- Black Shoe Diaries is breaking down Penn State's performance against Tennessee in the Outback Bowl. Something we'd like to forget, of course, but it's solid information, and, well, football season is over, so what's worse, nightmarish information or no information? That's what I thought.
- Freshman point guard Ramar Smith has been named SEC Freshman of the Week. He and two-headed monster DuWayne Chews are really coming together, and along with Chris Lofton, Dane Bradshaw, JaJuan Smith, and the other guys, the Vols are looking like a solid team.
- Speaking of DuWayne Chews, I hope you got a chance to welcome Corn from a Jar to Rocky Top Talk. CFAJ had me hooked since his first series on 5 Signs the Vols are Making Me Prematurely Old, and I'm excited to be co-blogging with him for SBN.
- And speaking of SBN, head on over to SBN Kentucky blog A Sea of Blue to check out his SEC Basketball Power Rankings. Tennessee is currently No. 2.
- Well, the last game has been played, and the final Rocky Top Talk Bowl Mania results have been calculated. I am notoriously bad at these things, but somehow I finished first, and with a 25-7 record no less, in part due to being the only one to pick Florida to win the National Championship. Tenn Vol Champ came in second, going 20-12, Smitty went 18-14, Map Game Day went 20-12, and the Haiku Master himself went 16-16. This was more or less a trial run. Be looking for a similar competition for the NCAA Tournament in March.
- Speaking of Map Game Day, he got some well-deserved love from The Wizard of Odds yesterday, who was amusing himself with MGD's geographical representation of the Buckeye and Gator rosters. MGD also recently tipped me off to a really nice article on former Vol basketball coach Buzz Peterson. It's a good read. I always liked that guy.
- And my, aren't the segues working out nicely this morning? Speaking of love, BGNJason, who runs SBN's Philadelphia Eagles blog Bleeding Green Nation, is loving former Vol linebacker Omar Gaither. He's wanting to know just how good Gaither was while at UT. I always thought Gaither was solid -- John Chavis-trained linebackers are usually at least very good, and some are, well, Al Wilson. What do y'all think? Where does Omar Gaither fit into the pecking order or former Vol linebackers?
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