Saturday, 1:30 p.m.

The next video session focuses on Tennessee's offensive "sets" and out-of-bounds plays. The Vols run a relatively basic "flex" offense but have several options out of it that makes them difficult to defend. Again Miller stands in front of the group while Stevens is in the back.

Miller gives the players certain audible calls to look for that he's picked up from broadcasts, telling them to watch for the back-screen alley-oop from one particular call and another that is designed to free Lofton up to shoot from the wing.

"Stick to the system and we'll be fine," Stevens says from the back of the room. "You are going to be able to guard them whether we walk through this [at practice] or not."

Stevens asks for a particular play to be shown again from the Kentucky-Tennessee game when Tennessee runs a set that results in an open three-pointer.

"Everything about [Kentucky's] defense on that was good except they didn't close out on the shooter," he said. "You have to run at him with your arms up yelling and screaming. They missed when we did that last year against them. They missed a few of them."

The 15-minute session ends, and Stevens walks to the front of the room.

"I want to give you one statistic that I think illustrates their mindset," Stevens says. "They are in the top 50 in the nation in offensive rebounding, and they are in the bottom 50 in the nation in defensive rebounding. I've never seen that before. It tells you they like it easy on offense and they really get after it, and they like it easy on defense and they won't pay attention to the details late in the possession."

The team then boards the bus for the 15-minute drive to the arena, where a press conference and a one-hour practice await.

Saturday, 2:25 p.m.

Stevens is conducting his prepractice news conference, again declining to get into a debate about seeding and giving Tennessee plenty of credit. Earlier, A.J. Graves, Mike Green and Julian Betko were the three players chosen for the players session.

Standing in back of the room, Butler sports information director Jim McGrath is chatting with Matthew Graves.

"I suggested bringing Drew [Streicher] and Pete [Campbell]," McGrath says. Those choices would have been interesting figures for the media, since Streicher is on his way to medical school and Campbell nailed eight 3-pointers the previous day. "Brad wanted the same three guys we had before the last game, since we shot well."

"Little T," Graves laughs, referring to Stevens' nickname that stems from Lickliter. "Does that mean we'll have to eat at Olive Garden again?"

"Think we have some superstitions here?" McGrath laughs.

Stevens, the 31-year old rookie head coach, handles the media session flawlessly, and echoes the theme he's trying to get across to his team.

"We have to play with a high sense of urgency, and you have to combine it with poise," he says. "That is a hard thing to do. We'll have to lean on our experience."

Saturday, 6 p.m.

The team heads to Olive Garden (no surprise) for dinner, then breaks up for the night. The 3 p.m. practice was centered around setting up the press attack after Tennessee's made baskets. Butler knows the Vols will pick their spots in order to speed up the game, and being able to break the press is vital if Butler hopes to pull the upset.

The coaches also spent a lot of time on Tennessee's "actions," reviewing what was displayed on film earlier that afternoon. Shooting drills and free-throw shooting wrapped up the workout, and the team boarded the bus and returned to the hotel.

Stevens spent the evening watching Tennessee's games against Ohio State, Florida and American, as well as his own team's game against South Alabama. Because Butler uses a lot of the same principles as Ohio State (coached by Thad Matta, Stevens' first boss), Stevens thought that would be a good game for him to review. He also said Florida now plays a similar style to Butler with last year's big guys now in the NBA.

Sunday, 9:15 a.m.

Before game time, Mike Green helped out with Easter egg hunt time. Bob Rosato/SI

Waiting a bit impatiently outside the Riverchase Ballroom B at the Wynfrey are 2-year old Brady Stevens and 3-year-old Braeden Shrewsberry, the son of Butler director of basketball operations Micah Shrewsberry. They've been told the Easter Bunny has remembered they are in Birmingham, and there will be an Easter egg hunt as soon as the basketball players arrive.

The team went to Hoover High School for a walkthrough at 8:30 a.m. which was "precise and focused," according to Matthew Graves. There was no shooting, just a review of out-of-bounds plays and other Tennessee sets.

When the team does arrive, Stevens wisely opens the door, and the hunt begins. Point guard Mike Green takes the lead, helping Brady and Braeden scoop up the plastic eggs and put them in their baskets, which are plastic basketball bags with a handle. Miller helps his 8-month old son Mason walk through the room, and when Mason gets an egg, he likes putting the plastic casing in his mouth more than anything else. The players enjoy watching the kids have their fun, then they go next door and have breakfast.

The players file out and head back to their rooms to pack. A.J. Graves is carrying an orange egg from the hunt. The bus leaves at 11:45 a.m., and the players need to be all packed. Win or lose, they are not coming back to their makeshift headquarters of the past four days.

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