Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl doesn’t want the Vols to look too far into the future in their quest to make history.

UT, which ascended to its highest ranking at No. 2 on Monday, could have a chance to take another step up when it plays at No. 1-ranked Memphis (25-0) Saturday night.

By the end of the week, most every sports fan will have gotten a preview of what’s arguably the biggest men’s college basketball game in the state of Tennessee’s history thanks to ESPN’s heavy-duty promotion of the 9 p.m. feature match up.

But first things first, the Vols (23-2, 10-1 SEC) must play Auburn (13-10, 3-7) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Thompson-Boling Arena in a non-televised game.

“The Auburn Tigers are the most important Tigers on our schedule this week,” Pearl said. “That game is all about doing something we haven’t done in 41 years.”

Tennessee, which has won 29 consecutive home games, is in position to win its first outright SEC regular season championship since 1967.

“When we get past that game,” Pearl said, “the game against Memphis will have other implications.”

Recruiting, NCAA tournament seedings and national perception are chief among them.

Pearl, however, does not want a tight, big-game atmosphere to settle in among his players or practices, which have remained open to media and fans.

“We’re not overreacting; is the media overreacting?” Pearl asked rhetorically. “We’ll treat this like a regular week. Our focus is on Auburn. We’re not going to tell the media how to do their jobs; we’re not going to shy away from the one-versus-two questions.”

ABC and ESPN were in Knoxville last week taping UT practices and interviews in preparation for Saturday night’s ESPN game at Memphis. Auburn, meanwhile, has a CBS-televised showdown with rival Alabama at 2 p.m. Sunday.

UT All-American Chris Lofton was honest enough to admit to having thoughts about the games with both teams of Tigers.

“The Memphis game will be in the back of our heads, but we know Auburn is capable of beating us,” Lofton said. “It’s been a long time since we won the SEC outright. That’s history right there. Auburn’s in our way, and we know they’ll bring their best here.”

Auburn’s best was good enough to beat the Vols 83-80 last year at Auburn.

“It’s easy to be focused on Auburn once Coach hands you the scouting report,” sophomore Duke Crews said. “You see what you’ve got to do to be ready, and if you mess up, Coach is going to get on you. He’s drilling us on Auburn.

“Look, we’re coming here the same time every day for practice, joking around like we always do, then practicing hard and going off to study. We’re programmed.”

Fellow sophomore Wayne Chism said he’s not feeling added pressure.

“I need to be a factor in every game every night, anyway,” Chism said. “I know people will see this as pressure, like, ‘Oh, snap, Tennessee is No. 2 now, what’s gonna happen?’ But it’s not that big a deal because we’re focused on winning championships.”

Sophomore transfer J.P. Prince, a Memphis native whose father once served as an assistant with the Tigers, put the Saturday night game in perspective.

“Rankings are for the fans and the media,” Prince said. “Even if both teams (Memphis and Tennessee) were unranked, it would be the same because there’s state pride.”

Auburn Tickets: The Vols have yet to sell out their game with Auburn, which threatens to end a streak of seven consecutive sellouts at Thompson-Boling Arena dating to a Nov. 30 game with Louisiana-Lafayette that drew 19,401.

Memphis Tickets: As of late Monday night, there were nine seats priced under $200 — all in the upper deck — available for the Memphis game online. Club-level seats were going for as much as $2,000 a seat, with the most expensive tickets, next to the UT bench, listed at $10,000 per seat.