Nevermind the margin, aided by four garbage threes in the last 35 seconds. Tennessee came into Gainesville and dominated #7 Florida. Again.

Florida hadn't lost at home all year. Over. Tennessee hadn't won on the road all year. Over. Tennessee hadn't scored 75 points since heavy competition began with the second Memphis game. Over. Players not named Renaldo Woolridge were 5 of 37 from the three point line in their last three road games. Over.

And for a season that many were forced to believe would end, at best, with settling for a third-tier postseason tournament we'd never heard of and putting an emphasis on the future? Tonight that's over too. Tennessee goes to 13-12, gets back even at 5-5 in the SEC, and could be in a four way tie for fifth place in the SEC by the end of the night, just a game out of third.

There were lots of ways to finish above .500 and hope the NIT called your name. But none would've helped Tennessee's RPI more than what they did tonight. Now the Vols need only a split in their final six regular season games to get above .500...and right now, a split might feel like a disappointment.

But more on where the Vols go from here in a moment. First, let's talk about how Tennessee imposed their will on the Gators for the second time this season.

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	February 11, 2012 O'Connell Center, Gainesville, FL 4:00 PM ET TV: SECN Internet TV: ESPN Live stats: UT Sports
12-12 (4-5) NR		19-5 (7-2) #8 AP #7 ESPN/USA Today

Jackson the Mule says . . .

. . . I'm a Hater of the Gators! LOLOLOLOLO ROTGLMAO LOL HAHAHAHAHHHHHHAAAAA. HA. ha. . . . ahem. Yeah. Carry on.

Leave your pre-, in-, and post-game thoughts below.

The biggest win of Cuonzo Martin's young career in Knoxville was January 7 against Florida. The Memphis game in Maui felt like something special until the end, though it turned out to be a false alarm. The UConn game may end up being more memorable because of the way Jarnell Stokes played. But the best team Tennessee owns a win over this season is, without question, the Gators.

Florida stands at 19-5 (7-2). There are a pair of single digit road losses to Ohio State and Syracuse and a curious double overtime loss to Rutgers. But between their loss to us in the SEC opener and their loss at Rupp Arena on Tuesday, the Gators beat everybody else. Everybody else includes LSU and Mississippi State by a dozen and Vanderbilt by eight points, plus Ole Miss on the road.

The Vols beat the Gators with sensational defense, plain and simple. Florida averages 79 points per game, 12th nationally and first in the SEC. The Vols held them to 56, still their lowest total of the season; only Kentucky (58) has also held them under 64. Florida shoots 46.7% from the floor and a best-in-the-SEC 39.5% from the arc. The Vols held them to 35.7% from the floor and 31.8% from the arc - only Kentucky held them to a lower percentage overall, and only three teams have done a better job guarding the three point line.

Tennessee's performance wasn't a fluke, as we've discovered in the last month. Florida's part of that equation has looked familiar in the last two weeks: even if you throw the Kentucky performance out because everyone looks bad in Rupp Arena, the Gators have struggled from the floor in their last two home games against South Carolina (37.3%) and Vanderbilt (38.3%). They were able to win both games thanks to free throw shooting (23 of 32 against Carolina, 16 of 17 against Vandy) and a strong performance from three against the Dores (11 of 24). But their numbers are trending in the wrong direction. So either they're due - and many will be playing the rebound card after the performance against Kentucky - or they've truly cooled off, and Tennessee's defense is the last thing they want to see.

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	February 8, 2012 Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, TN 8:00 EST TV: SECN Internet TV: ESPN-in-search-of-branding-that-sticks Live stats: UT Sports
9-13 (1-7) NR		11-12 (3-5) NR

Jackson the Mule says . . .

. . . let's beat the eggs out of these chickens.

Leave your pre-, in-, and post-game thoughts below.

This was a really weird ballgame. Two teams that played to a 46-46 tie at the end of regulation in Athens set the nets on fire in the first eight minutes today. Georgia hit four of their first five threes and built an eight point lead. When the Dawgs calmed down, Tennessee surged to a 30-28 halftime lead. The Dawgs came right back to start the second half and pushed the lead back to seven. But again, Tennessee maintained composure and battled back in front, and had enough to put the Bulldogs away late.

After the first eight minutes, the defense was pretty similar - Georgia shot just 36.4% - and Tennessee's good enough three point shooting (7 of 22, 31.8%) was also familiar. But almost everything else was different, most notably in three ways:

• Skylar McBee got the start for Trae Golden, and it made a difference. While McBee got most of his 10 points on late free throws, Golden came off the pine with a vengeance, scoring 16 points on 5 of 8 shooting to go with 6 rebounds and 5 assists. It was Golden's best game since his 20 point effort in Starkville almost a full month ago. Cuonzo Martin has had great success with changes to the starting lineup.
• Georgia refused to turn the ball over and finished 7 of 15 (46.7%) from the arc. Tennessee's defense held the Dawgs to just 13 of 40 (32.5%) from two, but the lack of turnovers allowed Georgia to attempt thirteen more field goals than the Vols. Not saying it's bad at all, it was just new for us to allow such a high percentage from the arc and force so few turnovers, and still feel like we played good defense.
• Speaking of free throws, Tennessee made their living at the line today. The Vols went 28 of 37 at the line, an impressive 75.7%, and only a few of them were of the garbage time variety. It ties the most free throws the Vols have shot all year, an honor it shares with the double overtime Memphis game in Maui. So for regulation purposes, you have to go back to Belmont in game two of the 2010-11 season to find the Vols shooting more than 37 free throws. Fun stat to watch in the future: the Vols now average 25.8 free throw attempts per game in home SEC play, and just 10.5 free throw attempts in road SEC play. It can't all be the refs, right?

What else was familiar was Jeronne Maymon, 15 points and 8 rebounds. Jarnell Stokes had just 5 points thanks to 3 of 6 at the line, but he just grabs every rebound he can get a digit on, adding nine more today. And Jordan McRae was a big spark off the bench, burying three threes and getting to the rim late in the shot clock to finish with 14.

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	February 4, 2012 Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, TN 8:00 PM EST TV: FoxSports South Internet TV: ESPN3 Live stats: UT Sports
10-11 (1-6) NR		10-12 (2-5) NR

Jackson the Mule says . . .

. . . dog fight!

Leave your pre-, in-, and post-game thoughts below.

The combined record of Tennessee's last nine opponents is a staggering 147-50 (.746). But the combined record of Tennessee's remaining nine opponents is 118-74 (.614). The Vols stand at 10-12 and just 2-5 in the SEC, but hope remains for a meaningful end to the 2012 season. Despite the blowout loss at #1 Kentucky, Tennessee's defense remains strong - the Vols trail only the Wildcats in defensive efficiency ratings in conference play. And the presence of Jarnell Stokes continues to provide both interest and reason to believe that things will get better for the Vols.

The schedule certainly can't get any worse, and won't. Tennessee has nine games left to play their way back above .500 and get in the NIT conversation. And remember, the Vols will always have a chance to play their way into the NCAA Tournament by winning the SEC Tournament in New Orleans, a road they can make much easier on themselves by finishing as high as possible in the overall league standings, which no longer account for divisional play.

Ken Pomeroy's numbers project the Vols to finish 14-17 (6-10), a number that would be good for ninth in the league and looks to assure you a rematch with Kentucky in the quarterfinals if you were lucky enough to get past the eighth best team on Thursday. While the NIT did do away with their .500 or better requirement several years ago, it hasn't changed anything - no below .500 team has ever made the NIT, and if the Vols want to be there, they need to make sure they're on the right side of the line.

We would've called making the NIT in Year One a rousing success for Cuonzo Martin back when the season began. And we didn't really think it possible at all after the second Memphis game when the Vols were run off the floor. The Vols both dealt and took some damage in the month of January that may leave us feeling a little confused about where this team really is, but we need to remember the NIT would still be a tremendous accomplishment for this team, something to be very proud of this year, and something that would allow the Vols to keep playing and keep growing.

To get above .500, Tennessee needs to go 6-3 in their final nine regular season games. Make no mistake, it will be a challenge. But I believe it is a worthy goal for this team, one they are capable of reaching if they continue to improve.

But exactly how far above .500 do the Vols need to be to feel good about their NIT chances?

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...unless we see him in the SEC Tournament. If you assume Kentucky is going to win this thing, the Vols need to finish 7th or higher in the league, or any hopes of advancing in New Orleans will have to go through the Cats in the quarterfinals.

And pretty much nothing goes through Anthony Davis. This would be an impressive stat line by itself: 18 points on 6 of 7 shooting, 8 rebounds, 3 assists. But it's the blocked shots - seven of them tonight - that separate him from anyone else I've seen. Even Jarvis Varnado wasn't as smart about it as Davis is. Tennessee shooting 28.1% from the floor isn't a total shocker, we all know we're not the most potent offensive ballclub. But the way it happened tonight was that Davis and Kentucky affected almost every single shot the Vols took inside the paint. Cameron Tatum was aggressive getting to the basket and did lead the team in assists, but went 0 for 7. Josh Richardson was 0 for 5. And Jarnell Stokes and Kenny Hall got no love from the rims or the referees, going 2 for 9 and 0 for 3 respectively.

Jeronne Maymon worked incredibly hard for everything he got, which was 13 points. But here's part of the problem too: he went five of six at the line. Trae Golden was 0-1. No one else shot a free throw.

And look, we can do the thing everybody does when they go to Rupp Arena and question why Kentucky shot twenty more free throws than we did, but reality is the Vols struggle to get to the line against everybody. It's something to watch both for now and for later: how does a team that has both Maymon and Stokes go to the line so little? What can the Vols do to be more aggressive?

Tonight was Kentucky's night in almost every way. I mean, when you make your first eleven shots, life is pretty good. If not for Renaldo Woolridge turning into Larry Bird in the first half, the Vols are down thirty at halftime. That bunch in platinum is real good and number one for a reason, so let's not read too much into this loss.

The good news for Tennessee is that tomorrow the calendar will read February. The Vols came out of January one game better than we thought they would, upsetting Florida and UConn but falling at Georgia in overtime. At 10-12 (2-5), the goal remains NIT eligibility which requires a 6-3 finish against a much lighter load. And the real goal is continued improvement, which is awfully hard to see in Rupp. This team needs to take a deep breath and put this game and this month behind them, and then attack February and get on a run that is very much there to be had. The next two games are in Knoxville against Georgia and South Carolina, which should help the Vols get off to a good start from here.

A tip of the cap to the Wildcats. Tennessee can be much better the next time they play in Rupp Arena. But to get there, improvement needs to start now. There is much still to play for, and if a run is to be made, it has to start right now.

Go Vols.