The beginning of the end arrives today for all Southeastern Conference basketball fans. Even if Tennessee -- which begins its SEC tourney run this afternoon at 3:15 EST against LSU -- wins every game possible the rest of the year it will play but 10 more times.
Lose today and the game after today and the Vols will have but two more games to wear the Orange and White this spring.
As UT coach Bruce Pearl replied when someone asked him about the rest of the season during a Wednesday press conference, "We play LSU at 2:15 (Central time)."
That's all that's guaranteed. One game this week. And for Top 25 teams such as Tennessee, one game next week in the NCAA Tournament.
Everything else is uncertain. Which is what makes this the best and worst time of the year.
If you're Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse, the next few days are reportedly gravy. All three are near-certain No. 1 seeds when the 65-team NCAA field is announced Sunday evening. So winning their league tournaments is probably more important to the fans than the coach or the players.
There is even some talk that Kentucky coach John Calipari wouldn't mind missing the SEC title game in order to give his freshman-dominated squad an extra day of rest and preparation heading into the tournament.
Play three straight days and draw a Thursday-Saturday first weekend draw in the NCAA tourney and Calipari would have little more than one day's prep time, since Kentucky would probably have to travel on Tuesday in order to reach a first-round site for Wednesday press conferences.
On the other hand, Coach Cal has already said he believes he must beat the Alabama-South Carolina winner on Friday to assure a No. 1 seed. So assuming he accomplishes that, the Cats could well face Tennessee on Saturday in the semifinals.
Does anyone on the planet think Cal's not giving it everything he's got in that one since the opposing coach would be Pearl, whom Cal reportedly likes as much as he does NCAA investigators?
If it's UT-UK, Calipari would have to pull out all the stops on pride alone. And should he win that one, well, if you're in the final you might as well try to win it.
Of course, three other coaches desperately need a deep run for other reasons, especially Auburn's Jeff Lebo and Arkansas boss John Pelphrey.
While Florida's Billy Donovan definitely doesn't want to miss the NCAA tourney for a third year in a row after winning it all in 2006 and 2007, his job is secure, even if his relationship with Gator Nation may no longer have a mutual "til-death-do-us-part" commitment.
But for Lebo and Pelphrey, divorces are possible, if not already being filed. In the case of Lebo, who formerly coached at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga before heading to Auburn in the spring of 2004, the ink may already be dry.
Six years along he is yet to reach the NCAA Tournament. Six years along he is yet to excite a fan base that now needs to be energized to fill a new gym that opens in the fall.
Lebo's a wonderful coach and an outstanding person and Auburn may be the league's most difficult job, but at some point you have to win.
So if Lebo wants to coach in the new gym he had much to do with getting built, he would be wise to upset Florida tonight.
As for Pelphrey, he went to the NCAA tourney his first year, but now appears all but certain to have missed the two since then, regardless of what happens late tonight against dangerous Georgia.
Would a loss cost him his job? Probably not, but Arkansas isn't Auburn. The Razorbacks have been to three Final Fours since 1990 and won the 1994 national title. Pelphrey may escape the axe this year, but he almost certainly has to make the NCAA field next season to avoid a pink slip.
Speaking of Georgia, first-year coach Mark Fox isn't winning any SEC coach-of-the-year awards, but he should. Regardless of Georgia's overall record (13-16), the Bulldogs beat every SEC opponent but Kentucky at home, nearly beat Vandy on the road before losing in overtime and own non-conference wins over Illinois, Georgia Tech and Saint Louis.
And this from a pack of Dawgs many believed was the worst in the league at season's dawn.
So who should be the best come the close of Sunday's SEC final. It's difficult to pick against Kentucky if Tennessee reaches the semifinals, since the Cats' will be fired up to avenge last month's loss in Knoxville.
But if it's an Ole Miss-Kentucky semi, don't be surprised to see Vanderbilt win its first SEC tournament since 1951.
Then watch UK, UT, Vandy, Florida and Ole Miss all make the bigger tournament. As for the rest of the league, something far more important will take over -- spring football.
E-mail Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com