Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl is expected to agree to a contract worth between $1.3 and $1.5 million annually, according to a source close to the program.

Pearl has a five-year contract worth $800,000 a year.

The length of Pearl's new contract, which could be agreed on in principle as early as today, will be five or six years.

UT athletic director Mike Hamilton said Monday, "There's a good chance,'' the deal would be done by the start of the SEC tournament on Thursday.

The Vols open play at 1 p.m. Friday at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville against the winner of Thursday's 1 p.m. game between South Carolina (15-14, 6-10 SEC) and Mississippi State (15-14, 5-11).

Pearl recently debunked speculation that he might interview for head coaching positions at Indiana or Cincinnati.

Hamilton said throughout this season he planned to make Pearl one of the highest-paid basketball coaches in the SEC.

Kentucky's Tubby Smith reportedly makes $2.2 million annually, Florida's Billy Donovan makes $1.7 million and Alabama's Mark Gottfried signed a six-year, $6 million guaranteed contract this fall.

Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings is negotiating a contract believed to be worth more than $1.2 million per year. The Commodores, however, aren't required to release contract information on Stallings because Vanderbilt is a private school.

Pearl's pending raise comes on the heels of one of the most-successful regular seasons in Tennessee basketball history.

The Vols have an RPI rating of No. 6, and they're ranked No. 14 in the nation after winning the SEC East with a 21-6 overall mark and 12-4 league record.

Pearl's .778 winning percentage at UT ranks as third-best in SEC history for a first-year head coach, trailing the 35-4 mark Smith put up at Kentucky in 1997-97 and Eddie Sutton's 32-4 record at Kentucky during the 1985-86 season.

Pearl also ranked third in the nation in winning percentage for the year 2005. His 27-4 (.871) record at Wisconsin-Milwaukee and UT in the calendar year was bettered only by Illinois' Bruce Weber (37-2, .949) and Louisville's Rick Pitino (34-4, .895). Duke's Mike Krzyzewski was fourth on the list (31-5, .861).

Pearl's efforts in the Knoxville community also proved a success, as he campaigned with numerous public appearances to draw fans to Thompson-Boling Arena in an attempt to revitalize what had been a slumping program.

The Vols finished this season No. 5 in the nation in home attendance, averaging 17,954 fans per game. Only Kentucky (22,651), Syracuse (21,587), North Carolina (20,239) and Louisville (19,044) had higher home attendance.

Tennessee also proved to be a draw on the road, as its last five road trips were sellouts, and its 15,917 average attendance for all games also ranked fifth nationally.

Pearl said in a Monday afternoon interview that his starting salary at Southern Indiana in 1993 was $65,000 a year, and he started his stint at Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2000 making $130,000 annually.