NASHVILLE -- At the 11th hour of the college basketball season, Tennessee needs a fresh start -- and a fresh opponent.

That it's hard to beat an opponent three times in the same year is one of the game's most cherished clichA(C)s.

It proved true for the Vols on Friday as they were chased out of the SEC tournament by South Carolina, a team they swept during the regular season.

"South Carolina had us scouted to the nines,'' UT coach Bruce Pearl said after the 79-71 loss to the Gamecocks.

The Vols' next opponent won't have that edge.

Tennessee will learn Sunday whom it will face in the first round of the NCAA tournament Thursday or Friday. Whoever it is, it will be a stranger.

"I think that will help us a great deal,'' Pearl said.

The Vols need help. They've lost four of their past six games and are not playing with the energy or efficiency that propelled them to the SEC East title.

For what it's worth, South Carolina coach Dave Odom offered an encouraging prognosis for UT's first trip to the NCAA tournament since 2001.

"Tennessee will play better next week, I promise you,'' said Odom, "and most teams do at this level.

"You get away from people that know you well.''

The Vols don't have to sweat getting in the NCAA bracket. The only anxiety will involve how much Friday's loss affected their seeding.

They likely would have been a No. 3 seed if they won at least one game this weekend.

"I think this puts us in the 4-5 category now,'' Pearl said, "and the 5 category is pretty dangerous because the 5-12 is a tough match-up.

"The 13s are good as well, so this makes our first-round opponent a much, much stronger opponent.

"There will be a lot of speculation that we could get upset in the first round because of the quality of the 12 or 13, if we do wind up being a 4 or 5.''

The Vols were certainly vulnerable Friday and the disappointment was reflected in a somber locker room.

The prevalent theme was recapturing the energy that has been missing much of the past two weeks.

"We've got to be ready for whoever they throw at us,'' said Major Wingate. "We can't let another team outplay us like South Carolina did.''

Much of UT's success has been predicated on forcing turnovers and creating scoring runs.

"We're going to have to find a way to get that back,'' said guard JaJuan Smith. "We aren't playing with the same energy.

"I can't tell you the future, but I hope we can get it back.''

On the technical front, the Vols have to shore up their half-court defense. South Carolina became the third team in six games to shoot at least 70 percent for a half against UT.

"We've got to stop dribble penetration,'' said forward Andre Patterson. "We've got to front the posts and let our quickness be an advantage instead of letting our (lack of) size be a disadvantage.''

Offensively, Pearl said it's time to trim the playbook:

"You've got so much stuff in at the end of the year you get away from what you're good at.

"And we need more of an inside presence. We've got to work on that this week and not rely so much on the perimeter.''

Whether it's strategy or the intangibles, the bottom line is that Tennessee isn't the team it was a month ago.

"We can get it back,'' said Dane Bradshaw, "but we do need to be concerned about ourselves right now.

"We're not playing our best basketball.''

Pearl isn't ready to concede that the Vols are dead men walking.

"I still think there's another level for us,'' he said. "I saw it at Florida and I saw it in the second half against Vanderbilt.

"I've seen it recently, but I didn't see it today.''