It's time for Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl and his players to learn just how much respect they've earned this season.

On Tuesday, Pearl was voted District IV Coach of the Year, and guard Chris Lofton was player of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writer's Association.

The district includes the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

The SEC coaches All-Conference team will be released today.

The coaches typically vote the coach of the SEC's regular-season champion as coach of the year.

But UT's miraculous turnaround this season -- the Vols were picked to finish fifth in the SEC in the preseason -- gives Pearl a chance to top LSU's John Brady, if not in the coaches' vote, then the Associated Press vote later this week.

Lofton is a strong candidate for first-team honors, while C.J. Watson should make second team. UT guard JaJuan Smith is a strong candidate to win the SEC's sixth-man award. His statistics outweigh other contenders.

Pearl said Tuesday he's not sure how much respect his team will get.

"I still think we're the underdogs,'' Pearl said. "We didn't win the regular season championship -- LSU did.

"We've talked about what it takes to earn respect; it doesn't take three-quarters of a season, it takes years.''

That said, Pearl feels his players deserve a great deal of recognition for their efforts.

"I still think a lot of folks out there think what's happened has been an accident,'' Pearl said. "So there's no sense of accomplishment at all.''

Pearl said one motivational tool he'll use heading into the SEC tournament is his team's chance to make an appearance on national network television.

"There are four teams in the SEC that weren't on CBS this year: Auburn, Ole Miss, Georgia and Tennessee,'' he said. "CBS is televising the (championship) game on Sunday.''

Practice: The Vols scrimmaged Tuesday, holding their first contact practice in over a month.

"The best part of it was we got through it without an injury,'' Pearl said.

Pearl said his team won't watch any film on either of its potential opponents until the conclusion of the Mississippi State-South Carolina game at 1 p.m. Thursday. The Vols (21-6) play the winner of that game 1 p.m. Friday.

Pearl said the team would attend the game at the Gaylord Entertainment Center before going to Tennessee State for a 5 p.m. practice.

The Vols will practice in Knoxville this afternoon before busing to Nashville this evening.

Biggest Win: Pearl said numerous times the Vols had just won their "biggest'' game of the year, and he meant it each time.

In hindsight, Pearl said the SEC season-opening win over South Carolina was the biggest win of the year.

"It was the biggest ... most important win of the year because it was on the road, we were down 15, and it got us off to a good start,'' Pearl said.