2007–08 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team

2007–08 Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball

SEC regular season champions
NCAA Tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Southeastern Conference East
2007–08 record	31–5 (14–2 SEC)
Head coach	Bruce Pearl
Assistant coach	Tony Jones
Assistant coach	Steve Forbes
Assistant coach	Jason Shay
Home arena	Thompson-Boling Arena

	Conf				Overall
2007–08 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
East
#5 Tennessee	14	–	2	.875	31	–	5	.861
Kentucky	12	–	4	.750	18	–	13	.581
#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

† SEC Tournament winner As of April 7, 2008; Rankings from AP Poll

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 F Duke Crews was suspended. Crews suffered a 30-day suspension, but missed both exhibition games with an ankle injury. UT's first exb. game was against the California-Pennsylvania Vulcans, winning handily, 106–46. The University of Tennessee lead the SEC in unrelated Smiths (JaJaun, Tyler, and Ramar). 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.

Roster

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
Jayson Ebio	7	12	5-8	Freshman (Redshirted)

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

Date	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance)
Exhibition
November 2*	#7	Cal U	W 106–46	–	Thompson-Boling Arena (–)
November 5*	#7	LMU	W 124–61	–	Thompson-Boling Arena (–)
Non-conference regular season
November 9*	#7	Temple	W 80–63	1–0	Thompson-Boling Arena (21,817)
November 14*	#7	Arkansas–Monticello (Legends Classic Regionals)	W 101–44	2–0	Thompson-Boling Arena (17,946)
November 16*	#7	Prairie View A&M (Legends Classic Regionals)	W 89–75	3–0	Thompson-Boling Arena (18,846)
November 20*	#7	MTSU	W 109–40	4–0	Thompson-Boling Arena (18,592)
November 23*	#7	vs. West Virginia (Legends Classic Semifinals)	W 74–72	5–0	Prudential Center (5,310)
November 24*	#7	vs. #15 Texas (Legends Classic Finals)	L 78–97	5–1	Prudential Center (4,327)
November 27*	#11	North Carolina A&T	W 93–59	6–1	Thompson-Boling Arena (17,092)
November 30*	#11	Louisiana–Lafayette	W 98–70	7–1	Thompson-Boling Arena (19,401)
December 4*	#10	at Chattanooga	W 76–70	8–1	McKenzie Arena (11,221)
December 15*	#12	vs. WKU (Sun Belt Classic)	W 88–82	9–1	Sommet Center (18,071)
December 19*	#12	UNC Asheville	W 79–77	10–1	Thompson-Boling Arena (21,314)
December 22*	#12	at Xavier	W 62–89	11–1	Cintas Center (21,863)
December 29*	#11	vs. Gonzaga (Battle in Seattle)	W 82–72	12–1	KeyArena (15,141)
SEC regular season
January 9	#8	Ole Miss	W 85–83	13–1 (1–0)	Thompson-Boling Arena (21,846)
January 12	#8	at South Carolina	W 80–56	14–1 (2–0)	Colonial Life Arena (13,449)
January 17	#6	Vanderbilt	W 80–60	15–1 (3–0)	Thompson-Boling Arena (20,799)
January 19*	#6	Ohio State	W 76–63	16–1	Thompson-Boling Arena (14,057)
January 22	#3	at Kentucky	L 66–72	16–2 (3–1)	Rupp Arena (23,443)
January 26	#3	Georgia	W 85–69	17–2 (4–1)	Thompson-Boling Arena (21,009)
January 29	#7	at Alabama	W 93–88	18–2 (5–1)	Coleman Coliseum (11,891)
February 2	#7	at Mississippi State	W 76–71	19–2 (6–1)	Humphrey Coliseum (10,150)
February 5	#7	Florida	W 104–82	20–2 (7–1)	Thompson-Boling Arena (20,036)
February 9	#7	at LSU	W 47–45	21–2 (8–1)	Pete Maravich Assembly Center (10,165)
February 13	#3	Arkansas	W 93–71	22–2 (9–1)	Thompson-Boling Arena (20,008)
February 16	#3	at Georgia	W 74–71	23–2 (10–1)	Stegeman Coliseum (10,039)
February 20	#2	Auburn	W 89–70	24–2 (11–1)	Thompson-Boling Arena (20,645)
February 23*	#2	at #1 Memphis	W 66–62	25–2	FedExForum (18,389)
February 26	#1	at #18 Vanderbilt	L 69–72	25–3 (11–2)	Memorial Gymnasium (20,375)
March 2	#1	Kentucky	W 63–60	26–3 (12–2)	Thompson-Boling Arena (21,628)
March 5	#4	at Florida	W 89–86	27–3 (13–2)	O'Connell Center (12,046)
March 9	#4	South Carolina	W 89–56	28–3 (14–2)	Thompson-Boling Arena (21,734)
SEC Tournament
March 14	#5	vs. South Carolina (SEC Quarterfinals)	W 89–87	29–3	Georgia Dome (18,020)
March 15	#5	vs. Arkansas (SEC Semifinals)	L 91–92	29–4	Alexander Memorial Coliseum (2,517)
NCAA Tournament
March 21*	#5	vs. American University (1st Round NCAA Tournament)	W 72–57	30–4	BJJC Arena (–)
March 23*	#5	vs. #11 Butler (2nd Round NCAA Tournament)	W 76–71 ^OT	31–4	BJJC Arena (–)
March 27*	#5	vs. #13 Louisville (NCAA Regionals)	L 79–60	31–5	Charlotte Bobcats Arena (19,092)
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. ( ) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time^[1].

References

↑ Tennessee Season Statistics

Tennessee Volunteers basketball

Venues	Alumni Memorial Gym (1934–1958) Stokely Athletic Center (1958–1987) Thompson–Boling Arena (1987–present)

Rivalries	Kentucky

Culture & lore	History Smokey "Rocky Top"

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