Tennessee's JaJuan Smith plays to the sold-out crowd at Thompson-Boling Arena.Had there been a goal post handy, it would have been torn down and paraded to The Strip.

The pent-up celebration that Tennessee never got to enjoy in a tormented football season came spilling out Saturday night.

The final horn signaled a rush of joyous humanity onto the court at Thompson-Boling Arena, swarming the 94 feet where an upstart team had just fired a shot that coach Bruce Pearl vowed would be heard around the country.

He wasn't just waxing poetic, either.

Tennessee's 80-76 upset of No. 2 Florida did several things, all of them important in the big scheme of things.

First of all, give the Gators the top billing they deserve. For a few hours Saturday they were the nation's No. 1 team-in-waiting.

They answered the tip-off the only undefeated team left from Providence to Pepperdine after both No. 9 Pitt and No. 1 Duke went down in flames during the afternoon.

Pearl described the Vols' win as a "real good night" for the SEC. You'd have a hard time selling that one in Gainesville at the moment.

What Pearl meant was that it's a healthy thing for the SEC to have teams like UT rise up out of mediocrity (or worse) and make themselves heard.

These Vols will be heard, loud and clear.

It's dicey to say a team has clinched an NCAA tournament bid before the Super Bowl is even played, but Tennessee is undeniably barreling toward the bracket with a head of steam.

This was bigger than beating Texas in December. This was beating the best team in your league.

And there's another reason this one was big. Make that 24,011 reasons.

The largest men's crowd since 1991 left feeling vindicated for its faith in this team.

They'll come back again.

"The students were talking about it all week,'' said junior Dane Bradshaw. "It was just like a football game.''

The football coach was even there. Phillip Fulmer sat close behind the UT bench.

"He gave me some confidence to hang in there,'' said Pearl.

Pat Summitt was there, too. The necktie Pearl wore was a present from the coach with 900 career victories.

"I wasn't sure it had any wins left in it after all the wins she's had,'' quipped Pearl.

A lot of folks wondered if the Vols had a win in them at the end of this, their toughest week.

They fought the good fight at both LSU and Memphis, but didn't have the horses to close the deal.

They closed this deal thanks to the bench.

JaJuan Smith snapped a brief slump with 10 points and six rebounds. Andre Patterson's 12 points and 10 boards were vital.

But this time, help also came from the far end of the bench.

Freshman Ryan Childress got a lot done in only six minutes. He grabbed three rebounds and hit three free throws. He also drew two charges, one of which elicited a technical foul on Florida coach Billy Donovan.

Jordan Howell ran the offense after C.J. Watson fouled out with 2:53 left and didn't miss a beat. He even hit the first free throw of his career to give UT a 76-74 lead with 90 seconds to play.

Finally, in their direst moment, the Vols got a heckuva defensive play from Mr. Offense.

Chris Lofton's 29 points might have gone for naught had he not picked off Corey Brewer's pass to thwart a sure-thing Florida fast break in the final half-minute.

Lofton not only got the steal, but fired long to Bradshaw for the layup to break a 76-76 tie.

"After the play,'' said Bradshaw, "I hugged him and said, 'You just got me on (ESPN) SportsCenter.' ''

You're going to be seeing more of the Vols on SportsCenter. Get used to it.