You realize UT refused to play Memphis in the 70s and 80s when Memphis was playing for national titles, Final Fours, and 4 straight Sweet 16s, right? Somehow, the series was renewed during Memphis' probation, when it appeared they would be down. Similar to how UT football has refused to play Memphis these last 5 years.
As far as the 2-0 vs Penny's teams while he was playing, we have an Elite 8 banner hanging in our arena from one of those years. Those teams weren't juggernauts (6 seed in 1992 and 7 seed in 1993) and are probably the 3rd or 4th most celebrated teams in Tiger history. Honestly, the majority of Tiger fans have no recollection or angst over in season games. I didn't even remember that we played those 2 years until it was brought up prior to the game a couple of weeks ago. What I do recall vividly that year was the 1st game vs a ranked DePaul team (1st game ever played in the Pyramid), beating #3 seed Arkansas in the 2nd round, and losing for the 4th time that year to Cincinnati and Nick "F****ing" Van Exel in the Elite 8. Tell me how big is that banner in Thompson Boling that says "1992" Defeated Memphis State with a horrible coach the year they went to the Elite 8"? Does this one hang next to the "2006-2007: Defeated Florida 3 out of 4 times the years Florida won back to back National Titles"? Keep focusing on the battles, Memphis and legit programs focus on the wars.