Ninety-nine years it took Tennessee's men's basketball team to attain the top spot in the NCAA. Something like 2,754 games? All that and the poor bastards couldn't even stay there longer than a day-and-a-half. Of course, they get the honor for a week, by virtue of the poll's release date. But now, rather than being a prideful exclamation mark signifying that men really are good at basketball too, it will serve as an albatross until they are inevitably overtaken on Monday afternoon.
Honestly, I can't say that I really gave the telecast my undivided attention. Like everyone else, I pretty much knew that the Vols weren't going to hang in Vandy. What's more insulting than the fact that they ever even attained the top spot in the nation is the fact that they won't even get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. If you asked me right now, those honors would have to go to Memphis, UNC, Kansas and UCLA. It's not so much a wins-and-losses argument as it is who's just plain better. Don't get me wrong, none of the four mentioned are unbeatable by any stretch of the imagination. None of them have even distanced themselves enough to be called a favorite. There are about a dozen teams that could make a run to San Antonio, which is great for college basketball.
But the bottom line is that Tennessee just doesn't have what it takes to consistently win big games. They are forever getting ousted in the SEC tourney as well as at the NCAA's. And after their loss at Vanderbilt on Monday, there is just no reason to think this year will be any different.
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