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Tennessee basketball: 10 memorable games between Vols and Memphis Tigers

By Caleb Calhoun

MEMPHIS, TN - FEBRUARY 23: Robert Dozier #2 of the Memphis Tigers jumps against Tyler Smith #1 of the Tennessee Volunteers at FedExForum on February 23, 2008 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images)
MEMPHIS, TN - FEBRUARY 23: Robert Dozier #2 of the Memphis Tigers jumps against Tyler Smith #1 of the Tennessee Volunteers at FedExForum on February 23, 2008 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images) /
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Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images
Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images /

Tennessee basketball rekindles a cross-state rivalry Saturday at the FedEx forum. Here are the Volunteers’ 10 most memorable games against the Tigers.

Because of Josh Pastner’s nature to run away from tough schedules, Tennessee basketball quit playing the Memphis Tigers on a yearly basis earlier this decade. The two haven’t met since the 2013 season.

On Saturday, with much bigger names leading the program in Rick Barnes and Penny Hardaway, they are set to meet again. Although football has produced some memorable games in terms of excitement, the basketball series is the fun one to watch. It’s actually historically competitive.

Tennessee basketball’s rivalry with Memphis has produced some insanely memorable moments not just for the state but for the entire sport of college basketball. The two have met 25 times in history, with UT holding a 14-11 advantage.

However, they only met once before 1988, so this is a relatively new rivalry. It started under Larry Finch and Don DeVoe, two of the most successful coaches at their schools respectively. But that was Finch’s third year with Memphis and DeVoe’s last with the Vols.

The rivalry peaked in the mid-2000s when Bruce Pearl arrived on Rocky Top while John Calipari was at Memphis. You couldn’t have had two bigger media stars, and it did the state wonders at the time.

But again, with Barnes and Hardaway there, the rivalry has the potential to get back to that. They aren’t as brash with their personalities, but they command respect on the national stage, and that’s worth celebrating.

However, of the 25 times they met, only six times did both make it to the NCAA Tournament the same season they met. And four of those were during the four Pearl-Calipari match-ups. That doesn’t mean this hasn’t been an exciting series, though.

So let’s take a look back at recent history and why it’s a good thing that this rivalry has been restored. Here are the top 10 memorable games in Tennessee basketball’s rivalry with the Memphis Tigers.

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