Tennessee Basketball Made Sure To Troll Bruce Pearl After Clinching SEC Regular Season Title

Published|Updated

Tennessee basketball clinched the SEC regular season title with its 66-59 win at South Carolina on Wednesday night, and the Volunteers' social media account chose violence after the final buzzer.

Wednesday night's matchup not only served as a revenge spot for Tennessee after the Gamecocks came to Knoxville earlier in the season and earned a win but a game with plenty on the line. Heading into the contest, there was still a slim chance that, with a South Carolina win, there could be a five-way tie for the SEC regular season crown.

Tennessee was, of course, well aware of the unlikely, but not entirely impossible scenario, and posted celebratory photos from the locker room with the caption, "and we're not sharing it."

That wasn't the only trolling the Tennessee X account did after its big-time road win.

The Vols' biggest swing took aim at former Tennessee head coach and now Auburn coach Bruce Pearl with the account posting the very simple message, "guess that's at least one vote for Dalton Knecht for SEC POY."

On the surface, the post doesn't make all that much sense, but for those who have been paying close attention, it makes all the sense in the world.

Following Tennessee's 92-84 win over Auburn in February - a game in which Knecht scored 39 points - Pearl was asked about SEC Player of the Year voting and the Tennessee star's chances. This led the Auburn coach to give an interesting answer.

"What I've always done and what I've always believed in is voting for the best player on the best team," Pearl said after the game. "So, if Dalton Knecht wins the league and Tennessee wins the league, he'll get my vote, for sure. If Alabama won the league, I'm going to vote for Mark Sears. I typically have always believed it's the best player on the best team."

Based on that criteria, Pearl has no option but to vote for Knecht as the league's Player of the Year, and the Vols' X account just wanted to remind him of that.

Tags
Written by

Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.