# 2007–08 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team

The 2007–08 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee in the 2008-09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. To begin a highly touted year, the 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.

## 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 |
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 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. ||||||