2007–08 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team

To begin a highly touted year, the 2007 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team traveled to Europe and played a few European teams going 4–1 against them. The Vols were hurt when sophomore forward Duke Crews was suspended. Crews suffered a 30-day suspension, and then missed both exhibition games with an ankle injury. Tennessee's first exhibition game was against the California-Pennsylvania Vulcans, winning handily, 106–46. Crews also missed about a month due to heart problems. The Vols finished 31–5, winning the SEC regular season championship, for the first time since 2000, but the Vols lost in the 3rd round of both the SEC and NCAA Tournament.

2007–08 Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball
SEC regular season champions
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionEast
Ranking
CoachesNo. 7
APNo. 5
Record31–5 (14–2 SEC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaThompson–Boling Arena
Seasons
2007–08 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
East
No. 5 Tennessee 14 2   .875 31 5   .861
Kentucky 12 4   .750 18 13   .581
No. 19 Vanderbilt 10 6   .625 26 8   .765
Florida 8 8   .500 24 12   .667
South Carolina 5 11   .313 14 18   .438
Georgia 4 12   .250 17 17   .500
West
Mississippi State 12 4   .750 23 11   .676
Arkansas 9 7   .563 23 12   .657
Ole Miss 7 9   .438 24 11   .686
LSU 6 10   .375 13 18   .419
Alabama 5 11   .313 17 16   .515
Auburn 4 12   .250 14 16   .467
2008 SEC tournament winner
As of April 7, 2008
Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

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Name Number Team Position Height Year
Ramar Smith 12 1 6–1 Sophomore
JaJuan Smith 2 2 6–2 Senior
Chris Lofton- C 5 3 6–2 Senior
Tyler Smith 1 4 6–7 Sophomore
Wayne Chism 4 5 6–9 Sophomore
J. P. Prince 30 6 6–7 Sophomore
Jordan Howell 15 7 6–3 Senior
Brian Williams 33 8 6–10 Freshman
Duke Crews 32 9 6–8 Sophomore
Ryan Childress 34 10 6–9 Junior
Josh Tabb 25 11 6–4 Sophomore

Legend: C = Team Captain

Non-Scholarship Players

Steven Pearl, Quinn Cannington, Tanner Wild, Rick Daniels-Mulholland, Justin Jackson, Brett Jackson

Coaches

Head Coach: Bruce Pearl, Associate Coach: Tony Jones, Assistant Coach: Steve Forbes, Assistant Coach: Jason Shay, Director of Basketball Operations: Ken Johnson

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
November 2*
7:30 pm
No. 7 Cal U W 106–46 
Thompson–Boling Arena (–)
Knoxville, Tennessee
November 5*
7:30 pm
No. 7 LMU W 124–61 
Thompson–Boling Arena (–)
Knoxville, Tennessee
Non-conference regular season
November 9*
7:30 pm, FSN South
No. 7 Temple W 80–63  1–0
Thompson–Boling Arena (21,817)
Knoxville, Tennessee
November 14*
7:30 pm
No. 7 Arkansas–Monticello
Legends Classic Regionals
W 101–44  2–0
Thompson–Boling Arena (17,946)
Knoxville, Tennessee
November 16*
7:30 pm
No. 7 Prairie View A&M
Legends Classic Regionals
W 89–75  3–0
Thompson–Boling Arena (18,846)
Knoxville, Tennessee
November 20*
7:30 pm, SportSouth
No. 7 MTSU W 109–40  4–0
Thompson–Boling Arena (18,592)
Knoxville, Tennessee
November 23*
9:00 pm, Versus
No. 7 vs. West Virginia
Legends Classic Semifinals
W 74–72  5–0
Prudential Center (5,310)
Newark, New Jersey
November 24*
6:00 pm, Versus
No. 7 vs. No. 15 Texas
Legends Classic Finals
L 78–97  5–1
Prudential Center (4,327)
Newark, New Jersey
November 27*
7:30 pm, SportSouth
No. 11 North Carolina A&T W 93–59  6–1
Thompson–Boling Arena (17,092)
Knoxville, Tennessee
November 30*
7:30 pm
No. 11 Louisiana–Lafayette W 98–70  7–1
Thompson–Boling Arena (19,401)
Knoxville, Tennessee
December 4*
7:00 pm
No. 10 at Chattanooga W 76–70  8–1
McKenzie Arena (11,221)
Chattanooga, Tennessee
December 15*
9:30 pm, ESPNU
No. 12 vs. Western Kentucky
Sun Belt Classic
W 88–82  9–1
Sommet Center (18,071)
Nashville, Tennessee
December 19*
7:30 pm, SportSouth
No. 12 UNC Asheville W 79–77  10–1
Thompson–Boling Arena (21,314)
Knoxville, Tennessee
December 22*
2:00 pm, ESPN
No. 12 at Xavier W 82-75  11–1
Cintas Center (21,863)
Cincinnati
December 29*
4:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 11 vs. Gonzaga
Battle in Seattle
W 82–72  12–1
KeyArena (15,141)
Seattle
SEC regular season
January 9
8:00 pm, Raycom
No. 8 Ole Miss W 85–83  13–1 (1–0)
Thompson–Boling Arena (21,846)
Knoxville, Tennessee
January 12
8:00 pm, FSN South
No. 8 at South Carolina W 80–56  14–1 (2–0)
Colonial Life Arena (13,449)
Columbia, South Carolina
January 17
7:00 pm, ESPN
No. 6 Vanderbilt W 80–60  15–1 (3–0)
Thompson–Boling Arena (20,799)
Knoxville, Tennessee
January 19*
3:30 pm, CBS
No. 6 Ohio State W 76–63  16–1
Thompson–Boling Arena (14,057)
Knoxville, Tennessee
January 22
9:00 pm, ESPN
No. 3 at Kentucky L 66–72  16–2 (3–1)
Rupp Arena (23,443)
Lexington, Kentucky
January 26
7:00 pm, FSN South
No. 3 Georgia W 85–69  17–2 (4–1)
Thompson–Boling Arena (21,009)
Knoxville, Tennessee
January 29
9:00 pm, ESPN
No. 7 at Alabama W 93–88  18–2 (5–1)
Coleman Coliseum (11,891)
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
February 2
7:00 pm, FSN South
No. 7 at Mississippi State W 76–71  19–2 (6–1)
Humphrey Coliseum (10,150)
Starkville, Mississippi
February 5
9:00 pm, ESPN
No. 7 Florida W 104–82  20–2 (7–1)
Thompson–Boling Arena (20,036)
Knoxville, Tennessee
February 9
3:00 pm, Raycom
No. 7 at LSU W 47–45  21–2 (8–1)
Pete Maravich Assembly Center (10,165)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
February 13
8:00 pm
No. 3 Arkansas W 93–71  22–2 (9–1)
Thompson–Boling Arena (20,008)
Knoxville, Tennessee
February 16
3:00 pm, Raycom
No. 3 at Georgia W 74–71  23–2 (10–1)
Stegeman Coliseum (10,039)
Athens, Georgia
February 20
7:30 pm
No. 2 Auburn W 89–70  24–2 (11–1)
Thompson–Boling Arena (20,645)
Knoxville, Tennessee
February 23*
9:00 pm, ESPN
No. 2 at No. 1 Memphis
ESPN College GameDay
W 66–62  25–2
FedExForum (18,389)
Memphis, Tennessee
February 26
9:00 pm, ESPN
No. 1 at No. 18 Vanderbilt L 69–72  25–3 (11–2)
Memorial Gymnasium (20,375)
Nashville, Tennessee
March 2
12:00 pm, CBS
No. 1 Kentucky W 63–60  26–3 (12–2)
Thompson–Boling Arena (21,628)
Knoxville, Tennessee
March 5
9:00 pm, Raycom
No. 4 at Florida W 89–86  27–3 (13–2)
O'Connell Center (12,046)
Gainesville, Florida
March 9
2:00 pm, Raycom
No. 4 South Carolina W 89–56  28–3 (14–2)
Thompson–Boling Arena (21,734)
Knoxville, Tennessee
SEC Tournament
March 14
1:00 pm, Raycom
No. 5 vs. South Carolina
SEC Quarterfinals
W 89–87  29–3
Georgia Dome (18,020)
Atlanta
March 15
1:00 pm, Raycom
No. 5 vs. Arkansas
SEC Semifinals
L 91–92  29–4
Alexander Memorial Coliseum (2,517)
Atlanta
NCAA tournament
March 21*
12:15 pm, CBS
(2 E) No. 5 vs. (15 E) American University
First Round
W 72–57  30–4
BJCC Arena (–)
Birmingham, Alabama
March 23*
2:30 pm, CBS
(2 E) No. 5 vs. (7 E) No. 11 Butler
Second Round
W 76–71 OT 31–4
BJCC Arena (–)
Birmingham, Alabama
March 27*
9:57 pm, CBS
(2 E) No. 5 vs. (3 E) No. 13 Louisville
Sweet Sixteen
L 60–79  31–5
Charlotte Bobcats Arena (19,092)
Charlotte, North Carolina
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern Time[1].

References

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