The Tennessee — Memphis basketball series provided us with perhaps one of the greatest moments in program history in 2008. No. 2 Tennessee beat the No. 1 ranked Tigers on the road to climb to the top spot in the rankings. With Bruce Pearl and John Calipari running each program, that rivalry seemed destined to produce fireworks over the next decade.
That didn’t happen though. Calipari moved on to Memphis, while new coach Josh Pastner openly campaigned against continuing Memphis’ series against Tennessee. The series saw their contract expire in 2013 and the two sides haven’t played since.