Believe it or not, basketball season is upon us!  In just a few short days, the preseason favorite to win the SEC and the #7 team in the country will be tipping off for [it's first non-exhibition game].  The BasketVols look like the real deal and have improved in each of the past two seasons under Coach Pearl (aka Hulk), and there is no reason to believe this season will be any different.  

With Kentucky looking like they're a year or two away and under the new direction of Billy Gillespie, and Florida losing all of their starters and some of their bench to the NBA, the road to an SEC title will run through the Marble City.

The team is stocked with talent in the back court with All-American Chris Lofton, All-Freshman SEC guard Ramar Smith, and JaJuan Smith.  Add in transfer guard/forwards JP Prince, from Arizona, and All-Freshman Big-10 player at Iowa, Tyler Smith, and the back court alone is deadly.  But wait, there's more!  The front court features Wayne Chism and Duke Crews, both freshmen extraordinaires last year, who have improved with a full season under their belts.  There's also Ryan Childress, who stepped up in the tournament last March/April and proved he can play, and more importantly, run and shoot, with the best of 'em.  

Granted, there's no dominant low post player like North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough or Georgetown's Roy Hibbert.  This is not a roster stocked with McDonald's All-Americans like Duke or Kansas or UCLA, but there is something else.  There is a chip that sits on their collective shoulders.  A No. 7 ranking seems like a bit of a slap in the face to such a deep team, one that has lost only ONE player to graduation, added two great swing men, and coached by a man so passionate and knowledgable as Bruce Pearl. If this were Duke or Carolina or Kansas, they'd be consensus number 1, but UT can't even crack the top 5?  

But this is the year!  The year Tennessee becomes a basketball force, begins a proud basketball tradition and lays claim to its first Final Four and, dare I say it, possibly its first National Championship.  It's all right there in front of them, and in a few short days, their quest to claim it begins, and it becomes... Tipoff Time in Tennessee!

Go Vols!