I know the last couple weeks, myself included, a lot of us have really been focusing on how well this team can finish, or how we will do in the SEC tourney, or even how far we can go in the NCAA tourney. Well last night when I was thinking about today's game against South Carolina, it kind of hit me that there is only about a month left in the entire season, and how in a few short weeks there will be no UT games to watch on a Saturday afternoon or a Wednesday night. For me the long 5 month period between the end of basketball, and the start of football really seems to drag out. As my name suggests I am also a huge Chicago Cubs baseball fan, and do not get me wrong I love watching Cubs baseball all summer, but there is really nothing like a big football Saturday or even a big time basketball game in TBA.

For whatever reason this team has really grown on me throughout the season, and I think this might be my favorite team since the 2006-2007 team that lost to Ohio State at the buzzer in the Sweet Sixteen. I guess it is just the adversity they have faced, and the way they have dealt with the loss of Tyler Smith. Who knows how this team will finish, we have 5 regular season games to play, and then at least 2 postseason games, so we have somewhere in the range of 7-13 games left. That means we only have a handful of games left to watch Wayne Chism take over games in the paint, or watch J.P. Prince fill up the stat sheet with points, rebounds, assists, and turnovers, or even watch Bobby Maze continue to mature into the point guard we all thought he would be when he arrived on campus 2 years ago.

I guess what I am saying is let's enjoy being able to watch Tennessee basketball on a Saturday, because 2 months from now on a Saturday afternoon their will be no college sports to watch, just the never ending NBA season and April baseball. Their was also a time not too long ago when the thought of us even being on the NCAA tournament bubble, yet alone likely making it for the 5th consecutive year, would have been cause for celebration. So let's enjoy watching Wayne, JP, and Bobby play, let's enjoy being on the right side of the NCAA tournament bubble, and let's enjoy having a coach and a team that could have folded after New Year's Day, but has gutted it out to be in the position they are in now.