Bodog Beat

Chris Lofton will be front-and-center as Tennessee faces Memphis in a huge NCAA basketball battle this Saturday. (AI Wire photo)

How much hype is surrounding the Memphis-Tennessee game? Just ask Bruce Pearl.

The U of T coach has become so swamped with ticket requests – including one from former Vols alumn Peyton Manning – that he had to ask Memphis coach John Calipari for a ticket request earlier this week. While Calipari did eventually get Memphis' athletic director to process the request, it didn't come without some good-natured ribbing.

"He was begging me for tickets, and I told him no," Calipari joked with media earlier this week. "Tickets are going online like they're Super Bowl tickets. It's incredible."

Early reports were that tickets had gone for as high as $10,000 on ticket exchange website Stubhub. A lot of the demand comes from the most recent AP rankings, which has the Tigers as the number one team in the country and the Volunteers at number two. The game will be available on basic cable thanks to being part of ESPN's College Gameday broadcast.

Many figure this could be a NCAA Championship game preview. If you're of that mindset, head on over to the Bodog Sportsbook to check out NCAA Futures. Currently, oddsmakers have set odds to win the 2007-08 Men's Basketball Championship at:

• Memphis – 7/2
• Tennessee – 8/1

NCAA Basketball Betting!