ESPN College GameDay set for basketball

At least 15 national TV appearances

By Mike Griffith

Originally published 03:59 p.m., August 28, 2008
Updated 08:07 p.m., August 28, 2008

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