Pearl: We're a No. 1 seed : govolsxtra.com

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.

Pearl: We're a No. 1 seed

Coach says do the math based on record, schedule, RPI