Tennessee's inevitable move up in the men's basketball polls should bring the Vols a rating of 17th or higher today.

But there's another ranking the UT coaching staff is keeping an eye on with hopes recruits will notice: attendance.

"Every team wins and loses,'' UT coach Bruce Pearl said. "But not everyone can put more than 20,000 in their arena.''

Tennessee can and does. As of last week, the Vols ranked 10th in the nation in average home attendance according to the coaching staff.

Following Saturday's win over South Carolina, UT was bringing in 16,863 per game, second only to Kentucky (22,236) according to Sunday's SEC release.

Tony Jones, UT's associate head coach, said success on the court and in the stands pays dividends on the recruiting trail.

"We obviously stay in touch with all our recruits, and what we're doing now is validating their decisions to sign with us,'' Jones said. "Some guys, like Duke Crews, who had the opportunity to go to North Carolina, Georgetown or Duke, have an answer now when people say, 'Why Tennessee? No tradition, no basketball program.' ''

Now, it's just a matter of the television networks catching up.

The Vols have played two of their three nationally televised regular season games, with only the Feb. 7 game at Kentucky on ESPN remaining.

South Carolina, by comparison, has seven games televised on national cable or network television this season.

"Unlike football, which chooses its games 12 days in advance, SEC basketball is set before the season,'' Hamilton said. "That being said, having a coach who was in the Sweet 16 and a point guard like C.J. Watson, I'd have liked to have seen us get a couple of more games.

"I'm confident you'll see more games televised next season.''

The fact that Wednesday night's 7:30 p.m. tip with Vanderbilt isn't televised could work in UT's favor, attendance-wise.

Hamilton would like to see another crowd of 20,000-plus for the Commodores, despite it being a mid-week game.

"I'm not disappointed with the (20,068) against South Carolina ... 5 o'clock was a tough start time,'' he said, "and it was a nice day outside, it was televised and it was the start of a three-game home stand.

"But the student attendance should pick up. We had 4,866 (students) for Georgia, 4,300 for Florida and 2,200 and change for South Carolina.''

Jones said the Vols count on their student section, the "Rocky Top Rowdies,'' for support and enthusiasm.

"People saw how exuberant our fans were, and it probably was worth the $5,000 fine (for storming the floor) in terms of what it did for recruiting,'' Jones said. "We're getting into doors (recruiting) we wouldn't have been able to get into because of all the national attention.

"All the underclass recruits are taking notice of this attendance phenomenon. They know in the southern region Tennessee is standing shoulder to shoulder with Kentucky in the Bruce Pearl Era.''

Stan The Man: It's a tribute to Stanley Asumnu's attitude and work ethic that the athletic senior is actually playing and contributing more since moving out of the starting lineup the past two games.

Consider that in Asumnu's last two SEC starts he played 36 minutes, was 5-of-14 (.357) shooting with five rebounds, zero assists and six turnovers.

In the past two games as a reserve, Asumnu has played 37 minutes, is 10-of-16 (.625) shooting with eight rebounds, five assists and no turnovers.

"Whatever coach Pearl needs me to do, I'll do it,'' said Asumnu, who made ESPN's highlights with two impressive dunks against South Carolina. "It's about doing what the team needs me to do.''

Next Up: The Vols' next challenge is to get more out of junior post Major Wingate, whose minutes have decreased the past two games.

Wingate, one of the strongest and most physically imposing players in the SEC, played 18 minutes against South Carolina and 16 at Mississippi State last Wednesday.

The 6-foot-10 Wingate is the Vols' third-leading rebounder (68), well off the pace set by 6-4 Dane Bradshaw (108) and 6-7 Andre Patterson (107).

Wingate is also only the third leading scorer (11 points per game) despite having the highest shooting percentage (.528) on the team.

Wingate's ability to be more active and aggressive could be the next step toward the Vols' continued improvement.