Tennessee Continues to Play Waiting and Mental Game in the NIT

Tennessee drew a little over 6,000 fans to Thompson-Boling Arena for the Vols' first NIT matchup against Savannah State, and they're hoping for more on Monday at 7:00 p.m. when Tennessee plays MTSU. That time slot's pretty favorable, all things considered, but Mr. SEC calls ESPN the devil and has a point when they say it took too long to determine the schedule.

Once again, the players' individual and collective mindsets are all-important for the team's success on Monday night. 247 got senior Cam Tatum to come clean about his disappointment in not making the Big Dance (for the first time in his five year UT career):

"It was one of the toughest pills to swallow in my career," Tatum said. "Not getting in the tournament was hard for me to digest, man. It made me sick. It really made me sick."

Love the extended digestion metaphor and also glad that it stopped where it did.

Anyway, Tatum and the team truly seem to have gotten past the disappointment and are embracing the positives like proving to the world that they should have been selected and using the time to get better for next season. By the way, Jeronne Maymon is expected to be back for MTSU, which is a very good thing. Should the Vols beat the Blue Raiders, they'll take on the winner of Miami-Minnesota, who also play on Monday. ESPN will let us know sometime in April when the next game will be played, but they expect it to be played sometime in March.

Etceteras. VolQuest is curious about several things related to spring football practice, but the most important thing about that article is the picture of Darrington Sentimore. Those eyes. Bet you, like me, are simply unable to look away without significant will power and multiple attempts. . . . Rucker takes a look at Tennessee's tailbacks. . . . Dave Serrano is being wily about his plan for conference play. . . . I'll take "What happens when a stubborn 89-year-old with a billion dollars in his pocket wants something" for 100, Alex.