Well, unfortunately for Tennessee fans, we’re at that time of year again.

The Southeastern Conference men’s basketball tournament starts Thursday, and contrary to what some Tennessee fans will tell you, it does not end Friday. It actually runs through Sunday, though the skid marks left by cars leaving the Georgia Dome with orange flags on the windows usually are long faded by then.

The Volunteers are shockingly bad in this event, and that’s even considering the fact they’ve been a shockingly bad basketball team at times the past 15 years.

Let’s review the history: Tennessee is the only team in the league without a single appearance in the semifinals since expansion in 1992. The Vols have won a total of seven tournament games — seven — during that span and have lost their first game in the tournament nine times.

Here’s the most telling statistic: Bruce Pearl, the man who made basketball matter again at Tennessee, set all sorts of records and pushed the Vols to a No. 1 ranking, is 0-2 in this event. Not even Bruce Almighty can figure this thing out.

A few lowlights over the years:

March 11, 2005: As both teams waited in the tunnel outside the locker rooms, Jemere Hendrix — a player who made more news off the court — actually yelled, “Who is Kentucky?” In case Hendrix forgot, Kentucky was the team that had beaten Tennessee seven times in a row and owned the SEC tournament.

Of course, Vols point guard C.J. Watson picked up two fouls in the first 19 seconds — the game was pretty much over then — and Kentucky eventually went ahead 36-14.

“I want to get our program back where it needs to be, and that’s winning and competing for championships,” said coach Buzz Peterson, and he was half right. Tennessee is winning and competing for championships. The Kentucky game was Peterson’s last.

March 11, 2004: Boomer Herndon, who stood almost 7 feet tall, missed a layup over the backboard. I had never seen that before. John Winchester and Brandon Crump, with no one around them, couldn’t execute a pass off a missed free throw. The crowd actually laughed. Hendrix tried a monster dunk and missed. Alabama fans started chanting for the walk-ons with seven minutes left. Alabama won a squeaker, 84-49.

“We didn’t play good,” Tennessee’s Scooter McFadgon said.

March 14, 2003: Needing a win to help their NCAA chances, the Vols were crushed by Auburn. Guard Jon Higgins couldn’t play because he failed to meet the SEC’s academic requirements. And Tennessee missed out on a chance to pick up a win against a terrible Ole Miss team because Georgia rearranged the brackets by pulling out of the tournament.

And so on. In 1999, Tennessee became the first No. 1 SEC seed to lose in the quarterfinals when Tony Harris, a 39 percent 3-point shooter, went 0-of-10 from behind the arc against Mississippi State. There was the 101-40 loss to Kentucky in 1993.

Since 1979, the Vols have competed in 49 postseason basketball tournaments (29 SEC tournaments, 12 NCAAs and 8 NITs). They’ve won more than one game in each respective tournament a whopping six times.

And since SEC expansion in 1992, the Vols have played in 25 postseason tournaments and won more than one game just twice (2000 and 2007 NCAA tournaments).

But this year is different, right? The Vols boast one of the best teams in the history of the school. They are well-coached and play with remarkable selflessness. They start two outstanding senior guards and feature one of the nation’s best all-around players in Tyler Smith (who, based on a quick survey of coaches Monday, will lose SEC Player of the Year honors to Vanderbilt’s Shan Foster).

These Vols play with no inhibitions, they play fast, they are deep and they can shoot. But are they playing history as well?

Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings and Georgia’s Dennis Felton say no, remarking that Tennessee is much better than those teams in previous years. But South Carolina’s Dave Odom said Tennessee, a top seed in 1999 and 2000, is competing with the past.

“Yes, you have to overcome history,” he said. “But I think this team is different.

“Let me explain something to you: Nobody in this league has an organized plan more than Bruce Pearl does. He orchestrates everything he does, and I say that in a complimentary way. That thing (Sunday), cutting down the nets and the confetti, was planned. For anybody to suggest he hasn’t planned to get himself to the semifinals and the finals of the SEC tournament would be a mistake. He’s got a plan this week.”

If so, maybe Tennessee fans should actually plan to reserve a hotel room for once.

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