At 21-2, Tennessee’s basketball teams are a reminder of 2007-08
KNOXVILLE — The last time the Tennessee men’s and women’s basketball teams had a combined record this good during Christmas break, the women won the national championship and the men made a run to the Sweet 16.
Tennessee’s programs are a combined 21-2 as both gear up for the Southeastern Conference openers on the road this weekend, stirring flashbacks to a decade ago when Bruce Pearl and the legendary Pat Summitt were coaching highly ranked teams in front of energized crowds at Thompson-Boling Arena.
At this point in the 2007-08 season, the teams also had a 21-2 record. The Lady Vols finished 36-2 with a national championship win over Stanford, while the men finished 31-5 with a loss to Louisville in an NCAA regional semifinal.
By comparison, the Tennessee hoops squads were a combined 14-9 and both unranked this time last year. That year of maturation and the additions of key newcomers have done wonders for both teams.
The seventh-ranked Lady Vols (12-0) start their SEC slate Sunday at Kentucky. The No. 19 men (9-2) play at Arkansas on Saturday. It’s the first time since the 2010-11 season that both Tennessee teams have been ranked at this point in the season.
Both squads enter conference play after road wins against power conference opponents. Tennessee’s men won 79-60 at Wake Forest last Saturday. The Lady Vols won at then-No. 18 Stanford 83-71 last Thursday to continue their best start as a team since the 2005-06 season.
Women’s coach Holly Warlick sensed her team’s potential early in the preseason.
“We have great leadership and we listen,” Warlick said on the Lady Vol Network postgame show at Stanford. “But I love our resilience, I love how hard we play and as time went on, I’m thinking, ‘This team can be very special.’ They are. They’re just very, very persistent.”
Meanwhile, men’s coach Rick Barnes was still looking for perfection after his team’s third victory of the season over an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent, noting that it could have been easier without so many unforced turnovers.
During his Vol Network interview after the Wake Forest game, Barnes finally took a moment to reflect on the start that has his team slotted seventh in the national rating percentage index after the Volunteers were predicted to finish 13th in their league in preseason voting.
“Two losses against teams at the time that were number one in the country and number five and knowing we could have won both of those games,” Barnes said, referencing close defeats to Villanova and North Carolina. “We’ve still got a long ways to go. But the fact is, these guys should feel good about it. Now we’ve got to get into conference play. It’s a whole different ballgame in conference play. It’s a very tough opener going to Arkansas to start with.”
The Razorbacks were just a few votes short of cracking this week’s Associated Press Top 25, and Bud Walton Arena is sold out for Tennessee’s visit.
Barnes’ first team went 6-12 in conference play in 2015-16, and his second team went 8-10 in the league. This year’s group has a deeper, more experienced and versatile roster.
For the women, it’s the fifth 12-0 start in program history but their first under Warlick. Point guard Evina Westbrook was named SEC freshman of the week Tuesday for her 17 points and four rebounds in the win over Stanford. She is one member of a strong freshman class that has combined with senior leaders Jaime Nared and Mercedes Russell to help the Lady Vols climb the rankings.
“You see different people stepping up,” Warlick said. “I love this team. I love working with them. They play hard. They play hard in practice, and they have a tremendous will to learn. When you do that and you don’t know everything and you listen to your coaches, great things happen.
“It also helps when you’re very talented as well.”
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.