stage is set for no.1 vs. no. 2

Both Tennessee and Memphis took care of business Wednesday night.

At last, the stage is officially set for the No. 1 ranked Tigers and No. 2 ranked Volunteers to meet in the Bluff City Saturday night (9 p.m. tip-off on ESPN). It will mark the first time since 1998 the nation’s top two teams from the same state (Duke vs. North Carolina)  play each other.

Both the Vols and the Tigers had to tend to some league matters Wednesday night as Tennessee blasted Auburn 89-70 for its 30^th straight win at Thompson-Bowling Arena and Memphis went on the road to bounce Tulane, 97-71.

Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl made it a point not to overlook the Tigers from the SEC West this week, but now the Vols’ charismatic coach has turned his full-attention to the much-hyped showdown with the Tigers from across the state. He understands what playing in a game like this can mean for his program but he also wants to make certain his team doesn’t lose focus of their top objective of winning an outright conference championship for the first time in 41 years.

“This weekend is a celebration of Tennessee basketball,” said Pearl. “These events are (typically) reserved for Tobacco Road at this time of year, and I say with all do respect and or somewhere in Indiana or Ohio.”

The Vols (24-2 overall, 11-1 conference) will turn their full-attention after Saturday’s contest at Memphis to on an even more crucial in-state showdown. Tennessee will take the short trip west down I-40 Tuesday for a pivotal SEC East match-up with longtime nemesis Vanderbilt. The Vols currently have a two-game lead in the overall conference standings and a win over the Commodores will go a long way in securing their first outright league title since 1967.

Tuesday’s contest with the Commodores will also be a 9 p.m. tip-off televised by ESPN.

“We’ve got to find a way to win one of these games,” said Pearl in a recent national interview. “If we’re fortunate enough to win the first one, we’ve got to find a way to win two of these games.

“Whatever we do at Memphis, we’ve got to be ready to turn around and go to Vanderbilt. It’s step-up time,”

Tickets for Saturday’s in-state, No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown are reportedly going for as much as $10,000 dollars for a single courtside seat on Stubhub.com.

ESPN reported that Pearl even called Memphis head coach John Calipari this week looking for an extra ticket or two.

“He was begging me for tickets and I told him no,” Calipari joked.

Calipari said Pearl was asking for Tennessee alum and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, among others. Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson granted the request , Calipari said, but he just wanted to make Pearl sweat.

“Tickets are going online like they’re Super Bowl tickets,” Calipari said. “It’s incredible.”

In Tennessee’s 89-70 Wednesday win over Auburn, sophomore point guard Ramar Smith led the team in scoring for the first time this season with 19 points. Tyler Smith added 13 points and 13 boards for his second consecutive double-double, and Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith chipped in 12 points each. Auburn was led by Frank Tolbert with a game-high 24 points.