No. 4 seed Syracuse beat top-seeded South Carolina, 80-72, if you avoided social media all day Friday.

Here were the major keys to getting the biggest win in school history by upsetting a team that ended your season last year in a 29-point blowout:

Hit big shots and make your aunt lose her mind on the phone. Check.

Have your post player hold her own against one of the nation’s best frontcourts. Check.

Get a vintage performance from a player who, for the first time in three years, hasn’t had a season-ending ACL injury. Check.

Wear a shirt with a huge collar and then give a tutorial on net-cutting. Check.

Now, Syracuse plays No. 7 seed Tennessee on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

Get ready, here’s some Tennessee knowledge kicked your way with 10 fun facts:

1. Once I had a girl on Rocky Top / Half bear, the other half cat

The next lyric: “Wild as a mink, but sweet as soda pop / I still dream about that.” This gem has been the unofficial song of UT since 1972.

2. These people love volunteering for stuff

How do you get a nickname as the “Volunteers”? Offer to do a lot of stuff for no cash. Tennessee became “The Volunteer State” in the 1800s because people were so eager to join the military. And then, to cement the reputation in 1921, the university ran out of money with only a half of its football stadium finished and students and faculty offered to finish it.

3. Too bad they weren’t purple-and-pink lady slippers

In 1889, UT athletics association president Charles Moore found a patch of orange and white daisies. He decided on the spot that those would be the university’s colors.

4. Oh yeah, that guy from the pizza commercials?

The man best known for being Papa John’s sidekick in TV ads, Peyton Manning, once attended Tennessee. He might have played football.

5. Jackass

Born Philip John “PJ” Clapp, Jr. to a tire salesman from a long history of inbreeding, Johnny Knoxville adopted the stage name from his birthplace (Knoxville, Tennessee) and moved to California to pursue acting after reading “The Road,” by Jack Kerouac.

 

6. Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog

Tennessee’s mascot, Smokey X, is a bluetick coonhound who leads the Volunteers onto the field for football games. Smokey I was chosen at the halftime of a 1953 football game when the school held a contest with dogs at midfield and one dog howled loudly after being introduced. Smokey II was dognapped by Kentucky fans and Smokey VIII compiled a 91-22 all-time record. Perhaps most impressive: Smokey’s care is delegated to a frat.

7. How else are you supposed to catch ‘em?

It is illegal to catch a fish with a lasso in Knoxville. In light of this obtuse, draconian law, I’d suggest a Poké Ball.

 

8. R-E-S-P-E-C-T, I know what it means to me

You know all the crazy stats about Pat Summitt — first NCAA coach ever to 1,000 wins, named best coach of the 20th century by Naismith basketball — but did you know UT twice asked her to coach the men’s squad?

9. Living in the past

UT started off as Blount College, founded in 1794 (two years before Tennessee became a state). In 1805, a receipt revealed that a man paid $8 for his son’s tuition. I’m going to ignore the existence of inflation and congratulate that man on swindling UT in that deal.

10. Dumpster diver

The guy who invented the dumpster — which I imagine went like: “Let’s take this trash can and make it way bigger” — was George Roby Dempster. He invented the Dempster-Dumpster, and served as the mayor of Knoxville for a time, where he battled politically with the newspaper editor and business leaders.

Published on March 26, 2016 at 5:49 pm

Contact Sam: sjfortie@syr.edu | @Sam4TR