Harder half
With a home win against Mississippi State tonight, Tennessee can finish the first half of its 18-game SEC schedule at 6-3. Given what Donnie Tyndall’s team has left on the back half of the conference slate, it’s important that Tennessee takes care of business against the Bulldogs. Here’s what’s left, with overall and SEC records in parentheses, after tonight for the Vols: * Saturday: at Georgia (14-6, 5-3) * Feb. 11: at Vanderbilt (11-10, 1-7) * Feb. 14: LSU (16-5, 5-3) * Feb. 17: No. 1 Kentucky (21-0, 8-0) * Feb. 21: at Ole Miss (14-7, 5-3) * Feb. 26: Vanderbilt (11-10, 1-7) * Feb. 28: at Florida (12-9, 5-3) * March 4: at LSU (16-5, 5-3) * March 7: South Carolina (11-9, 2-6)
KNOXVILLE — There’s one more flip of the calendar until college basketball’s most important month.
As unlikely as it may have seemed going into the season, Tennessee remains in the conversation for the NCAA tournament midway through the Southeastern Conference schedule, but the Volunteers know they can’t be thinking about that if they still want to be in the same spot when it matters most come March.
First-year coach Donnie Tyndall’s team has developed into an overachieving group that’s better than the sum of its parts, and the Vols know they have to keep it up.
Asked Monday if he is surprised at all by the Vols’ success to this point, Tyndall said, “I am. I mean, let’s be honest, we’re picked 13th out of 14 (SEC teams). Expectations for this team weren’t real high.