FanHouse PatSummitt

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Pat Summitt wondered when her young Tennessee team would finally get through its growing pains and finally figure it out.

Ball State gave her the emphatic answer: maybe next year.

The Cardinals stunned the two-time defending national champions 71-55 in the opening round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday night, snapping one of the more remarkable streaks in college basketball history.

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There is a SportsCenter commercial with Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt where Kenny Mayne fires off puns that use the coach's name and team, only for Summitt to respond that she's got "this coaching thing down pat."

I concur.

Thursday night, Summitt became the first Division I coach, men's or women's, to reach 1,000 wins as her Volunteers beat up on Georgia 73-43.

We mentioned yesterday that Tennessee' women's basketball coach Pat Summit had threatened promised to show up at the men's Tennessee/Florida game tonight in a cheerleader outfit, and, well ... she wasn't kidding. Here's Pat (with thanks to the always reliable Awful Announcing), showing off her getaway sticks:


I got a little bit nervous for the male cheerleaders lifting Pat up to the top of the mini-pyramid there. Had she gone up any higher, someone was getting an upskirt shot. And you just wouldn't recover from something like that.

Honestly, though, it's hard to make fun of this. If you're a Tennessee student, it was probably a hell of a lot of fun to witness that. Cliche or not, it is school spirit, it is part of what makes college athletics great, and plus, for maybe the first time in his life, Peyton Manning was probably not the goofiest white person in the room.

The only thing at all aggravating about it was Dick Vitale, forcing out the staggered chuckles and the "Ohhh!"s like he was being held at knifepoint and forced to do it. I try to be nice to Vitale, but ... it's like he was trying his best to ruin that.

I know you've been wondering for a long time what's lurking under that neatly-tailored pantsuit. Tomorrow night when Tennessee takes on Florida, you'll get the chance to find outt. Tennessee women's coach Pat Summitt is going to put the goods on display. Rrrrrrow.

Earlier this year, men's coach Bruce Pearl showed up for a women's game with his torso painted orange, and now Summitt's going to return the favor by cheering in the stands at a men's game ... and what better opportunity than when the Vols get the 5th-ranked Florida Gators at home.

Summitt's hinted that she'll be going as a cheerleader. She's said her appearance will be "a lot out of character." Well, that shouldn't be difficult. If she does anything other than show up and berate every fan in the building for not paying attention, and then smacks them all on the hand with a ruler, it would be out of character.

Pat Summitt in a cheerleader outfit. It's about damn time.

Source: AOL / Summitt May Dress as Cheerleader for Vols