Sports

Despite loss, Memphis passes test

The Memphis Tigers’ winning streak ended last Saturday when the Tennessee Volunteers, arguably the hottest team in the country, came into Memphis’ home and proved to the nation that they were the better team — at least for now.

With the loss, Memphis still has the best record in the country, and while skeptics may point out the weak Conference USA as a factor in that regard, the fact remains that no other team has done what the Tigers have. Memphis is still ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press poll and will probably finish out the season on another winning streak going into the NCAA Tournament, where it will surely be given a No. 1 seed. And with Tennessee’s most recent loss to No. 18 Vanderbilt, it could be the top seed in the tournament.

So for those who say that the Tigers’ record means nothing because they couldn’t beat the best team on their schedule, remember that no other team has gone this far in the season without losing.

Some of the best teams in the country, including Tennessee, have lost to some questionable rosters. Notably, in the week prior to Memphis’ loss, Duke lost consecutive games to ACC teams Wake Forest and Miami, neither of which were ranked. North Carolina — currently ranked ahead of Memphis in the ESPN/USA Today poll — lost to Maryland on their home court. Several of the teams may not even make the NCAA Tournament.

Not to say that Conference USA is filled with talented rosters, but Memphis also had a nonconference schedule harder than most other schools in the country — it had to face three ranked teams including USC, Georgetown and Arizona.

Taking any sense of achievement from Memphis should be seen as disrespectful toward the Tigers. Cynics have simply been waiting for them to lose all season, and though they lost in a tough game, Memphis should still be regarded as one of the best, if not the top, team in the country.

The Volunteers did indeed display a fantastic effort in beating Memphis, but that does not mean they are the best team in the country. The Tigers never lost to Kentucky or Texas, unlike Tennessee, and even though Conference USA may be seen as a weak conference, the Southeastern Conference is not much more impressive. For what is perennially a powerhouse conference, the SEC currently has only two ranked teams, the least amount of any high-major conference in the country.

Moreover, after their loss at Vanderbilt on Tuesday, it proves that any team, regardless of their conference and national standing, can be vulnerable at times. Even with the loss, though, nothing should be taken from Tennessee — for the first time in its 99-year history, Tennessee’s basketball team was ranked No. 1, and its loss to Vanderbilt was to one of the toughest home teams in the country.

Nevertheless, it is important to take into account the fact that Memphis’ only loss this season was to an in-state rival, and one of the highest surging teams in the country. Also, with Tennessee’s most recent loss, it is likely that Memphis will be back on top.

For Memphis to have won that game would have been a feat on its own. To continue a perfect season while beating one of the school’s biggest rivals is not an easy task. Now, though, Memphis must bounce back to prove to the basketball world that it is not willing to back down after a tough home loss.

Truly, a team doesn’t make its mark until March Madness, when one game really does make or break its season. In the coming weeks, Memphis will display its balanced scoring — which happens to be similar to Tennessee’s — and show that it not only can contend with the best teams in the country, but also that it is clearly one of the best ones.

With everything said, Memphis has only lost one game, and it is not the end of the Tigers’ season by any means. They have plenty of time to make up for a loss that has caused the team some recent undesirable media attention, and even perhaps another shot at the Vols.

Maybe the loss was even good for John Calipari’s Tigers — now they know what a loss feels like and won’t want that similar feeling again. Like Calipari said following the loss, “You guys all said we needed to lose one, so we lost one.” Perhaps losing will give Memphis an advantage that most teams do not have — it knows how to win and how to avoid losing.

Throughout the season, the Tigers have controlled the tempo of games and really have dominated them from the start, even when playing tough nonconference opponents like Georgetown and Arizona. When Tennessee came in and beat the Tigers, though, Memphis lost its comfort level that it had all season.

Now that they know how Tennessee stopped them, the Tigers can rebound nicely by finishing off the rest of their Conference USA schedule and going into the NCAA Tournament with high hopes and more motivation then they had before their lone loss.

Hopefully for Memphis, it will finish out the season on top of both polls by winning out their conference. Now that they have been on the losing side once, however, it looks like the Tigers will figure out a way to avoid another collapse.