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DETROIT — There’s little time to ponder you, as entertaining as you were, as emblematic of a special team, as historic.

You have a case as the best win a Tennessee men’s basketball team has ever had. Problem is, you must instantly move aside as Rick Barnes and his Vols take their shot at one that would top the list by a long shot. You were terrific, you really were, you thrilling little game that ended with Midwest Region No. 2 seed Tennessee defeating No. 3 seed Creighton 82-75 on Friday (and into Saturday) at Little Caesars Arena.

It’s just that 37 hours and 56 minutes after you ended — at 12:24 a.m. Saturday — you will be supplanted by No. 1 seed Purdue (32-4) vs. No. 2 seed Tennessee (27-8) at 2:20 p.m. Sunday on the same floor for a trip to the Final Four. The Vols have never been there. The Boilermakers last got there in 1980, when their head coach was 9 years old. Both of these teams have national championship traits. See the issue?

“They’re one of the best teams in the country, and for us to be able to play them again and try to rewrite that story, it’s gonna be huge,” Tennessee senior wing Josiah-Jordan James said of what will be a rematch of a 71-67 loss to Purdue on Nov. 21 in the Maui Invitational. “I’m glad it was them instead of Gonzaga (which lost 80-68 to Purdue) because we wanted that challenge. We wanted that matchup, just to show our growth and improvement. We feel like if we can beat them, we can beat anybody.”

There was a lot of that kind of talk in the winning locker room. UT big men Jonas Aidoo and Tobe Awaka were fielding questions about matching up with 7-4, 300-pound national player of the year Zach Edey before they could get hot shower water on the muscles that had just pushed against Creighton’s 7-1, 270-pound Ryan Kalkbrenner.

“I mean, that four inches and couple pounds is a huge difference,” Aidoo said. “People really don’t realize how big of a difference it is. I’m not really used to playing players who are bigger than me, but I’m up for the challenge for sure.”

The stakes, the matchup, the fact that one of Barnes and Matt Painter — two of the most universally liked and respected coaches in the game — will earn a long-awaited reward, these are the reasons you will be cast aside. But it’s really too bad. You brought a lot to the late-night TV time slot.

You provided drama before the opening tip, with Tennessee senior wing Santiago Vescovi unable to go because of the flu (and officially “day to day” from here). This took a top defender and capable offensive player out of the UT starting rotation. This had James, one of Vescovi’s best friends and a fellow fifth-year senior, reminding everyone before the game that they were playing to extend Vescovi’s career.

“Going out and giving that effort like he would, that’s what we talked about,” James said. “Playing like Santi. Playing balls to the wall.”

You had Creighton All-America transfer Baylor Scheierman putting up 25 points with all of the herky-jerky wonder of his game while trying to guard Tennessee All-America transfer Dalton Knecht on the other end. You had 29 assists and just 13 turnovers between the teams, and 22 combined 3-point conversions on 47 attempts. You had emotion and collisions and tempo and big runs – 18-0 for Tennessee to put the Bluejays in blowout loss territory, then a 20-7 answer from Creighton to give you the possibility of a photo finish.

18-0 RUN FOR TENNESSEE 😱#MarchMadness @Vol_Hoops pic.twitter.com/JalIHqemvn

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 30, 2024

You had Creighton coach Greg McDermott throwing out a triangle-and-two defense to try to corral Knecht and Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler as the game was getting away.

“It’s called desperation, I think,” McDermott said later of that move, but it changed the pace, and then, just when a 55-39 Vols lead was down to 62-59 and NCAA losses to Florida Atlantic last year and Michigan the year before were becoming impossible to avoid thinking about — bam. The future NBA first-round pick who wasn’t on either of those teams swished a 3-pointer. Then another.

Knecht took over the offense at a critical time, and in that way, you were like so many Tennessee games this season. You played the hits.

Zeigler (18 points, six assists, one turnover, 40 minutes) ran his offense expertly and caused distress to that of his opponent. James was a force on both ends with 15 points and most of the work to hold Scheierman to 3-for-8 shooting in the second half. Jahmai Mashack, who started for Vescovi, had extra time to do all the things he does to win games — slithering through screens, smothering opposing guards like he’s been studying them for years, rebounding, running the floor.

But you had surprises, too. You had freshmen Freddie Dilione and Cameron Carr off the bench — with Vescovi out and Mashack and Jordan Gainey in foul trouble — and making plays. Dilione with a crosscourt pass for a Knecht 3-pointer. Carr with a 3-pointer of his own, halting Creighton momentum late in the first. You had Awaka replacing Aidoo at winning time because his core strength was needed against Kalkbrenner.

UT was clinging to a 68-64 lead with 2:13 left. Awaka walled off Kalkbrenner in the post and forced a miss. He then took a feed from Zeigler on a pick and roll and finished, plus the foul on Kalkbrenner — leaving Kalkbrenner on the ground with his head in his hands. Awaka completed the 3-point play. He then rebounded a Scheierman miss. He then rebounded a missed Zeigler free throw on the other end.

This all happened in 58 seconds.

“It was amazing,” Aidoo said.

“Backbreaker for sure,” Awaka said.

And you, the game, were over. You were so wild, the official scorekeeper couldn’t keep up. James was given credit for two Knecht free throws in the official box score and was listed with 17 points while Knecht was listed with 24. Knecht actually scored 26.

But those are just details. You were so good, so important, so impactful, you got Barnes pondering a bit in the early hours of Saturday morning.

“If you were with us every day, I think you’d understand why I love coaching so much,” Barnes said. “Because what you see these guys do tonight, I watch them do it every day.”

Please take solace, Tennessee 82, Creighton 75, in the fact that the Vols are going to return to you one day. They’ll watch you again. They’ll talk about you. They’ll recall some of these performances and plays with loud laughs over beverages and fried pickles.

But also please understand: They don’t think you’re the best thing that’s going to happen to them in this tournament.

Required reading

(Top photo of Tobe Awaka, left, celebrating with Jahmai Mashack: Lon Horwedel / USA Today)