Tennessee Vols 07-08 Basketball Season Preview

Tennessee has one of the best basketball programs in the country. No, not Pat Summit's women's team. I are talking about the men's basketball program. For the first time in year's they are ranked in the top ten in almost every preseason basketball poll in the country. Some people are even predicting that the Vols are going to make it all the way to the NCAA Final Four. Why all the talk about Tennessee Basketball? Here are a few of the reasons the Vols are back on the map in college hoops.

Tennessee owes much of its success to head coach Bruce Pearl. Pearl has revived Tennessee basketball and put their program back into the college elite. Pearl is a lively coach who is always full of energy and emotion on the sideline. He has done an excellent job recruiting some of the top players in the country. He has developed a solid defensive team. Pearl is the reason that people are talking about mens hoops again at the University of Tennessee. He is arguably one of the best coaches in college basketball.

All-Americans have been not existent in recent years at UT. That is quickly changing however with the emergence of star Chris Lofton. The All-American guard returned to UT for his senior year, bypassing the NBA draft where he was sure to be a lottery pick. Lofton is almost a lock for 1st team All-American nods this year. He is an incredible outside shooter. Last year he improved his ball handling abilities and learned to create his own shot. He is a leader and a go to guy. He should take the Vols very far this year.

Lofton will have plenty of help as the Vols attempt to continue their success. Senior JaJuan Smith emerged last year as a great scorer. He has developed as a super outside shooter. If his ball handling skills continue to improve he will help to make a great 1-2 punch in the backcourt. The Vols also have some super sophomores to added to the scoring. Ramar Smith, Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism are all have great potential and should help UT go very far next year.

UT will again play the up and down style of basketball that they played last year. Pearl's guys have developed a run-and-gun type offense. Last year They would air it up from outside, shooting lots of threes. With the dept they have on their roster they should be able to continue doing this again this year. Look for Tennessee to dominate the SEC as they will have more experience than any other team in the conference. Having played deep into March, they will not be intimidated by some of the other big name schools in the conference.

The outlook for Bruce Pearl's Vols is very good. With an All-American guard, plenty of support, and a high scoring offense, Tennessee should be playing deep into March.