Vanderbilt men's basketball adding intensity to showdown vs. Tennessee

It's a big game on the SEC hoops slate this weekend as 14-3 Vanderbilt takes on 16-1 Tennessee. 

This is a rivalry game, but it hasn't felt like it much lately. The Volunteers own the all-time record against the Commodores on the court, 131-76, and they've won 13 of the last 14 matchups.

Still, Vandy senior guard AJ Hoggard — who transferred from Michigan State — is doing his best to add some juice to this matchup. 

“I’m just treating it how I used to treat Michigan State versus Michigan,” Hoggard said in a news conference (h/t On3). “We don’t like them, they don’t like us.”

We'll have to wait and see if that gives Vanderbilt the push it needs to compete with Tennessee this time around. The Volunteers took a big loss recently, falling to Florida, but they've bounced back with two straight wins, over Texas and then No. 23 Georgia.

Vanderbilt, on the other hand, is coming off a big 66-63 win over South Carolina, but the Commodores recently had a nice winning streak broken by two losses in a row, to Mississippi State and Missouri. 

Vandy will certainly take any passion it can get in this one, and the Commodores will be looking to Hoggard to bring that to the court. 

He's averaging 11.1 points, 4.3 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game this season.