In a repeat of last year's effort, Tennessee (14-10, 6-6) is trying to streak towards the finish line of the regular season. The Vols have pieced together three straight wins to reach .500 in SEC play for the first time this year and will try to make that a fourth straight against visiting LSU (15-8, 6-6 ) tonight in Thompson-Boling.

LSU comes into the tonight's match-up similarly hot. After starting 0-4, they've won six of eight in league play. Like the Vols, the Tigers have found out that stringing together a few wins in the SEC this year can catapult you up the league standings in a hurry. At 6-6, and with carnage piling up everywhere in the conference, both squads have reason to think that staying hot over the final six games could land them in fourth place.

A fourth place finish in the newly expanded league comes with a coveted 'double-bye' into Friday of the SEC tournament. Two weeks ago both LSU and Tennessee were very much part of the conversation as to who might take part in another new wrinkle that's come with expansion, a Wednesday night double header featuring the conference's four cellar dwellers.

Now the Vols and Tigers are part of a seven-team log jam of squads wedged between 6-6 and 8-4. Florida (11-1) is seemingly free and clear of the field while Alabama (9-3) has a generated a little breathing room for itself by winning three straight.

Everything else, from third to tenth, is in play for Tennessee and just about everyone else in the league right now.

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