Nobody's Perfect

Not anymore, anyway. Bruce Pearl's second-ranked Tennessee Volunteers took care of that last night, knocking off top-ranked Memphis 66-62. The most impressive part of Tennessee's win: they prevailed even though star guard Chris Lofton was held to just seven points. The least impressive part of Memphis game, as usual, was the Tigers' collective free-throw shooting. John Calipari's charges hit just 8 of 17 attempts from the line for a Shaquille O'Neal-esque .471 free throw percentage.

Barring some sort of massive voter fraud, the Vols will take over the top spot when the new AP and ESPN/USA Today polls are released on Monday.

Given this win and their commanding position in the SEC standings, Tennessee is now a prohibitive favorite for a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. Memphis stands a fair chance of getting a top seed as well, but this loss will raise the same old question: are the Tigers really an elite team? Or did they build their reputation and record by beating up on inferior opponents in Conference USA?

As a counterpoint to the end of Memphis' undefeated run, we have the story of a team that is perfect -- it its imperfection. The Highlanders of the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) finished their season winless, with a final record of 0-29. Their futility set a record for most losses in a winless season, topping the 0-28 records set by Prairie View A&M in 1992 and Savannah State in 2005.