John Pennington says that there’s a spreading epidemic of Bruce Pearl Fever on Rocky Top:

Bruce Pearl Fever has not only hit Thompson-Boling Arena (20,000 in attendance for the Georgia game), but it’s also hit the Knoxville Tip-Off Club.This week Calhoun’s was packed to standing room only capacity as John Ward and Bruce Pearl took turns at the podium. . . .

Pearl thanked the crowd for their support and told them that they would be needed when the bubble burst as well.

That’s all well and good, right? It’s a booster club, of course it was packed. Except for one thing:

The Tip-Off Club didn’t even convene last year due to fan apathy. Now there are more folks attending the basketball meetings than have attended the football meetings of the Quarterback Club (same club, name changes with the season).

* * * *

ESPN.com had the Vols listed as an 8 seed in their mock NCAA Tourney this week. And that was before the Georgia win. This team has wins (on the road) over Texas and South Carolina. They’ve also beaten a number of mid-majors, and a few of those schools will probably be on the bubble when their conference tournaments conclude. Also, this team is a “story.” Pearl is garnering “Coach of the Year” talk from the national media. And the NCAA selection committee loves a good story.

I’m officially on the bandwagon. I love Coach Pearl both thanking the fans for their support and asking them to stick around “when the bubble bursts.” It’s all about maintaining realistic expectations. And speaking of expectations, Pennington has some thoughts on that, as well:

Last Summer, UT’s football team was picked to win the SEC (by the SEC media and coaches). They were picked #3 in the nation by the media and coaches’ polls. Then they stink it up, falling victim to “the Perfect Storm,” if you will. Last Fall, UT’s basketball team was picked for the tail end of it’s own division by the media and coaches. Top 25 lists? Uh, no. If they had a Top 150 poll, then UT might have been on the “others receiving votes” list. But now Bruce Pearl has taken a team with… well, you know the list of things this team has to overcome… and gotten them to 11-1, 2-0 in the SEC with road wins at Texas and South Carolina. So much for predictions.

Yeah. Pennington seems to be saying that pre-season expectations aren’t worth anything. I think there’s an inverse correlation between expectations and performance, at least with the Tennessee Volunteers.

University of Tennessee officials and basketball coach Bruce Pearl got the 20,000+ crowd they wanted and were expecting — 21,612, to be exact — and the team gave them a reason to come back by beating the Georgia Bulldogs 89-76 and extending their record to 11-1 overall and 2-0 in the SEC:

“I think it really elevated our play,” Tennessee Coach Bruce Pearl said. “When you’re a team that depends on runs, it makes the runs last longer.”Senior point guard C.J. Watson said there were a few crowds his freshman season that were comparable, but he could feel the energy from the opening tip last night.

“It’s nice to come in here and have a real home-court advantage,” said Watson, a four-year starter. “It makes a big difference. We’ve been on the other end of that the last few years, so we know what it’s like.”

The UT students turned out in force, with 4,866 showing up to see the Vols win their fifth consecutive game and go to 11-1 overall, 2-0 in the Southeastern Conference. The students were there 45 minutes before the game to get a good spot under the basket closest to the Tennessee bench, and several had to sit in the upper deck.

“We can feel the excitement,” sophomore guard JaJuan Smith said. “It’s real nice when you’re around town and people say, ‘Thanks for bringing this back to us.’ We appreciate it, and we appreciate the fans coming out.”

According to Scout.com (subscription required), Tennessee is losing the recruiting season, ranking 33rd nationally and ranking below No. 1 Florida, No. 3 Georgia, No. 9 LSU, No. 14 Auburn, No. 20 Mississippi, No. 21 Alabama and No. 27 Kentucky. (!)

The game’s not quite over yet, though, as the Vols could finish in the top 20 or top 15 if they get some of the prospects still on their list.

Tennessee officials are expecting more than 20,000 fans to pack The Summit tonight as the Volunteer basketball team hosts Georgia. That would be the largest Tennessee crowd to attend an SEC home-opener since 1989.

Coach Pearl is hoping for a good crowd at The Summit Wednesday night when the Volunteers host Georgia:

I’m excited about the turnout potential for Wednesday. I think it’s great that we can celebrate Tennessee basketball a little bit with an amazing crowd for an SEC opener. I don’t know if we deserve it, but I sure will appreciate it. But it’s not going to defend Georgia . . . . Georgia turns people over 18 times a game, Georgia is allowing only about five threes made per game. But it’s a wonderful step in the direction we want to take.

Athletic Director Mike Hamilton is listening, and he’s drawing the curtains that hide the upper seats in The Summit for tomorrow night’s game.

Still having intermittent problems with the blog, both on my side and on my host’s side. Sneaking this in before the window of opportunity closes again.

1. Texas

2. Southern Cal

3. Penn State

4. West Virginia

5. Ohio State

6. Georgia

7. Louisiana State

8. TCU

9. Virginia Tech

10. Alabama

11. Oregon

12. UCLA

13. Notre Dame

14. Wisconsin

15. Auburn

16. Florida

17. Boston College

18. Miami

19. Texas Tech

20. Louisville

21. Florida State

22. Clemson

23. Oklahoma

24. Nebraska

25. California

As the bowl games draw near, here’s a list of BCS team blogs to help you keep up with the teams that are, you know, still playing football. Salty language warning for some of these.

Rose Bowl

USC Trojans

• Trojan Wire
• Heisman Pundit
• SC Football
• Inside USC
• Tribute to Troy
• Student Body Right
• Boi from Troy

Texas Longhorns

• Burnt Orange Nation
• Bevo Beat

Orange Bowl

Penn State

• 50-Yard Lion
• Nittany Blog
• Bleed Blue ‘n’ White

Florida State

Does anyone in Tallahassee blog?

Fiesta Bowl

Notre Dame

• Blue-Gray Sky
• Kanka Sports
• Kelly Green
• The Irish Brogue

Ohio State

• Buckeye Commentary
• Around the Oval
• Buckeye Sports Blitz
• Walking to the Shoe

Sugar Bowl

Georgia

• Georgia Sports Blog
• I’m a Realist
• Dawg News
• The Junkyard Blawg

West Virginia

• WV Law Dog Blog

1. Texas: UT gets nod over USC only because of USC’s would-be loss to Notre Dame
2. USC: Basically neck and neck with the Longhorns
3. Notre Dame: Two bad calls on final two plays cost them victory over USC
4. Georgia: SEC champ
5. LSU: SEC runner-up
6. Florida: Lost three games, but beat both SEC champ and ACC champ
7. Penn State: Only one loss, but docked for not having to play a championship game
8. Ohio State: Only losses to Texas and Penn State
9. Florida State: Yeah, four losses, but still champ of tough ACC conference
10. Virginia Tech: ACC runner-up
11. Georgia Tech: Four losses, but beat both Auburn and Miami
12. Auburn: Stumbled out of the gate and lost to SEC runner-up LSU, but beat SEC champ Georgia
13. Miami: Throttled ACC runner-up Virginia Tech
14. Alabama: Only losses to SEC runner-up LSU and number 12 Auburn
15. Oregon: Only one loss, but docked for relatively weak conference
16. West Virginia: Received a BCS berth while never cracking the top ten
17. Michigan: Beat Big 10 champ Penn State, but lost four games
18. UCLA
19. Clemson: Beat ACC champ FSU, but who didn’t?
20. South Carolina: Wins over Florida and Tennessee not as impressive in hindsight
21. TCU
22. Northwestern
23. Iowa
24. Iowa State
25. Louisville

Any other Tennessee fans watch big games in other conferences for the first time this season? If so, you might have noticed something.

Offense.

Big plays.

Both Texas and USC dominated their opponents with exceptional, exciting offense.

The LSU-Georgia game was . . . different.

More defense.

Some, but not a lot, of big plays on offense.

It really shows the difference in parity in the SEC and in the Big 12 and Pac 10. John Pennington has noticed, too, and has some facts and figures to back it up.

Just comparing SEC records from 1994-99 with the records from 2000-05, you can see a real shift in power among the league’s top seven programs.

From ’94-99, Florida (43-5) and Tennessee (40-8) were far ahead of Alabama (32-16), Georgia (26-22), Auburn (24-24), LSU (22-26) and woeful South Carolina (13-35). Two teams had more than 40 wins in that six-year span. Most of the other “good” programs were around .500 or worse. The difference between the best of those teams and the worst was an enormous 30 wins.

But look at the stretch from 2000-05 Auburn (36-12), LSU (35-13), Georgia (35-13), Florida (34-14) and Tennessee (33-15) are all separated by just three wins over a six-year span. And while Alabama (like Florida and UT) has fallen back to the pack (24-24), South Carolina has shown a huge improvement (24-24).

It’s getting much more difficult to win in the SEC.

The Tennessee Volunteers must beat the Kentucky Wildcats today to avoid last place in the SEC East:

Everyone knows how dark and eerie it can be down there.

When you’re 8 years old, a trip to the depths of grandma’s cellar was about as welcome as ringworm.

When you’re 22, and a senior football player at the University of Tennessee, a trip to the SEC East cellar is just as frightening. It means “Rocky Top” has truly found “Rock Bottom.”

That’s what lies at stake today.

Tennessee (4-6, 2-5 SEC) travels to Kentucky (3-7, 2-5) at 12:30 p.m. (TV: WVLT) with the loser a guaranteed cellar-dweller in the East Division.

The Vols have lost to the Gators. Lost to the Bulldogs. Lost to South Carolina. Lost to Vanderbilt.

Kentucky?