Tennessee Coach Bruce Pearl will know a little more about how close his 2008-2009 Vols are to defending last year’s Southeastern Conference Championship when the squad returns from the Old Spice Classic on Sunday.

Tennessee will open play in the highly-competitive Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Florida, Thanksgiving Day in a noon tip-off against Siena. Should the Vols win their first-round game they will play the winner of the Georgetown-Wichita State game at 1 p.m. Friday. The Old Spice Classic Championship Game is set for Sunday at a time yet to be determined.

Pearl has a notion this early-season tournament has a chance to take on an NCAA Tournament-type feel.

“We’re going to take on just a terrific field (of teams),” said Pearl. “Everybody in this tournament is an NCAA Tournament-type team including our first-round opponent, Siena. A couple of them are Final-Four caliber teams.”

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