John Adams

NASHVILLE — Tennessee lost another road game and found a new nemesis Thursday night at Memorial Gymnasium.

Senior Glory Johnson is having her best season as a Lady Vol, but that can't conceal her obvious shortcoming: She doesn't have a twin sister.

Even as Tennessee was leaving Auburn in its dust, it didn't distance itself far enough from Thursday's loss to South Carolina.

The game unfolded like so many others in the storied history of Tennessee women's basketball. Then South Carolina suddenly and dramatically altered the course of the game and its basketball history Thursday night.

Tennessee signed 21 football recruits Wednesday. If you want to know what that means to the future of UT football, you have come to the wrong place.

ATHENS, Ga. — Tennessee has shuffled its lineup twice and won two SEC road games by a total of 47 points in the last week.

Tennessee's season-ending football loss to Kentucky ranks as one of the worst games in recent school history.

Tennessee's football program has taken the first step toward recovery. Smokey is doing fine after surgery.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Tennessee seemed bewildered by the outcome Monday night at Purcell Pavilion. It shouldn't have been.

The fallout from Tennessee's last football season will continue Tuesday when its mascot undergoes surgery.

Two NCAA women's basketball tournaments come to mind when you think about Tennessee's game against second-ranked Notre Dame on Monday night in South Bend, Ind.

In a game marked by more grimaces than grins, Tennessee freshman forward Cierra Burdick was happy enough to skip Thursday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Nikki Caldwell will return to her basketball home this evening, probably prompting Tennessee fans to wonder if they eventually will welcome her back for good.

Tennessee fans have been so busy tracking the comings and goings of assistant coaches, they might have missed out on the full college football experience.

Tennessee's senior front line stepped front and center Sunday afternoon. And the Thompson-Boling Arena crowd wasn't far behind.

The product doesn't matter to great salesmen. They can change car lots on a lunch break without a lapse in conviction.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The game took a final turn Kentucky's way on a driving basket by star guard A'dia Mathies with four seconds to play Thursday night at Memorial Coliseum.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — No matter how many victories pile up behind him or how many times his team shows up in the top 10, Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell won't forget how and where it all started.

Alabama and LSU reminded the rest of the SEC what they're up against when they played for the BCS national championship Monday night.

College football's version of slow-pitch softball officially ends tonight. Get ready for hardball.

The sheer size of Neyland Stadium tells you this is a football town. The scoreboards tell you something else.

Glory Johnson's body language was out of sync with the scoreboard in the last eight minutes Thursday evening at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Andy Landers was only 26 years old when he became the women's basketball coach at the University of Georgia. He wasn't too young to know what he was up against.

Derek Dooley made a strong case for his Tennessee football program in Tuesday's media conference. That should surprise no one.

One New Year's Eve wasn't long enough for Tennessee fans to celebrate the end of 2011. They needed at least a week — four days to rejoice and three more to torture 2011 on the way out.

The SEC is already assured of a sixth consecutive national championship. Alabama and LSU will decide that in another 10 days.

Tennessee won't win a bowl game this week. And there's no hint of a five-star running back suddenly becoming infatuated with the Vols.

Think of all the money Tennessee has saved on Heisman Trophy campaigns the past two years.

The recruitment of quarterback Gunner Kiel shouldn't go unnoticed by Tennessee football fans.

Tennessee football is in the midst of its quiet season.

With only seven more days left in 2011, it's time to look ahead to 2012:

STANFORD, Calif. — Tennessee will remember its back-to-back road trips as being one game too long.

STANFORD, Calif. — On Tennessee's two far-flung road trips, the scenery at each venue has been strikingly similar.

LOS ANGELES — Basketball coaches have ranted about the dangers of offensive reliance since the invention of a chalkboard and a whistle.

LOS ANGELES — Tennessee can only hope that a cross-country flight from Knoxville to Los Angeles with a Detroit detour in between doesn't diminish the carryover effect of what just happened on the East Coast.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — As Skekinna Stricklen limped off the floor with 34 seconds to play, she provided an appropriate metaphor for Tennessee's 67-61 victory over Rutgers at the Louis Brown Athletic Center on Tuesday night.

NEW YORK — Ariel Massengale's value to Tennessee basketball increased Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. And she didn't have to play a New York minute.

NEW YORK — You don't have to venture beyond Thompson-Boling Arena in charting the rise to prominence of Tennessee women's basketball. Just check out the banners.

The University of Tennessee should name a street after Jay Graham.

You can best appreciate Sports Illustrated's Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards if you know some of the winners.

Good thing the Lady Vols didn't put their preseason game plan on a billboard. You could see the contradiction just by driving to work.

Excitement is building hourly for Saturday's SEC championship game.

Since the Kentucky-induced hysteria from last weekend, I have tried to look beyond Tennessee’s season-ending mishap against the Wildcats and focus on something more pertinent: the next game.

College football has come to this: One SEC team can sit out the conference championship game and maybe play for the national title; another SEC team could lose the SEC championship game and play for the national title.

Only two seconds remained on the shot clock in a game that was still close enough for the nation's No. 1 team to feel the pressure. Baylor's response was poised and direct Sunday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — I know what you're wondering: "Is this the worst Tennessee team in school history?"

November has long provided a huge safety net for Tennessee football.

Derek Dooley might have to repeat himself this Saturday in Lexington when Tennessee goes for its 27th consecutive victory against Kentucky. If so, he probably would prefer that his comments don't go beyond the locker room.

You knew Tennessee's schedule would be difficult way back in preseason. You didn't know it would be as hard as 1-2-3.

The game couldn't just end with a touchdown. That would have been too simple for a game as unconventional as this one and for a team that has struggled so mightily to achieve any semblance of success.