🗞️ Josh and Swain Inaugural Letter

Tennessee fans must like this Alabama rivalry

It’s a fun time to pull for Tennessee and against Alabama.

The Tennessee basketball team beat No. 1 ranked Alabama 68-59 at Thompson-Boling Arena on Wednesday night. To be clear, it was NOT an upset — the Vols were favored to win the game.

But that doesn’t make the win any less satisfying for Vol Nation. In fact, it might add to the trash talk Tennessee fans are happy to dish out.

Especially after that other win Tennessee scored against Alabama a few months ago.

Alabama still holds the top spot in the SEC standings and the Vols need to turn their focus to Kentucky, which will host Tennessee at Rupp Arena on Saturday at 1 pm ET (CBS).

Kentucky is holding on to an NCAA Tournament spot but needs a win against Tennessee to feel much better. The Vols are looking for revenge after Kentucky beat Tennessee in Knoxville in January.

“If you have a sweep of Tennessee on your resume, you’ve gotta feel really good about being on the right side of (the NCAA Tournament bracket) at the end of the season. So big-time game for both teams,” VFL and SEC Network analyst Dane Bradshaw said on Josh and Swain.

Beautiful day for a ballgame… let’s play two!

Tennessee baseball is back.

The Vols will only play one game today, for the record, but they’re prepping for a big weekend series in the MLB Desert Invitational in Arizona.

Here’s the schedule (and how you can watch):

• Friday: 8 pm ET vs Arizona (MLB Network/MLB.com)

• Saturday: 8 pm ET vs Grand Canyon (MLB Network/MLB.com)

• Sunday: 2 pm ET vs UC San Diego (MLB.com)

Tennessee has to replace a bunch of key bats from last year’s team, but a loaded room of arms returns — which is why Tennessee is still ranked No. 2 in the nation by several publications.

“Tennessee has the best pitching staff in the country,” Allan Bell of SportsLine told us.

Sports Nuggets

Tennessee’s Jordan Crooks made quite the splash earning another SEC championship.

Michael Jordan turns 60 on Friday. (You read that right.) Now see how 'he’s celebrating.

How can Tennessee make the College Football Playoff in 2023? ESPN’s Chris Low tells us.

The Ringer’s Kevin Clark explains how we’ve never seen a football player like Patrick Mahomes.

Stick To Sports

Actually, this is kind of about sports.

After a longer-than-fans-wanted wait, Season 3 of Ted Lasso is set to kick off.

Mark your calendars (and prepare your sick day excuses): Ted Lasso returns on March 15 and the first round of the NCAA Tournament tips off the next day on March 16. It’s gonna be a week!

Quick byte out the door

The NFL has its eyes on several Tennessee Vols.

Top of that list right now: offensive tackle Darnell Wright.

Check out our conversation this week with Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy, who also offered insight into quarterback Hendon Hooker’s scouting report.

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