BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The anticipation of a bouncing ball rarely has evoked so much excitement in East Tennessee. So I don't feel out of place in Birmingham, Ala., for the SEC basketball media days, which begin today.

Never mind that college football is on the verge of its stretch run. The stretch could lead to nothing more than a yawn for Tennessee football.

Football isn't what it used to be at UT. And neither is men's basketball.

In the middle of football season, UT basketball coach Bruce Pearl was featured in Sports Illustrated. What does that tell you?

It tells you how drastically UT basketball has changed since athletic director Mike Hamilton hired Pearl as his coach after the 2004-05 season.

The Vols had back-to-back 20-plus-win seasons and made the NCAA tournament each time. They have beaten national champion Florida three times. They have generated the kind of excitement football once did.

As a 4-3 UT football team struggles for answers, its basketball team has the aura of a surefire hit. And its fans can see all the way to March, which for too many years was a dead month for this program.

Just making the NCAA tournament is no longer a goal for UT basketball. Now, it's all about making your mark.

You don't make your mark in one weekend. You have to advance.

The Vols advanced to the sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament last season, which had a startling ending. The Vols blew a 20-point lead in falling to Ohio State, which eventually lost to Florida in the national championship game.

Don't bother asking, "How could UT blow a 20-point lead?" The more relevant question: "How could UT get a 20-point lead on Ohio State?"

The Vols will lose other big leads. They also will overcome huge deficits. You get both when you play the game at a break-neck pace.

In fact, Pearl's teams are more entertaining in defeat than many teams are in victory. Perhaps that's easier for me to say since I don't have a rooting interest, but I doubt UT fans would be as excited about this program if it had won just as many games the last two years by playing a more conventional style.

What's impressive is that Pearl didn't have to recruit players for his system before he won with his system. Sure, it helped that a deluxe 3-point shooter like Chris Lofton already was on board. But Buzz Peterson's recruits adapted to Pearl's full-court pressure defense; together, the coaches and players have made it work.

It will work even better this season because the system has become second nature, and because Pearl has added transfers like Tyler Smith and J.P. Prince, who will bring more size, athleticism and depth to an already talented roster.

More than the talent has changed. So has the image.

UT is no longer the scrappy, over-achieving program trying to battle its way into the NCAA tournament. It's a consensus top-10 team and a popular pick to win the SEC.

The talent and image might have changed. But if UT hopes to play up to its high expectations, it's important that the attitude remains the same.

Pearl's first two teams didn't shoot as though they were afraid to miss. They didn't play as though they were afraid to lose.

They didn't always win. But they won back fans who had drifted away after too many years of uneventful or uninspired basketball.

And in late October, those fans are ready for a bouncing ball.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.