Tennessee @ Vanderbilt

[XU05and07]

With speculation of X's rank this week one thing is for sure, Tennessee is going to be #1. In their first game in school history as #1, they have another in-state rivalry game against a ranked Vanderbilt team on Tuesday. Vanderbilt is undefeated at Memorial Gym and is one of the hardest places to play in college sports. The awkward setup of the benches, the raised floor, and a quality team will make this a very good game. Game is on ESPN at 9:00pm.

Expect to see Pearl in the orange jacket and Vandy to come out firing. Sadly, I have to agree with Skip Bayless (who I despise), who on First Take this morning he said that Vanderbilt is going to pull off the upset.

Thoughts and Predictions?

[BiggieXU]

Meh, Vandy always seems to shoot lights out at Memorial. I am never very impressed with their offense otherwise though and I think the pressure of UT will give them problems again. Foster can get his shot off because he's tall and has a high release but the other guys need to be open. Hopefully Vandy can go inside/outside with the Aussie or get some 3s off a press break. They do always seems to make those fast-breakish 3s at home. As has been said many times though, it is a tough place to play and Vandy should be in the game. I just don't know if they can pull it off.

I will be there though, maybe I'll rush the court? naw

[XUglow]

The Aussie center can't match UT's bigs in quickness, so that will hurt Vandy. UT will likely get 20 offensive boards tonight, so for Vandy to win, they will have to shoot lights out from the 3. The good thing for Vandy is that they can do it.

Nose bleed seats at the FedEx Forum were going for $600 the other night. I heard that seats for the Vandy-UT are bringing a more modest $125-$150. ...and UK will be UT on Sunday. I am sure that will be a hot ticket as well.

[XU05and07]

10:30 remaining in the first half...23-9 Vandy is up

Bruce Pearl has already gotten a T...and his team is struggling. Had to take a timeout on an inbounds play and have not had success covering the shooters of Vanderbilt

[Stonebreaker]

I knew Vandy was tough at home, but dang.

[XUglow]

UT will make a game of it. Book it.

[dc_x]

Vandy beat Florida in Memorial Gym last year...at that time, Florida was 24-2, 11-0 in the SEC, and #1 in the country.

[XU Fan]

Vandy seems to do very well on their goofy court.

[xufan22]

UT will make a game of it. Book it.

Good call. Fought their way back to a 3 point game at half. The SEC's two best 3 point shooters both having big games so far.

[XU05and07]

Tennessee seems to be losing a bit of focus...JuJuan Smith just got a T for arguing with the ref...Vandy is now up 2 with 12:06 left and both teams have foul trouble

Vandy
Oligvy with 4 (3 in the first half)
Foster with 3
Gordon with 4

Tennessee
Chism with 3
Williams with 3

[vee4xu]

TN losing by about 6 with 3 minutes left. Given what I saw happen at the Cintas Center, that game isn't over yet.

[XU Dozer]

Vandy wins 72-69

[BBC 08]

If these top teams keep losing and X wins out, I smell a 1 seed.

Also, do you think Vandy will jump X in the polls since it beat the #1 team in the nation?

[eXdrummer]

If these top teams keep losing and X wins out, I smell a 1 seed.

Also, do you think Vandy will jump X in the polls since it beat the #1 team in the nation?

Quite possibly in the Coach's poll, because they are only 3 spots back from us, but I doubt it will happen in the AP.

[joebba]

53 fouls? 3 technicals? That's a lot of fouls.

Read about it here. (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/notebook?page=notebook/atr080227)

[xu drew]

i read this win makes 4 straight wins for Vandy at home vs teams ranked #1 in the country. that's pretty damn impressive

[BiggieXU]

Damn I didn't get into the game because the students actually showed up early and they were out of tickets 45 mins before game time when I went.

The foul calling was pretty annoying and ticky-tack. And even though I was rooting for Vandy, JaJuan Smith's 3 from like 38 feet was sick.

Woo Vandy!

[joebba]

Vandy is also only 1 behind XU in RPI currently.