Just in case you need an extra reason to go watch the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Southern Conference home opener against Mercer tonight, the Mocs are No. 39 in the latest NCAA Ratings Power Index.
That’s better than all but four Southeastern Conference programs – Kentucky, Florida, Texas A&M and undefeated South Carolina – and all but five Atlantic Coast Conference schools: Virginia, Duke, Miami, North Carolina and Louisville.
But if that’s not enough to get you out of your La-Z-Boy and out the door to McKenzie Arena for the 7 p.m. tip, how about this bit of trivia: The last team to win an NCAA tournament game against defending national champion Duke was Mercer, which shocked the Dookies in the opening round of the 2014 NCAA tourney before Tennessee blasted the Bears in the round of 32.
And if you don’t do anything more than support the mighty Mocs tonight as they seek to improve to 13-2 for the season and 2-0 in the SoCon, that’s OK. That’s the way it used to be around here when Ron Shumate, then Murray Arnold, then Mack McCarthy were commanding the UTC sideline, sending team after team after team to postseason glory, including a Division II national title (Shumate) and an NCAA Division Sweet 16 (McCarthy).
In fact, from this point forward, shame on the Scenic City if a crowd of fewer than 4,000 – a pittance, by the way, in the heydays of Murray and Mack – shows up to support the best Mocs team since that 1997 Sweet 16 bunch.