KNOXVILLE—Welcome to our weekly column, “The State of the Vols.” Here we summarize and analyze the previous week’s action while looking forward to the coming week for Vol football, basketball, and Lady Vol basketball. Check back next Monday for volume 11.

Football: Last week was definitely a huge week for Vol football on Rocky Top. Tennessee picked up commitments from 3-star legacy receiver Neiko Creamer, 5-star running back Jalen Hurd, and 4-star running back Treyvon Paulk. The 2014 Vol recruiting class is ranked 6th nationally by 247Sports and Rivals, and Tennessee is well on its way to finishing with its first top 10 class in years. Dozens of the nation’s top prospects were on campus this weekend—look for the Vols to add to the 2014 class this week.

Tennessee held practices Tuesday and Thursday last week before scrimmaging Saturday. The progress the team made from practice one on March 9th to the scrimmage Saturday was abundantly evident. Players are starting to grasp both the pace of practice and the attention to detail this staff expects them to demonstrate, and they have been putting in extra work in order to excel.

Jones said of the work ethic of his team, “It has been amazing. I walked through our building last night, and you would have thought that we were having a team meeting, with the number of players that are coming around to talk with our coaches. They want to come to the building and be involved, and that is encouraging to us as a coaching staff.”

Here are a few other notable quotes.

Nathan Peterman was asked about Vol offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian’s coaching style, “It’s very detailed. I don’t know if I’ve said that enough. He’s going to talk to us fast because he wants us to process everything fast. To have him talking but you also have to be watching the play and the new play coming in, but processing his information too… it’s a little difficult but it gets you ready to think fast in a game.”

Worley offered his thoughts on the tremendous pace of practice, “Right after the plays – basically when the runner is down – our eyes are to the sidelines getting the next play and they’re signaling it in. It’s a little bit faster than what we did last year.”

Marlin Lane spoke on Vol running back coach Robert Gillespie, “He’s very high energy, he stays on us. He praises us when we do positive things, but he’s more disciplined with getting the little details corrected because he feels that that will help us in the offense and the run game…making us more physical than last year.”

Sunday, Butch Jones and the Vol staff made appearances at Bristol, with Jones serving as the Grand Marshal of the event. He continues to find new ways to promote the Tennessee brand and appearing at Bristol brings nothing but positive exposure to the Vol program.

Jones poses with Danica Patrick at Bristol.

This week, Tennessee will practice Tuesday and Thursday. We’ll be there bringing you updates, pics, notes, and quotes.

Basketball: For the second consecutive year the Vols entered selection Sunday squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble and came away without a spot in the field of 68. Despite nine wins against the RPI top 100 and three wins against the RPI top 50, teams like MTSU (1 top 100 win) and St. Mary’s (1 top 50 win, 5 top 100 wins) received at-large bids over the Vols. When questioned about Tennessee’s absence in the field, NCAA selection committee Chairman Mike Bobinski stated,

“Tennessee had a lot of conversation, as did all of those last group of teams that we evaluated. We really worked hard and have a lot of respect for the improvement that Tennessee showed down the stretch of the season. During that time, though, they honestly didn’t beat a lot of very powerful teams and, again, struggled to win on the road during the course of the year.”

The problem with those statements? They aren’t accurate. “I’d like to think he did his homework, but you never know,” Martin said. “I think he was talking fast, but he wasn’t accurate.” The Vols beat Florida, Missouri, and Kentucky (by 30) during their late season run, and won four out of their last five on the road. Bobinski cited MTSU’s ability to win on the road as a reason they made the field; yet their road wins averaged an RPI ranking of 159th. His contradictory statements caused an uproar on Twitter, and ESPN commentator Jay Bilas also went on a crusade calling out the NCAA for its ridiculous and dishonest selection process.

La Salle, MTSU and St. Mary’s have four Top 50 wins, combined. UVa has six, by itself. Tennessee has three. Maryland has three. UK has four.

— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) March 18, 2013

I’m okay with the Committee taking every little guy. That’s fine. Just admit it and stop saying “who did you beat?” Because you don’t care.

— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) March 18, 2013

Cuonzo Martin also lamented the selection process, “There should be a level of consistency. What are the criteria? Tell us…I’m not angry. I’m just upset for our guys. I’m hurting for our guys. This year was different. We did the work.”

Martin didn’t stop there, “At the end of the day, we as a league across the board have to do a better job with our scheduling, our strength in the preseason. There are too many good coaches and a caliber of talent in this league that, to get three teams, that’s an embarrassment. When you look at Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky, those are NCAA tournament teams. They’re just not playing in the NCAA tournament.”

Of the teams on the bubble, not one from a power conference was given an at-large bid. We’ve reached the point where the selection committee is discriminating against power conferences in favor of the “little guy” as Bilas put it. With the field the committee selected they sent a message to schedule terrible teams and beat them. MTSU played just four games against the RPI top 100…and lost three of them. The Vols, conversely, played 19 and won nine. Which team is more tested? Which team is more proven?

The selection committee used to at least pretend to pick the best 68 teams in the nation. To be one of the best you have to play and beat the best. St. Mary’s didn’t do that and MTSU didn’t do that, while Tennessee, Virginia, and Maryland did; yet, it wasn’t enough to catch the eye of a committee which was clearly enamored with the “little guy.”

As a result, the Vols (as a 2 seed) will host Mercer in the first round of the NIT, Wednesday at 8 p.m. Martin now has the tough task of preparing his team for the NIT, “They’re really upset. We’ve got to get them ready for the NIT. That’s easier said than done.”

Tickets are $10 and general admission. We’ll have a game preview for you Tuesday.

Lady Vols: The Lady Vols will find out their NCAA seed tonight at 7 p.m. when the women’s brackets are unveiled (TV: ESPN). It looks like Tennessee will earn a 3 seed; regardless of their seeding they will definitely play their opening round games in Thompson-Boling Arena. You can find information on NCAA Tournament tickets here. Tennessee will need Isabelle Harrison to make a deep tournament run, we’ll have an update on her status later in the week.