Welcome to our weekly column, the State of the Vols. Here we look at the pulse of UT football and basketball. On the docket this week: Tennessee’s NCAA Tournament chances, spring practice standouts, and more. Check back next Monday to keep in touch with what’s going on and what’s coming up with UT sports.

Football: It was a big week for Vol football. Tennessee kicked off spring practice, hosted a group of talented junior prospects, and picked up a commitment from one of the top specialists in the 2015 class.

Riley Lovingood, a long snapper from Hendersonville, Tennessee, committed to Butch Jones and Co. while attending UT’s weekend junior day. Riley’s father, Jeff, served as the team chaplain under Fulmer while his brother, Trevor, and his uncle, John, were student managers at UT. Not surprisingly, the newest commitment in the 2015 class grew up dreaming of playing for the Vols. He is rated as the No. 3 long snapper in the nation according to 247Sports.

On the field, several Vols have made strong impressions just two practices into spring. Jason Croom looks much quicker and appears to be primed for a big year. Newcomer LaVon Pearson runs great routes, is one of the fastest players on the team, has great hands, and has already shown the ability to make big plays. Tennessee’s receivers should be a strength this season.

Several highly-touted Vol true freshmen have shown off their athleticism. Jalen Hurd and Josh Malone are clearly two of the most talented players on the team. However, as is often the case with freshmen adjusting to the pace of practice, both Hurd and Malone have a ways to go to become consistent contributors. How quickly they’re able to adjust to the speed of the college game this spring will say a lot about their potential to see the field early and often this fall. The talent is there. The work ethic is there. Things should start to click for them as practice progresses.

Coleman Thomas, a freshman lineman from Virginia, looks like one of the more physically imposing linemen on the team. His work ethic and versatility has him penciled in as the starting right tackle for the moment. On the defensive side of the ball, speedster Emmanuel Moseley has impressed early. He’s been running with the first team defense at corner. Devaun Swafford has been working at both safety and corner. Riyahd Jones looks healthy for the first time in a while and could challenge for significant playing time.

Overall, the team looks much quicker and more athletic overall. They’ll practice Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday this week before taking off til March 27th. As always, we’ll have as much coverage from the practice field as possible.

Wednesday we’ll be unveiling a new weekly piece—“The Midweek Mailbag”—where I’ll do my best to answer any questions you may have. You can send those to me via email (reed(at)footballtime.com), on twitter (@FootballTimeMag), or on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/footballtimeintennessee).

Basketball: The Vols ran to a dominating win over Missouri in Saturday’s regular season finale. They’ve won four straight games. They’ve won their last three by a combined 93 points. They’ve held their last three opponents to 45.7 points per game. Clearly, Tennessee is peaking at the right time and playing with an urgency we haven’t seen this year. No one wants to play the Vols right now.

Jerry Palm, bracket expert for CBSSports.com, has them as one of the last teams in the field. Joe Lunardi also has the Vols as one of the last teams in. Both Palm and Lunardi have Tennessee playing in a “play in” game in Dayton.

The Vols have played the No. 16 schedule in the nation and according to NCAA.com’s official RPI rankings, UT stands at 44th. That number is significant for several reasons. Since the tournament expanded to 68 teams (2011), no major conference team with an RPI in the top 50 has been left out of the field. Tennessee is headed to a likely Friday afternoon matchup with Arkansas, whose RPI is 62nd, needing a win to solidify their tournament standing and practically guarantee a spot in the field of 68—and possibly move them out of the “play in” round in Dayton, Ohio. If the Vols lose their Friday game, there’s still a decent chance their RPI stays in the top 50, which should mean a spot in the tournament, but that’s certainly not a road the Vols want to go down.

Worst case scenario, the Vols fall on Friday and their RPI drops to somewhere in the 50s. Since expansion, major conference teams with an RPI in the 50s made the tournament 71.4% of the time. Even with a loss, the Vols would still have a decent shot at dancing. Remember, though, they were left out with an RPI in the 50s last year.