How UT's Lady Vols plan on Staying There, while the men's basketball program concentrates on Getting There

If you're a UT fan, have you started pinching yourself yet? Have you truly taken in that this is all real? Knock on wood, make a wish on a Lady Bug, pick a four-leaf clover: These surely seem to be the Best of Times for UT's Big Three money sports—or as close to the Best of Times as any single university can get. There's the amazing and wonderful football team, whose teamwork, unearthly defense, good fortune and steady improvement have put them on a track for...don't worry, we won't jinx it, but it just might happen. Then there's the Lady Vol dynasty, ever-swelling like a snowball rolling downhill toward a four-peat, who are definitely there, and facing the challenge of Staying There. And then there's the chrysalis-like men's team, who are shedding old identities and appear to have emerged from the process of Getting There. Has any school ever put together a trifecta like this one? In fact, no school has ever had two national titles in basketball and football in the same year. Connecticut has had top 10 men's and women's hoops in recent years. Some super elites—UCLA, Michigan, and Oklahoma—have had excellent football and basketball teams at the same time. But UT is fixing to be in a class by itself.


(If you're using
Netscape Navigator,
you'll probably need
to use these links:
page 2
page 3