Bruce Pearl is out as Tennessee basketball coach, according to a spurt of reports led by WNML-FM's Jimmy Hyams. Pearl was reportedly fired Monday after meeting with AD Mike Hamilton. He also reportedly received a buyout despite not having a contract, which is quite an achievement if you can pull it off. The thinking is Tennessee is paying him to accept the NCAA's charges against him, letting this thing go away quietly.
Tennessee fans are not happy about any of this -- Pearl was the best coach in the history of Tennessee men's (please say the men's) basketball, and to lose him over something as relatively trivial as an unreported bump violation is a damn-near sports tragedy. Sure, there's more context there, but the bump was what broke it.
How does this affect Georgia's standing in the SEC East? The Dawgs are suddenly one of the most stable programs in the division, especially once Billy Donovan accepts the Miami Heat coaching job any day now, or whatever.
For more on the Vols, visit Rocky Top Talk. And we have SB Nation StoryStreams set up for more on the football program's allegations and the basketball program's allegations.