University of Tennessee Athletics
Elite at Last
November 11, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 11, 2010
Drew Rutherford
UTsports.com
It was the best team in Tennessee basketball history. No team ever made it farther than the 2009-10 Vols, and considering what they overcame, their feat will be hard to top.
"We had to rally late to beat Ohio State, a great basketball team, to get to the Elite Eight--somewhere we've never been before," voice of the Vols Bob Kesling said. "That was one of those games everyone will be telling their grandchildren about--this is a part of history."
Making it to the Elite Eight truly took a team effort from the Big Orange. After overcoming adversity in January, the Vols topped No. 1 Kansas and No. 2 Kentucky en route to a No. 5 seed in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament.
Tennessee drew San Diego State in the opening round and the Aztecs were anything but a pushover. Eight Vols played double-digit minutes in UT's 62-59 first-round win. Tennessee would live to play again, this time against the MAC champion Ohio Bobcats.
Nine Vols earned double-digit playing time against Ohio as Tennessee topped the Bobcats 83-68. With the win, Tennessee punched its ticket to the Sweet 16 for the third time in the Bruce Pearl era. The Vols were headed for St. Louis to face a familiar foe in Ohio State--the Buckeyes eliminated UT in the 2008 Sweet 16.
The storyline was similar for the 2010 Vols-Bucks matchup. Ohio State brought a very talented team to St. Louis led by national player of the year Evan Turner. After struggling early with depth issues, the Vols entered the contest with a bench full of character. It was the bench that lifted Tennessee to new heights.
The 10 Vols that saw playing time outscored seven Buckeyes 76-73 to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history.
"We talked about our team versus their top six or seven guys," head coach Bruce Pearl said. "These guys wanted to take this Tennessee basketball program to a place it's never been before."
Every individual on the Vols team had to buy in to the concept of team. Thanks to the senior leadership of Bobby Maze, Wayne Chism and J.P. Prince, no one questioned that strategy.
"We knew our team could compete with anybody," Prince said. "We planned as a team. We knew we had to fight all the way to the end."
Not a coach, student-athlete, manager, athletic trainer, strength coach or even a sports information director from the University of Tennessee had ever been in to the Elite Eight. No one. Ever.
So when the Vols did make it, they brought the whole house. More than 18,000 orange-clad Vols fans made the trek to St. Louis' Edward Jones Dome to see the Vols take on Michigan State to see which team would advance to the Final Four.
When the buzzer sounded, the Vols were nudged out of a trip to the Indianapolis, losing to Michigan State 80-79. While they didn't get a shot at a national title, they did give nearly 20,000 Big Orange a piece of history that can never be taken away.
