KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Keep your fingers crossed that Billy Donovan doesn't leave Gainesville anytime soon.
Because when he does, I can't see why any talented recruit would rather play for the UF basketball team than Tennessee.
This weekend was my first trip to Rocky Top for a basketball game, and I couldn't have been more impressed by the atmosphere in Thompson-Boling Arena.
A crowd of just less than 21,000 watched the Volunteers whoop up on the Gators 79-63, and though UF has the advantage in terms of trophies lately, Tennessee's program is built on a much stronger foundation.
For starters, Thompson-Boling makes the O'Connell Center look like garbage. Thompson-Boling holds nearly 10,000 more fans, and it just feels like a big-time gym. There are three levels of luxury suites on one side, and a giant scoreboard hangs down over center court with four video boards and four statscreens.
Sure, those are just creature comforts, but they make Thompson-Boling a premier place for basketball.
Second, Tennessee fans are just better than the ones I see at the O'Dome. Granted, I caught them on a good night - ESPN's College GameDay was in attendance - but the Volunteers' faithful blow Gators' supporters out of the water.
The most noticeable difference between the two crowds is the connection the players and fans share at Tennessee. The Volunteers play a totally different style from the Gators, and a lot of it comes from the energy in the arena.
Tennessee players took the court on Saturday by jogging through the student section, and the students repaid the love with an explosion of sound for the opening minutes, when the Volunteers jumped out to a quick lead.
"I promise you the environment had a lot to do with us getting off to a pretty good start," Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said.
When J.P. Prince threw down a dunk to make the score 11-3, he stood on the baseline and offered an overdone salute to the crowd, and the Volunteers were celebrating and dancing all over the court after their early buckets.
That kind of swagger has been missing from Gainesville since the '04s left, but that doesn't just come from players. Even when Tennessee doesn't have a great team - this year included - its fans can lift it up.
That doesn't happen at UF, where the closest things fans can come up with to being original are a lame "Fantastic" cheer (one of the dumbest things I've heard at a sporting event) and a guy pretending a piece of string is an instrument.
Volunteers fans are even superior during opposing free throws. They do it right, not by screaming and shaking pom-poms, but by waving their arms in unison to one side, and then swinging their arms to the other side as the player releases his shot.
That's how it's supposed to be done. It actually makes a difference, and it's another reason why Tennessee hoops games are a main course of their own, not just an appetizer before spring football starts up.
Maybe hearing that the basketball experience is better and more fun at Tennessee will make you mad. That's fine, but it's true, and it's unlikely to change anytime soon.
The best part is, you don't have to do anything about it. Donovan will find a way to keep the Gators relevant, and when they're lagging, you can always count on Urban Meyer.
