Promoter Pearl sees rise in SEC

"Billy Donovan is the No. 1 coach in college basketball right now," Pearl said of the man who led Florida to the national championship two months ago. "He's the hottest coach in basketball.

"He's been to the Final Four twice since 2000. He's one of three guys who played and coached in the Final Four. And he's in our league."

That's the promoter in Pearl talking.

The coach appreciates the challenge of having to compete against an SEC East rival which has its best players returning from a national championship team. The promoter sees the upside. So does the recruiter.

"We don't sign (point guard) Ramar Smith, who was one of the top high school prospects left, without Florida winning the national championship and LSU being in the Final Four," Pearl said. "It just raised our credibility with him. It raised the credibility of the league.

"The SEC was No. 1 in the RPI after the (NCAA) tournament. That's what everybody pays attention to. It was quite a year."

And it will pay off next season, according to Pearl.

He's not the only SEC basketball coach to recognize that. Based on discussions with television network representatives, league coaches anticipate increased exposure in 2006-07.

"ESPN is looking at a Sunday night situation to compete with Fox and the ACC package," Pearl said. "We also know ESPN would like to look at some Thursday night games.

"We want to get on (national TV). How do we take advantage of what Florida and LSU did? But none of this is up for discussion if we don't win five of six first-round games (in the NCAA tournament) and Florida and LSU don't make it to the Final Four."

Pearl said SEC programs are trying to capitalize by scheduling attractive non-conference games. Both Florida and UT have scheduled Ohio State for next season, Georgia has scheduled Gonzaga, and South Carolina will play Kansas.

"I won't schedule based on when my team is ready," said Pearl, who admits to probably over-scheduling for next season. "I'll schedule on when my program is ready. Tennessee's program is ready because of the support it has and because the league is strong right now."

With that in mind, he was pulling for the Gators in the national championship game.

"I was happy Florida won the national championship," he said. "Absolutely. There wasn't a bone in my body that said, 'I don't want Florida to win it.' I know for self-serving reasons it was better for us that Florida won it."

He's not as excited about the Gators returning their key players.

"We'll be the youngest team in the league this year," said Pearl, whose Vols beat Florida twice last season. "We could start two or three freshmen."

But he sees a bright side to competing against the defending national champions.

"It will make our run for another SEC East championship more difficult, but I think we will be a better team because of it. And it (the SEC) will fare better in the (NCAA) tournament because of it. They'll get us ready."