyone questioning their strength of schedule come March.

Wednesday night, the Vols will be on Beale Street, renewing an intense rivalry with No. 4 Memphis at FedEx Forum.

Saturday night, No. 2 Florida rolls into Thompson-Boling Arena unbeaten.

That would be a tall order for the 1960s UCLA juggernaut, much less contemporary Tennessee.

The Vols haven't played top-five teams back-to-back in three decades. UT opened the 1965-66 season by losing to No. 2 Michigan and No. 4 Vanderbilt.

How big of a week is it for coach Bruce Pearl's team?

The bet here is that a win over either the Tigers or Gators would make the Vols irresistible to the NCAA tournament selection committee -- provided they finish at least 8-8 in SEC play.

Without another marquee win, a 9-7 SEC slate might be the key to the March Madness kingdom.

Tennessee already has an enormous notch on its belt. The Dec. 17 rout at then-No. 6 Texas only looks better over time as the Longhorns continue to chew up the scenery.

In particular, beating the Gators on Saturday would be a bold stroke. UT would get not only a huge national win, the Vols also would be one more step toward satisfying their SEC agenda.

As for Memphis, the series renews after a four-year dormancy. Pearl welcomes the product, though not the timing of the delivery.

"I'm glad we're playing,'' he said, "but not happy about playing in January.

"To get the series started, I agreed to play this one time in January. But never again.''

While the Vols are expending themselves in Memphis, Florida is prepping with Savannah State.

Coming off a rough trip to LSU -- where it was overpowered -- Tennessee could have used a Savannah State, if not an open date, to recharge itself for the Gators.

Instead, Pearl must sell his team on the opportunity Memphis presents rather than the obvious obstacles.

"We've played a challenging schedule,'' he said. "If we are near the bubble at the end, the committee will consider that factor.''

Brady's Vote: LSU coach John Brady may have more to say on today's SEC coaches teleconference about his distress that his off-the-cuff and (he thought) off-the-record comments about Pearl ended up printed in Sunday's edition of The Tennessean.

Brady was quoted as saying "tell their coach to show some class'' in response to Pearl's good-natured interaction with the LSU student section in the final seconds of LSU's 88-74 victory.

In Monday's Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, Brady said he values his relationships with all SEC coaches because he appreciates how hard their jobs are and that he's impressed with Pearl:

"Of all the teams in the SEC, Tennessee and Florida are the most surprising this season with how they've played and if I had to vote for the SEC Coach of the Year today, I'd vote for Bruce Pearl.''

SEC Honors: For his abuse of Tennessee, LSU's Tyrus Thomas was recognized Monday as the SEC freshman of the week.

Thomas had 17 points (on 7-of-7 shooting), nine rebounds and nine blocked shots against Tennessee. Earlier, he had 13 points and 14 rebounds against Arkansas.

Alabama center Jermareo Davidson is the player of the week for his career-high 28 points in the Tide's 68-64 win at Kentucky.

Alabama hit 13 of 18 shots in the second half against the Wildcats, including 10 of its last 11.

Wonder what Tubby Smith's blood pressure was at the final horn.

Stat Watch: UT's Dane Bradshaw remains the SEC's runaway leader in assist-to-turnover ratio (58 good, 17 bad). ... Need a steal? Call Brewer. Arkansas' Ronnie Brewer has an SEC-best 50. Runner-up with 34 is Corey Brewer of Florida. ... Ole Miss is 3-0 in league play for the first time since 1997-98.