Tennessee men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl has shown he’s comfortable in the limelight, but what about the Vols’ new young team?
We’ll see this season.
UT announced that 15 of the Vols’ 30 regular season games will be televised nationally, and another eight will be shown by Raycom.
ESPN’s family of networks will cover 11 UT men’s games, including a 9 p.m., Jan. 31 home game with Florida. The ESPN GameDay set will be in Knoxville that day, broadcasting a one-hour show at 11 a.m., and another one-hour show at 8 p.m.
The CBS network will televise four Vols’ games nationally, including the battle with Memphis at Thompson-Boling Arena on Jan. 24.
“You can say that with the exception of maybe a game at South Carolina (2007) and against Wichita State in the NCAA Tournament my first year (2006), we’ve not been upset a lot,’’ Pearl said. “We’d have like to have beaten Kentucky and Arkansas (2006) and beaten completely undefeated for three years at home, but we’ve had many more upsets of others than we’ve been upset.
“Will this team be able to continue that, by beating everyone they are supposed to beat, knowing we play the toughest schedule in the country?’’
Pearl has used a take-no-prisoners approach to scheduling opponents in an effort to land the kind of TV exposure his team is getting.
That won’t change, even when the team is younger, as it is this season with five incoming freshmen, a redshirt freshman and a junior college transfer.
“We play the toughest schedule in the country, and that’s not gonna change regardless of the personnel,’’ Pearl said. “I don’t think you change your schedule to suit your personnel. You may change some of your approaches within the framework of your system.
“But we’re gonna play this schedule every year and every season because we want to be a top 20 program.’’
2008-09 Tennessee Basketball Schedule
Date Day Opponent Site Television Time
Nov. 3 Mon. Indianapolis (exhibition) Knoxville 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 7 Fri. Tusculum (exhibition) Knoxville 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 15 Sat. UT-Chattanooga Knoxville TBD
Nov. 18 Tue. UT-Martin Knoxville TBD
Nov. 21 Fri. at Middle Tennessee Murfreesboro, Tenn. TBD
Nov. 27 Thur. 1-Siena Orlando, Fla. Noon
Nov. 28 Fri. 1-Wichita State or Georgetown Orlando, Fla. 10:30 a/1:00 p.m.
Nov. 30 Sun. 1-Old Spice Classic Orlando, Fla. TBD
Dec. 3 Wed. UNC Asheville Knoxville TBD
Dec. 13 Sat. at Temple Philadelphia, Pa. Noon or 2:00 p.m.
Dec. 16 Tue. 2-Marquette Nashville, Tenn. 9:30 p.m.
Dec. 20 Sat. Belmont Knoxville TBD
Dec. 29 Mon. Louisiana-Lafayette Knoxville TBD
Jan. 3 Sat. at Kansas Lawrence, Kan. 2:30 p.m.
Jan. 7 Wed. Gonzaga Knoxville 9:00 p.m.
Jan. 10 Sat. at Georgia* Athens, Ga. Noon
Jan. 13 Tue. Kentucky* Knoxville 9:00 p.m.
Jan. 17 Sat. South Carolina* Knoxville TBD
Jan. 20 Tue. at Vanderbilt* Nashville, Tenn. 9:00 p.m.
Jan. 24 Sat. Memphis Knoxville 3:30 p.m.
Jan. 28 Wed. LSU* Knoxville 8:00 p.m.
Jan. 31 Sat. Florida* Knoxville 9:00 p.m.
Feb. 4 Wed. at Arkansas* Fayetteville, Ark. 8:00 p.m.
Feb. 7 Sat. at Auburn* Auburn, Ala. 1:00 p.m.
Feb. 11 Wed. Georgia* Knoxville 8:00 p.m.
Feb. 14 Sat. Vanderbilt* Knoxville 3:00 p.m.
Feb. 18 Wed. at Ole Miss* Oxford, Miss. 8:00 p.m.
Feb. 21 Sat. at Kentucky* Lexington, Ky. 1:00 p.m.
Feb. 25 Wed. Mississippi State* Knoxville 9:00 p.m.
March 1 Sun. at Florida* Gainesville, Fla. 2:00 p.m.
March 5 Thur. at South Carolina* Columbia, S.C. 7:00 p.m.
March 8 Sun. Alabama* Knoxville Noon
March 12-15 SEC Tournament Tampa, Fla. TBD
March 17 NCAA Opening Round Game (Dayton, Ohio)
March 19 & 21 NCAA First & Second Rounds (Greensboro, N.C. / Kansas City, Mo. / Philadelphia, Pa. / Portland, Ore.)
March 20 & 22 NCAA First & Second Rounds (Boise, Idaho / Dayton, Ohio / Miami, Fla. / Minneapolis, Minn.)
March 26 & 28 NCAA Regionals (Boston, Mass. / Glendale, Ariz.)
March 27 & 29 NCAA Regionals (Indianapolis, Ind. / Memphis, Tenn.)
April 4 & 6 NCAA Final Four (Detroit, Mich.)
Key
1-Old Spice Classic (Milk House at Disney’s Wide World of Sports® Complex in Orlando, Fla.)
2-SEC/Big East Invitational (Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn.)
* Southeastern Conference Game
All Times Eastern & Subject to Change
Vanderbilt 93, Tennessee 79, Feb. 9…
Signing day celebration at Neyland…
Notre Dame beats Tennessee 72-44…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 27
Lofton4Three writes:
Yes sir...about time those clowns from ESPN come to town.
GotPearl writes:
It's amazing! Absolutely amazing! Bruce....You are the Man!!!
mbradshaw1#655539 writes:
If you build it they will come
IBleedOrange444 writes:
In the words of the great Bert Bertelkamp... MONEY!!!!!
Sucks to be out west when b-ball kicks off 'cause I will surely get some crappy Pac-10 game instead of each and every one of those CBS games. I'll be relegated back to the YahooSports radio broadcasts with good ol' Bob & Bert. Honestly when they're on TV, I sometimes wish there was no time delay so I could mute the TV and listen to them anyway.
longtimefan writes:
Just goes to show how far the basketball team has come. Thanks to Bruce I can now look forward to basketball season.
b_neas writes:
I hope this team gets chemistry quick. This team has a legit shot at making a final 4. I can not wait. Talent, run and gun, shoot 3's, well coached and play hard. Even when we lose i never get tired of watching Pearls teams. UT better keep Pearl sealed up because if we lose him we will never have a coach of his equal. Then we would have to settle for whatever comes a long, like KY had to with BillyG.
murrayvol writes:
IPO: Look on the bright side. You've got a boatload of great scenery. And low humidity. :)
cdonsbach writes:
I can't wait! GO VOLS!
SemperVol writes:
Long as Chris Fowler & co. isn't associated with it, bring 'em on.
cjraney writes:
It's a great time to be a Volunteer. That schedule is just fantastice. Football will always be #1 in my heart but I love how the scheduling is more flexible from year-to-year in basketball.
ladivolfan writes:
Only 67 more days!
volengr57 writes:
Any news on the eligibility of Bobby Maze?
For that matter, anyone know anything about Gerald Williams?
????
cdldoc#211897 writes:
What is the degree of difficulty on this schedule?? Scarey!!
TopTenn writes:
I can't wait. Pumped up for basketball in Tennessee.
Smallmike4pres writes:
MICKEY DEARSTONE IS AN IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!
The sports animal is cancelling the Rome show. Let's flood the phone lines in the morning & let this numnut loser know what he is doing!
volsfan24 writes:
cant wait for memphis game at home i will get tickets for that game no matter the price
warriorman86#667191 writes:
I already went on their website and chewed him out. I asked why he doesn't just cancel his own worthless show then you could have:
Sports Talk w/ John and Josh 6-9
KNS Sports Page 9-12
Jim Rome 12-3
Sports Talk w/ John and Jimmy 3-7
rockytop47 writes:
Ibleed,
Get the ESPN basketball package. I live in Seattle and saw almost all the games last year on it. I carries all the Raycom games and regional coverage not covered out here. Well worth the price $99 last year. Really averaged out to about $7 a game.
GreerVol22 writes:
I wonder if maybe we will get to see Erin and BP get their grove on again?
CoverOrange writes:
"grove"? Do BP and Erin own a orange tree farm?
j/k, Greer, I know you meant "groove"
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Turbofan-7:38-I guess it's possible to groove in a grove.
98reax writes:
bamacheats, 2 words for you: STOP TALKING
orangesox writes:
That schedule might be a killer. Kudos to Pearl for having the stones to play such a brutal slate, though.
larjarnj writes:
gameday for the fla game on a saturday and memphis scheduled for a saturday afternoon..awesome! I just wish we could recreate the tailgating scene for basketball..the weather shouldnt be a factor, they tailgate in greenbay...so, come to the agcampus lots(free parking and shuttle) and Ill be there..DRINK!
warriorman86#667191 writes:
The KU game is Sat. Jan. 3 8 pm ESPN
Colliervol writes:
I agree etvol. I just as soon get a root canal as listen to Rome. There's nothing like sitting around listening to a bunch of clowns (or is it clones) who haven't moved out of mama's basement calling and giving their "takes" on sports. The next intelligent thought on that show will be the first.
THE_VOL writes:
I HATE doing this but since I can WTF! A little reminder for you ladies:
Posted on July 22 at 3:22 p.m.
Oh by the way - and this one's special for you MARCY - COLLEGE GAMEDAY will be making an appearance in Knoxville this season for BASKETBALL!!! Looking strongly at the FL game. So tell me I'm wrong on that one too MARCY!!!
On Lofton has an option to play in Turkey
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