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It's payback time in Tennessee.

Thirty-nine days and 10 games have passed for the men's basketball team since the Vols dropped a 72-66 decision in Lexington to Kentucky on Jan. 22.

Much has happened in that time, but not enough to take away UT's strong desire to even the score with the Wildcats while taking another step toward what would be Tennessee's first outright SEC title since 1967.

The No. 1-ranked Vols (25-3, 11-2 SEC) tip off against Kentucky (16-10, 10-3) at noon today (TV: WVLT) before a sold-out Thompson-Boling Arena crowd.

The 30-game home-court win streak UT brings into today's CBS-televised game ranks as the third longest in the nation.

At halftime, the Vols will honor former UT great Ernie Grunfeld by retiring and hoisting his No. 22 jersey to the rafters.

Kentucky, meanwhile, will try to honor its strong basketball tradition by finding a way to win without its star player, freshman center Patrick Patterson. Patterson, who scored 20 points in the last meeting, was diagnosed with a season-ending stress fracture in his left ankle Friday.

But don't expect Tennessee to take pity - not after the way it lost in Lexington, and the way the Wildcats portrayed the Vols in the media after the loss.

Kentucky senior guard Ramel Bradley angered UT players by suggesting after the first meeting that Tennessee had motivated the Wildcats by showing disrespect during the warm-ups.

The charges? Wearing ear rings and iPods during the pre-game warm-up, and talking with UT fans in the crowd.

"We took that personal, because he (Bradley) said it like it had something to do with the game,'' UT sophomore J.P. Prince said. "That left a bad taste in our mouths, and we're ready to go and fired up.''

The Vols could have used some of that energy in January when Kentucky out-played them in the latter stages of the second half to rally from a 10-point deficit.

UT power forward Tyler Smith, a candidate for SEC Player of the Year, had arguably his worst outing against the Wildcats, connecting on only 2-of-9 field goal attempts.

"I know there's a big rivalry, but for me, it's about that one game, and I didn't play well,'' Smith said. "That other stuff, if we had won, nothing would have been said. But we didn't, and Bradley wanted to talk.

"We're not the only team that wears iPods to warm up. That's how we had always warmed up. We weren't showing any disrespect.''

UT coach Bruce Pearl didn't think so, either. Still, Pearl changed the pre-game road rules for his players, wanting to ensure the Vols represented their school in a positive light.

"I want the team relaxed and confident, but that's not the impression we wanted to give,'' Pearl said. "We're 9-2 on the road for a reason, and part of it is we don't get intimidated. I don't think we disrespected Kentucky or Rupp Arena.

"But I gave this credibility because it was reported by (ESPN's) Pat Forde, who I have great respect for.''

Pearl also has great respect for Patterson. So much respect that Pearl didn't take any chances in his game preparation. The Vols have prepared for Patterson in the unlikely event the Wildcats' star tries to play one more game with the injury.

"With what's riding on this game, it's as big as any other we've had here,'' Pearl said. "You think about it, the last two years we've played Kentucky with an NCAA (tournament) bid on the line.

"Today, the SEC is on the line.''

Mississippi State beat Florida Saturday to improve to 11-3, and Kentucky can match the Vols with an 11-3 record should the Wildcats pull the upset.

UT has the tiebreaker over the Bulldogs by virtue of its 76-71 win in Starkville, but Kentucky would own the tiebreaker with the Vols with a series sweep.

The Wildcats are the only SEC team Pearl doesn't have a winning record against, having taken three of five from him over the past three seasons.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.