Tennessee-Memphis series is back on

#1

zjcvols

"On a Tennessee saturday night."
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#1
According to both Penny Hardaway and Rick Barnes, Tennessee will travel to Memphis next year and renew the series. Memphis will go to Knoxville the year after and then both teams will meet in Nashville in the third year
 
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#6
#6
I’m a student at UT rn while my girlfriend goes to UofM back in Memphis.... should be an interesting game😅
 
#7
#7
Good. Hopefully playing football isn't a condition of a basketball series or if it is it's about 10 for 2. TN should never be required to play Memphis at the Liberty Bowl unless it's in the Liberty Bowl game.
 
#8
#8
It was beyond ridiculous that they stopped playing. What should be one of the most exciting games on our calendar every year was taken away due to a (you know what) measuring contest on Pastners part.

Thrilled it's back. Lets hunt.
 
#9
#9
Maybe Memphis thinks that they are now a football behemoth and they don't need lowly UT anymore.

It is odd that Memphis has a better FB program than basketball and TN has a far better basketball program than that disaster of a football program.
 
#11
#11
It was beyond ridiculous that they stopped playing. What should be one of the most exciting games on our calendar every year was taken away due to a (you know what) measuring contest on Pastners part.

Thrilled it's back. Lets hunt.

Don't think so. As I understand, Memphis wanted to play football, and UT did not.
 
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#14
#14
According to MemphisCanes, UM requested an annual football series in order to agree to an annual basketball series. Tennessee declined. Tifwiw.

That’s not exactly an even swap.

Pastner didn’t want us down there and saw no benefit in playing it.

Doubt you’ll see us play them in football for 3 straight years to coincide with this series.
 
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#15
#15
Glad they are doing this. I don't mind taking 3 years off or so and then playing a 3 game h-h-neutral. Cool.
 
#17
#17
Trading a football game for a basketball game would be asinine on UT's behalf.

If what MC said is true then Memphis just named a price they knew we wouldn't pay and then are acting like UT didn't wanna play.

It would be like me walking on a car lot and offering them $500 for the newest car on the lot and then acting surprised when the salesman said "no thanks" then telling everyone the salesman didn't wanna sell me a car.
 
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#18
#18
Josh Pastner not a fan of Tennessee game - Men's College Basketball Blog- ESPN

“I have no desire to play Tennessee,” Pastner told hosts Josh Ward and Will West on WNML-AM 990. “I don’t think it does us any good. I’m just being honest with you. For us, it’s a game that, I don’t know why we play it, but we play it because the athletic director wants me to play it and he’s my boss and what he says goes.”

Reached later, Pastner said he hasn’t hidden from his feelings, which he said are rooted in recruiting and aren’t personal. To Pastner, it’s simple: He doesn’t consider Knoxville a fertile recruiting ground, so why give Tennessee exposure in Memphis, a place where the Vols actively recruit players.
 
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#20
#20
That’s not exactly an even swap.

Pastner didn’t want us down there and saw no benefit in playing it.

Doubt you’ll see us play them in football for 3 straight years to coincide with this series.

I knew Pastner didn't want it played. He was following Calipari's view.

I always said that UT shouldn't play football if Memphis didn't want to play basketball. But with the way schedules have changed in the last few years, it will be difficult to schedule Memphis in football anyway. Because they aren't a P5 school, we can't really schedule any type of home and home.
 
#22
#22
I knew Pastner didn't want it played. He was following Calipari's view.

I always said that UT shouldn't play football if Memphis didn't want to play basketball. But with the way schedules have changed in the last few years, it will be difficult to schedule Memphis in football anyway. Because they aren't a P5 school, we can't really schedule any type of home and home.

We should give them a pay game once every few years in football.

Acting like we should play them every year in football is crazy on their part. That is not an even swap for a hoops game.
 
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#23
#23
From what I've heard, Memphis gave up the demand for the football series to get the first game in Memphis next year. The Grizzlies (who lease FedExForum to the Tigers) are really upset about the pathetic attendance (and schedule) that Memphis Tiger basketball has played the last 4 years. There are provisions in the Tigers lease that give the Grizzlies the ability to boot the Tigers from FEF (that's the real reason Tubby was fired).
 
#24
#24
From what I've heard, Memphis gave up the demand for the football series to get the first game in Memphis next year. The Grizzlies (who lease FedExForum to the Tigers) are really upset about the pathetic attendance (and schedule) that Memphis Tiger basketball has played the last 4 years. There are provisions in the Tigers lease that give the Grizzlies the ability to boot the Tigers from FEF (that's the real reason Tubby was fired).

Yea, once attendance started to plummet, Memphis lost leverage on some of these deals. They need people in the seats for basketball.

I just don't think we can offer football much anymore unless we just pay Memphis to come to Neyland. We have to play one P5 game every year, and the other three will all be games at home.
 

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