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Pearl: We're a No. 1 seed
Coach says do the math based on record, schedule, RPI
Tennessee senior JaJuan Smith is congratulated by teammate Ramar Smith after the Volunteers claimed their first SEC title in 41 years, defeating South Carolina 89-56 on Sunday at Thompson-Boling Arena.
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Tennessee men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl doesn't know if the Vols will be awarded a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament on Sunday night when the bracket is released.
But Pearl believes UT deserves to be a No. 1 seed as of now.
"We might be the overall No. 1 seed in the country right now, with the exception of North Carolina,'' Pearl said at his Monday press conference. "There's no doubt in my mind we're a No. 1 seed.
"It's not that I think we're better than the other teams, but our record, our strength of schedule and our RPI is right there, just do the math.''
The No. 4-ranked Vols (28-3, 14-2 SEC) have held the No. 1 RPI ranking for nearly two months, has the top-rated non-conference RPI and their schedule ranks as the most difficult in the nation.
UT opens play in the SEC tournament at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta at 1 p.m. Friday against the winner of Thursday's 1 p.m. first-round game between South Carolina (13-17, 5-11) and LSU (13-17, 6-10).
Pearl said the Vols need success in the SEC tournament to receive one of the four advantageous No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament.
"There's no question the guys understand the road to the Final Four goes through Atlanta,'' Pearl said. "I know the more we win (at the SEC tournament), the better our chances (for a No. 1 seed).''
Conventional wisdom and ESPN's "bracketology'' suggests UT will open the NCAA tournament in Birmingham, Ala., next Thursday or Friday. Birmingham is one of the sites for the NCAA tournament's first and second round that has yet to sell out.
However, the bracket and parings will not be set until Sunday night after all of the respective conference tournaments are played out.
Pearl's Vote: The SEC coaches' all-conference team, player of the year and coach of the year will be released today.
Pearl said he voted for Vanderbilt's Shan Foster as player of the year and Mississippi State's Rick Stansbury as coach of the year.
"I voted for Rick Stansbury with Billy Gillispie being right there with the great job Kentucky did in conference play and what they did without Patrick Patterson,'' Pearl said. "But (Kentucky) was picked second (in the SEC East) and that's where they finished. Mississippi State was picked second (in the SEC West) and won the West by three games.
"Mississippi State was the only team in the league - other than Tennessee - with a winning road record.''
Pearl won the Associated Press SEC coach of the year two seasons ago, but has not won the coaches' vote. The Associated Press All-SEC teams will not be released until next week.
"Player of the Year, I voted for Foster,'' Pearl said. "I can't vote for my own players. If Foster gets it, he's certainly deserving.''
Pearl said his method for voting for SEC Player of the Year was to pick the best player off the best team. Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings referred to Pearl's logic as "garbage'' last week.
Pearl said he considers Tyler Smith, Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith candidates for SEC Player of the Year.
"I promise you on this team, the coaches and players would trade any individual honor for a team honor,'' Pearl said.
Getting Physical: Pearl said after giving the players' Monday off, he'll have a tough, physical practice today to prepare the Vols for tournament play.
"You are not going to get bailed out by the whistle,'' Pearl said, referring to how the officials are more lenient on foul calls in the postseason. "Every rebound is a man's rebound.''
Point-less: Pearl said playing time at the point-guard position will be determined by performance.
"It's the only position we have where how they are playing swings who's playing when and how many minutes,'' Pearl said. "We need Jordan (Howell) and Ramar (Smith) to play better.''
Pearl said he thinks asking J.P. Prince to play point guard in addition to his wing duties is too much for the sophomore to handle at this point in his career.
Award Finalists: Lofton and Tyler Smith are two of the 24 players on the prestigious John R. Wooden Award ballot.
Tennessee is one of only four schools with two players on the ballot; Indiana, UCLA and Memphis are the others. The Vols also have two of the four SEC representatives; Vanderbilt's Foster is on the list, as is Mississippi State's Jamont Gordon.
amy smotherman-burgess/news sentinel
Ramar Smith, foreground, gives a hug to Tennessee teammate JaJuan Smith moments after the Vols defeated South Carolina 89-56 on Sunday to close out a regular season in which UT won its first outright SEC basketball title since 1967.
© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Posted by IdahoVol on March 10, 2008 at 10:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Take care of business in Atlanta and the #1 seed will be there. With tickets still available in Birmingham, hopefully there will be a Big Orange presence!
Posted by FKevinRichardson on March 10, 2008 at 11:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
UT should be a number 1 seed if the decision is made now. The one thing that could hurt is if Tennessee looses early in the SEC tourney. If TN plays LSU that worries me more than a UT vs SC game. The last win against LSU was Ugly, But yes it was a win. Go all the way Vols
Posted by snowvol on March 10, 2008 at 11:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We need to begin a new SEC tournament "culture" this week. Year after year, we've stacked up as a team that should have at least been good for one win; maybe two. And year after year, we seem to go out in our first game.
This team is very good bordering on great. If we can exorcise SEC tourney ghosts from the past, there's no reason we can't win it and secure a #1 seed. But irrespective of our #1 RPI and strength of schedule, if we don't win the SEC tourney, we're a #2. It's that simple. I have to believe UNC, Memphis and UCLA are locks. The final top seed should come down to UT and Kansas. Kansas may be a better team on paper but we have the stats on our side . . . and they'll stay on our side, IF we win the SEC tournament.
Posted by King30 on March 10, 2008 at 11:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Your point is well taken, Snowvol, and I've heard it a few times. But what nobody seems to want to mention is that Kansas, UCLA, and even UNC aren't "locks" to win their conference tournaments, either. The only exception being Memphis who should roll through their weak sisters.
What we have to have is a good showing, hopefully at least getting to the finals. Then, we can still secure a #1 seed. Pearl's right on when he says that, with the possible exception of NC, we are deserving of THE number one seed.
The committee will see it this way cause, thankfully, they won't be looking through ESPN colored glasses.
Posted by VolJunkie on March 11, 2008 at 7:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Or Duke blue colored glasses. Good posts snowvol and King30, bottom line, winning takes care of everything. Agree that UNC and UCLA are not locks to win their tournies, especially UCLA. Given how they have played the past two games I am very surprised they are ranked as high as they are. I don't think they win.
Just win ... Go VOLS!!!
Posted by Gigavol on March 11, 2008 at 8:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
RPI is the most important ranking to the selection committee. Go look at past seeds...even the seeds of bubble teams. I think you will find one or two cases where the lower RPI teams were left out of the tournament in favor a higher RPI team (i.e. the #40 RPI team gets in and the #35 RPI team goes to the NIT).
Posted by dirtdobber1 on March 11, 2008 at 8:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Stallings...what a jack ass!
Posted by King30 on March 11, 2008 at 8:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Soooo....
If we win our conference tourney, and NC loses in there's, we SHOULD be the overall number one seed in the dance. Based on our RPI and SOS, we should jump both Memphis and UCLA.
It's almost unbelievable.
Two must sees:
Tennessean article (pre-South Carolina) on the rise of our Senior class and program:
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.d...
Chism on his dance class:
http://www.govolsxtra.com/videos/deta...
Posted by KnoxVol_in_TX on March 11, 2008 at 9:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The anticipation is killing me. I cant tell you guys how beatiful a thing it would be to win the NC. I know that this is 9 games away, but dang....I can taste it already.
GO VOLS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by PennVol on March 11, 2008 at 10:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The SEC tournament is a road game for all teams, and only 2 SEC teams had winning records on the road. The other team was Miss St and we won at Starkville. Our depth should rule in the 2nd half! Go Vols!!
Posted by brownsvillevol on March 11, 2008 at 10:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
RIGHT ON PENN! our depth is what makes us a great team especially in the 2cnd half of all our games. we just continue to wear down teams.
Posted by HotlantaVol on March 11, 2008 at 10:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
dirtdobber1 - That statement is "garbage"!! On the other hand, I completely agree with you.
Posted by hueypilot on March 11, 2008 at 10:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Great segment on HBO Real Sports about Pearl that aired last night. For those who subscribe I think they repeat that show all week. Luckily their reporters think he is "real" I'm so relieved that Bryant Gumbel and staff have approved of our basketball coach. While I understand Bruce making the case for our number one seed, we just need to win the tourney and we will be a number one seed if not THE number one seed and hopefully get to play in the South and not on the West Coast or up East.
Posted by UltraVolDavid on March 11, 2008 at 11:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't care what we are seeded. I don't care where or who we play. Bring 'em on!!!
Posted by VolBall on March 11, 2008 at 11:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Pearl rocks! What a coach!
Posted by Grim1 on March 11, 2008 at 12:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
yeah
Posted by foreverorange on March 11, 2008 at 12:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Lets take a moment to remember what ut basketball was like three years ago. what a difference coaching makes.
Posted by Volchaz on March 11, 2008 at 12:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If Kansas wins out, and so do we, i'm thinking the voters will look at us "lucky", and KU as the team that is proven through the years and the usual suspects. either way, lets win out, and make it interesting. UT deserves it, if we win in the ATL.
Posted by mparker on March 11, 2008 at 12:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ramar isn't using his tools to his ability. I can guess at a number of reasons:
-off-court 'activities'
-sophomore jinx
-reduced confidence
-role adjustment
any of all of the above. He should be a great defender and assist man at this point. He's a good handler, but he makes poor passes and decisions. Gotta have him to match up with the tough teams coming up.
Posted by missrvrvol on March 11, 2008 at 12:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Pearl, Quit politicing and just coach us to the SEC Tourney champs and all will be well. We have a horrible history in this tournament
Posted by bigsig on March 11, 2008 at 1:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Stallings is a classless, cheating jerk. Please go to Indiana so we don't have to listen to your crap as much.
Posted by 55Vol on March 11, 2008 at 2:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Win the SEC tourney and the NCAA seed will take care of itself.
Posted by THE_VOL on March 11, 2008 at 4:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Prediction - if the Vols win the SEC tourney, they make the Final Four. Don't win SEC, no Final Four. It's all about mindset.
Posted by volfan4evr on March 11, 2008 at 6:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If we aren't a number 1 seed already ..I don't know what it would take to be one ..but regardless of what seed we are all we have to do is win baby!!..and thats one thing Bruce and the boys know how to do ....good luck in Hotlanta and beyond guys
Posted by Hunter on March 11, 2008 at 6:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
volfan4evr, you have to play an extremely weak conference schedule and lose to the DESERVING #1 seed on your home floor (cough, sneeze, Memphis, sneeze, cough).
Posted by General_Watermelon on March 11, 2008 at 10:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Foster was #1 in the SEC at home, but on the road he was far less consistent. I probably would have to vote him #1 though. I still like the unselfish play of our guys.....they really spread the points and credit around. JaJuan Smith should get more recognition. Also, you take Tyler Smith off this team, and we probably do not win the SEC.
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