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Tennessee Vols: Top 10 years men’s basketball was way better than football

By Caleb Calhoun

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 09: Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 76-73. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 09: Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Volunteers defeated the Bulldogs 76-73. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images
Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images /

5. 2009-2010

Basketball: 28-9 (11-5)

*NCAA Tournament Elite Eight

Football: 7-6 (4-4)

*L Peach Bowl

Lane Kiffin’s short-lived tenure on Rocky Top, wrecking the program as he left it for the USC Trojans, was the big story for Tennessee Vols athletics this year. That was unfortunate because it overshadowed what was a great men’s basketball team.

The football program started things off though with Kiffin replacing legend Phillip Fulmer as head coach. He immediately breathed new life into the program by getting into a public war of words with Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators.

In the process, his team went 7-6 on the year, losing the Peach Bowl to the Virginia Tech Hokies. But they were a blocked field goal away from upsetting the eventual national champion Alabama Crimson Tide, and they also blew out Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina Gamecocks. So there was promise for this team.

Men’s basketball, meanwhile, started off with a 10-2 record. Their final game of 2009 came on Dec. 31, a 66-62 win over the Memphis Tigers. That also happened to be when the football team finished the year by playing in the Peach Bowl.

After that, chaos ensued. On New Year’s Day, the Vols’ best player, Tyler Smith, was arrested along with Cameron Tatum, Brian Williams and Melvin Goins for weapons charges and marijuana possession. Smith was dismissed. However, without all four guys, UT managed to upset the No. 1 ranked Kansas Jayhawks in one of the greatest games ever at Thompson-Boling Arena.

That elation didn’t last long, though, as three days later football overshadowed basketball again with the news that Kiffin had left to take over the USC Trojans. Then UT settled for Derek Dooley as head coach, a very unpopular hire. That was all in the midst of January.

But they rebounded in February to win five of their final six regular season games, including an upset over the No. 2 ranked Kentucky Wildcats. Then came the NCAA Tournament. UT got an easy road to get to the Sweet 16, upsetting the San Diego State Aztecs and Ohio Bobcats.

In that second weekend, they managed to get revenge on an Ohio State Buckeyes team that came back on them from 20 down three years prior to keep them out of the Elite Eight. This time, the Vols held on for the upset as the No. 6 seed over a No. 2 seed and made their first Elite Eight in school history. A one-point loss to the Michigan State Spartans kept them out of the Final Four.

Still, while football went 7-6 and lost its coach, the Tennessee Vols men’s basketball program went 28-9 and made its first Elite Eight in school history after dismissing its best player mid-season. So of course this makes the list, even if Pearl’s success would be short-lived due to his own NCAA issues that would arise the next season.

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