The Tennessee Volunteer basketball team is overjoyed with its No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Its opponent, Winthrop, is not.

A four-and-six close to a season, the Dane Bradshaw cat-out-of-the-bag wrist injury, Chris Lofton’s struggles to get open, the team’s wading-pool depth, and a penchant for early exits in tournament season.

An opponent with something to prove.

Could spell trouble for the Volunteers.

Wow. The Tennessee Volunteer basketball team was awarded a much-coveted No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament despite closing the regular season on a 4-6 skid and losing the first game in the SEC Tournament.

To put it in perspective, Tennessee is behind No. 1 seeds Duke, Connecticut, Memphis, and Villanova, and even with Co-No. 2 seeds Texas, Ohio State, and UCLA.

Pretty good company.

The Vols will play the Winthrop Eagles [?!] of the Big South Conference [?!] on Thursday. The winner of that game will play the winner of the Witchita State – Seton Hall game.

This is big news. Most of the pundits figured that the Vols’ poor close to the regular season would result in a No. 4 seed, perhaps No. 5. There is apparently a huge difference between No. 2 and No. 4. John Pennington broke out the calculator to find out how much of a difference and found the following:

• No. 2 seeds win 95% of their first round games.
• No. 4 seeds win 78% of their first round games.

Those are the numbers. How will they play out? Who knows? Just enjoy the ride.

Here’s a couple of bloggers that cover the Winthrop Eagles:

• The Joe Cribbs Car Wash
• Unearth South Carolina

That’s really all I can find at the moment. If I’m missing some, send me a link!

Tennessee Volunteer head football coach Phillip Fulmer — widely known and often criticized for his forced, agonized grin and hand-clapping after mistakes — is calling names. A few of his more memorable comments overheard at Saturday’s spring scrimmage:

• “You look like an old woman!”
• “We’re not very mean upfront yet. It just looks like two butterflies making love out there to be honest with you.”
• Regarding the many players in green, no-contact jerseys: “It’s not 100 percent their fault but I call them greenie weenies.”