Tennessee basketball: 10 memorable games between Vols and Memphis Tigers

8. 2005-2006: Memphis beats Tennessee 88-79 (Game played Jan. 18, 2006)

This game is significant in that it was the first for the Bruce Pearl-John Calipari rivalry, one that has carried over to two different teams in the SEC. Tennessee basketball rekindled its series just as Pearl was in his first year with the Vols.

Calipari had his first Final Four caliber team, and Pearl was shocking the world with a Tennessee team that was 11-2 after it had gone 13-16 the year before. The game would be the first the Vols ever played at the FedEx Forum, as the Tigers still played in the Pyramid the previous time the two had met.

The Vols actually generated the early momentum by one of Memphis’s own, Dane Bradshaw. He got red-hot early and helped his team take a four-point lead over the Tigers going into halftime. But it wasn’t going to last.

Memphis was too deep and too athletic for Pearl’s first team to handle, so the Tigers pulled away in the second half. However, it was a competitive game, as the Vols only lost 88-79. And while it seemed like a dull, predictable outcome, it was super important for the scope of the future of the series.

After that game, the Vols would reel off eight straight wins beginning with an upset over the No. 2 ranked Florida Gators, establishing themselves as a basketball program under Pearl. And by the time the NCAA Tournament started, both teams were in the Top 25. This was the defining game for the future of the rivalry.