ORLANDO — I have no clue how the Tigers will play tonight, but I can assure you this will be the most hostile, emotional environment Memphis has played in this season. And that includes Tennessee and Arizona.

The people here are absolutely keyed up. As I was walking into UCF Arena, the students were lined up four-deep all the way down two flights of stairs to get in. With 50 minutes before tip-off, about 1/3 of the arena is already full.

Here’s when you know this is the most-anticipated basketball game ever played on the UCF campus: I walked by a block of seats with “Obstructed View” signs. I’m almost positive they’ve never had to put that sign up before.
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Tiger football coach Tommy West’s decision to name assistant head coach Clay Helton offensive coordinator — as Randy Fichtner departs for an NFL assistant job with the Pittsburgh Steelers — was not only a rapid response, but the right one.

Helton has been with West since he began his run as Tiger head coach in 2001 and is an excellent communicator and teacher. There are those who think Helton isn’t too far removed from becoming a head coach himself on the college level.

In addition to working with Tiger receivers, Helton handles U of M recruiting and is adept and polished in the role. Although he hasn’t been a coordinator, he is a former quarterback at the University of Houston and an ex-running backs coach at the school.

This is a rare occasion where I get to blog live during a practice. And the main reason is that I’m courtside at FedExForum.

The Tigers don’t get to practice much here, but with the Grizzlies on a West Coast trip, the floor was open. Looks like Chris Douglas-Roberts will play tomorrow against Southern Miss. He’s definitely practicing as much today as he has since the injury.

On a related note, Gary Parrish of CBS Sportsline showed his face at practice today. I guess he felt guilty about hating on the Tigers so much. I imagine it was healing, kind of like going to Lourdes.

I found interesting Geoff Calkins’ column today, which quotes our friends Gary Parrish and Scott Cacciola about how they rank the Tigers.

Frankly, in my three-plus months here, I’ve been surprised by how seriously people take the polls, when all that really matters is what a handful of people in a tiny room in Indianapolis think about you on the second weekend in March.

It wasn’t pretty, but the Tigers overcame a really, really bad first half to win by a fairly comfortable 17-point margin.

John Calipari said Memphis wasn’t ready to play, and I’ll accept that as a valid explanation for the first half, which ended in a 21-21 tie.

In reality, it shouldn’t have ever come to that. Memphis should have won by 40. I’ll try to be nice here, but East Carolina is, ahem, very deserving of its No. 323 RPI ranking. With the number of times East Carolina flat-out gave the ball to Memphis on turnovers, and the fact East Carolina airballed more outside shots than they made, it’s remarkable that this was ever a game.
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GREENVILLE, N.C. — It’s about 6 minutes to tip-off. Looks like Doneal Mack will get the start in place of CDR. CDR is here, dressed in blue jeans and a black Memphis shirt.

I like this arena. It’s a nice set-up for a college arena of this season. Has some modern amenities (like wireless Internet) that some other places in this league don’t. It’s pretty loud in here, though it’s not going to be a packed house. It’s about 55% full at the moment.

So I tuned in to ESPN tonight to watch Tiger signee Derrick Rose and his Simeon team play Oak Hill Academy.

You hear a lot of stuff in recruiting, a lot of the same cliche’s every year. And usually, when I finally get to see a kid, I feel a little bit silly for buying into the hype without really thinking about the fact that an 18-year old almost never lives up to it.

Almost.

I must say, Rose was every bit as impressive as he’s been billed. I thought he was just sensational. And you have to remember, it wasn’t Podunk High he was out there dominating. It was the best high school team in the country, playing against lots of guys who are also going to be stars at the college level.
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