Good signs today at the first practice post-Tennessee. It was very business-like, not a lot of cutting up or talking. Some guys were moving faster than I’ve seen in weeks. It confirms in my mind that losing a game was a good thing for Memphis. To win it all, you can’t be arrogant, can’t have attitudes, can’t feel like it’s OK to make mistakes. It was a much more grounded, much more attentive team, and we’ll see how hungry the Tigers are over the next two weeks leading up to the conference tournament.

Meanwhile, I asked John Calipari if he considered calling a timeout Saturday night during the game’s most important possession, which ended with Antonio Anderson missing a runner by about three feet to the left. Calipari said he thought about it but decided against it, primarily because he only had one timeout left and Tennessee is probably the best team in the country at defending inbounds plays. In other words, he could have used his last timeout to set up a final shot, but he didn’t want to have to get the ball back inbounds against Tennessee without having a timeout in his pocket. If Memphis can’t get the ball inbounds there, they don’t even get a shot to win the game. If he had two timeouts left, he would have been more likely to call timeout, but the Tigers had to burn a timeout when Derrick Rose didn’t curl when he was supposed to curl on an earlier inbounds play. Either way, when he saw Anderson driving the lane, he was very comfortable with the way it was developing. Anderson just lost control of the ball.

The current deer season isn’t even over, and the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission is already working on dates for next season.

At last week’s monthly meeting of the AGFC in Dumas, commissioners were presented with proposals for the state’s 2008-2009 deer hunting seasons.

The commission will study the proposals and make a final decision at its March 20 meeting in Little Rock.

Proposed season dates for the 2008-2009 seasons are:

Archery – All zones: Oct. 1 to Feb. 28.

Modern Gun - Zones 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11: Nov. 8 to Nov. 16 and Nov. 27 to Dec. 7.

Zone 4: Nov. 8 to Nov. 9.

Zone 5: Nov. 8 to Nov. 9 and Nov. 15 to Nov. 16.

Zone 4A, 5A, 13, 14 and 15: Nov. 8 to Dec. 7.

Zone 4B and 5B: Nov. 8 to Nov. 16.

Zone 9 and 12: Nov. 8 to Dec. 14.

Zone 16, 16A and 17: Nov. 8 to Dec. 25

Muzzleloader - Zones 1, 2, 3, 4A, 5A, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14 and 15: Oct. 18 to Oct. 26 and Dec. 13 to Dec. 15.

Zones 4, 4B, 5 and 5B: Closed.

Zones 9, 12, 16, 16A and 17: Oct. 18 to Oct. 26 and Dec. 29 to Dec. 31.

The statewide Christmas holiday modern gun deer hunt will be Dec. 26-28.

I said prior to the game Saturday that it really didn’t matter that much. Hopefully Gary will back me up on this. The truth is the loss shouldn’t hurt the Tigers too much in the polls or in seeding. If it does then something stinks in Denmark. The Tigers SHOULD still be a number 1 seed if they win out. I have no reason to think otherwise. For that matter given the landscape the Tigers could STILL be the #1 overall on selection Sunday. Teams like UT, Kansas, UCLA, UNC, and Duke still have to play tough games. The Tigers could very well be the only team with one loss at season’s end. They will be the only team in the country without a loss outside the top 5 in rankings or RPI. I think they will have made their case quite well for that top spot by finishing the season and conference tournament with a 33-1 record.
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Given the high level of the game and the fact that it came down to one possession, I just flipped Memphis and Tennessee as 1 and 2. North Carolina hasn’t beaten anyone good enough to convince me they should be No. 2. Seriously, when you really look at UNC’s tournament resume, what’s the best win? It’s either BYU or the road wins at Miami and Clemson. I’m on the Texas bandwagon big time, and I feel the Longhorns are going to be a No. 1 seed if they can win at Kansas State tonight. I moved Vanderbilt and Louisville up a bunch of spots because both have been on winning streaks and playing good basketball recently. Picking teams for No. 24 and 25 was difficult. If Southern Cal had a bad weekend against the Oregon schools, they would have been a bubble team. By winning both games, they’re in the top 25. South Alabama sneaks in on the strength of its road win at Western Kentucky.

1. Tennessee
2. Memphis
3. North Carolina
4. Texas
5. UCLA
6. Kansas
7. Stanford
8. Xavier
9. Duke
10. Notre Dame
11. Vanderbilt
12. Louisville
13. Purdue
14. UConn
15. Georgetown
16. Wisconsin
17. Indiana
18. Drake
19. Butler
20. Michigan State
21. Marquette
22. Washington State
23. Miami – Fl.
24. Southern Cal
25. South Alabama