Adams: SEC TV deal brightens spotlight on UT basketball

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Tennessee Lady Vols have won back-to-back national championships. The UT men have just won an SEC championship and are a consensus pick to win another one.

But just when you thought Big Orange basketball could get any brighter, SEC commissioner Mike Slive reminded you that it could.

Slive opened the SEC basketball media days Wednesday by outlining the conference's 15-year, multi-billion-dollar television deal with ESPN as related to basketball. The $2.25 billion package includes all sports, but will be especially relevant to basketball.

The word has been out on SEC football for awhile. But the bulked-up TV package, which begins in 2009-10, will offer unprecedented exposure to SEC basketball.

"Notwithstanding all of (its) success, SEC basketball remained underexposed nationally - and therefore, to a degree - under-appreciated," Slive said. "For that reason, in our recently concluded television negotiations (two months ago), we made it a priority to significantly expand our national television exposure. We did just that."

The timing couldn't have been better for UT. Both programs are at the top of their game at the right time.

That's nothing new for the Lady Vols. It's a Bruce Pearl phenomenon with the men.

Summitt and Pearl don't just win big. They draw a big crowd.

Take Wednesday's interview sessions, for example.

When Summitt was in the interview room, I counted 16 media-types at her table. No other coach or player had as much as a third of that size audience.

I did another head count when Pearl was in the room. The media numbered 22 at his table and no more than five at any other table. I came back 30 minutes later, and there were still 20 people at Pearl's table. He was scheduled for 45 minutes but did an hour.

Later, as an SEC representative escorted Pearl down radio row, she mentioned to the first man armed with a microphone: "You've only got him for a minute or a minute and a half."

She then made the mistake of engaging another SEC representative in conversation. Five minutes later, Pearl was still going strong.

You can see where this is headed. More TV exposure for the conference means even more exposure for UT's two high-profile programs.

The new contract will double the number of SEC women's games on television. Imagine what that will do for UT (Who do you want to see? Mississippi State vs. Alabama, or the Lady Vols vs. anybody?).

Granted, the Lady Vols are a TV regular anyway. So the beefed-up conference package could be more of a boon for the less-successful programs.

"It gives (recruits) a different perspective," Summitt said. "They know about us. They know Stanford and Connecticut, and LSU has been right there in the mix.

"But it's going to give them an awareness of other teams that have great players and coaches. You could say that for us, that's bad. For the game, it's really good."

However, comparative shopping could benefit UT as well. TV's restricted view won't hide the obvious: The size and spirit of a Thompson-Boling Arena crowd usually will overwhelm everything else in the conference.

On the men's side, Pearl has done as much promoting as coaching in building UT's program while enhancing the SEC's national image in the process. Never mind if he had to schedule games at places like Oklahoma State, Ohio State and Texas. He was willing to risk losses for the reward of national-television exposure.

Pearl credits SEC football for providing television leverage for basketball. He also appreciates the impact of Florida winning back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007.

But the kind of athletes Pearl and his staff have recruited - combined with their entertaining up-tempo, full-court style of play - have contributed to the conference's appeal.

"The ACC and Big East sometimes had six or seven (high-profile) teams," Pearl said. "For years and years, you had just Kentucky (in the SEC). Kentucky is still a great program, but they're not by themselves any longer."

Next year, the new TV deal will showcase the new order of SEC basketball. Every conference game will be televised via some medium - CBS, ESPN, over-the-air syndication or regional cable.

And what's good for the SEC could be great for UT.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com.