Mike Strange

Tennessee basketball coach Bruce Pearl, center, is presented with a framed jersey Tuesday commemorating his 100th victory at Tennessee.

Tonight, Bruce Pearl starts his fifth basketball season at Tennessee. That's a basic statement UT hasn't been able to make about a coach since Wade Houston tipped off the 1993-94 season.

When Jonathan Crompton zipped a 20-yard pass to Gerald Jones in the final seconds of the first half Saturday night, it did more than set up Crompton's touchdown dive on the next play.

Let's say Saturday night is a good night for football, that Tennessee fans are stoked by the win over South Carolina, and a crowd of 100,000 shows up at Neyland Stadium.

His black jacket, Doug Dickey explained Monday, was because he had to attend a funeral on his way to town. "I didn't know I was going to be in vogue when I got here,'' he said, getting a big laugh.

I'm not sure exactly how Mike Hamilton spent his Sunday. This I do know:

Two minutes or so into the second half, freshman Kenny Hall bolted off the bench, reported to the scorer's table as instructed and was waved into the game.

The question put to Lane Kiffin on Tuesday wasn't about quarterbacks. It was something to do with a coach standing up for his players.

Lane Kiffin has asked the SEC office why Alabama wasn't penalized Saturday for a player removing his helmet during a live play.

Leading up to the Florida game last month, Lane Kiffin paid mighty tribute to the No. 1-ranked Gators.

No game, no report card. And yet, from a perception standpoint, you could make a case that Tennessee football seemed to lose a little ground over its open date.

Listening to the SEC coaches football teleconference this week, a couple of things jumped out.

There’s a scene at the end of the movie “Goodfellas” in which lifelong mobster Henry Hill grouses about life in the witness protection program. Fetching his newspaper in front of his cookie-cutter suburban house, Hill looks into the camera and ...

I heard the SEC football weekend referred to as Separation Saturday. That's only partly accurate.

Eric Berry among the top tacklers in the SEC? What's surprising about that? Everybody knows Tennessee's All-American is as good a defensive player as there is in college football.