Tuesday night, when Florida comes to Thompson-Boling Arena, will be Dane Bradshaw night.

The actual term is senior night, however Tennessee (20-9, 8-6 SEC) has only one senior to honor this year, one that will be hard to replace.

Dane Bradshaw will play his final collegiate home game against the Gators.

Last year, Bradshaw earned the nickname "Gator Killer" because of his two late lay-ups that led Tennessee to wins against Florida.

The 6-foot-4, 205 pound Bradshaw came to Tennessee from Memphis' White Station High School.

He came in to be a solid backup for then-point guard C.J. Watson. The year before, Watson led the SEC with 35.8 minutes per game.

However, when Bruce Pearl took over for Buzz Peterson, after Bradshaw's sophomore year, he needed someone to play inside because of the team's lack of depth at forward and center.

Bradshaw was expected to get some time at point guard this year. However with the off-season dismissal of center Major Wingate, Bradshaw was forced back to playing power forward.

Bradshaw is a perfect fit for the Bruce Pearl style of play.

With an undersized team, you need the smaller guy who will go inside and grab some rebounds or will hit the floor to get a loose ball. Bradshaw is consistently coming up with a big steal or a rebound or an assist.

He has earned the respect of his fellow teammates such as Duke Crews. Crews, who like Bradshaw plays undersized at center, agrees that Bradshaw is very important to the team.

"He's not the quickest guy. He's not the strongest guy. He's not the biggest guy, but 10 times out of 10, he seems like the smartest guy on the court," said Crews.

Bradshaw has also garnered respect nationally.

 He was recently named as the captain of SI.com's All-Glue Team. The All-Glue Team recognizes players who do the little things to help hold their team together.

The admirers also come from within the SEC. South Carolina Head Coach Dave Odom called Bradshaw "the MVP of this league" after Tennessee's victory over the Gamecocks in Knoxville last year.

Bradshaws numbers are not gaudy.

He averages 5.5 points and 4.1 rebounds a game, but the other things he does are what make him special.

Whether it is just someone to fill in at a position or make a game changing play, Bradshaw is there to make a smart play. He is smart with the ball, he has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.73.

He is the kind of player that will do whatever it takes to be on the floor, even playing inside against players who are taller and bigger which has caused Bradshaw's body to break down.

Bradshaw has played most of this season with tendonitis in both his shoulders. However, he decided to put off surgery until after the season. Last season, Bradshaw injured his wrist and also put off surgery.

Bradshaw was in so much pain that at times he could barely shoot a free throw or even raise his arms above his head.

When Tennessee played Oklahoma State earlier this season, Bradshaw fought through the pain to tip in the winning bucket with the right arm he could barely raise.

His biggest moments of his career have come at crunch time.

Whether in wins against Florida last year or this year against Oklahoma State, he comes up in the clutch.

Even in a loss at Ohio State this year, Bradshaw found a way to impact the game in the final moments.

A tired Greg Oden was posting up against Wayne Chism and Bradshaw slid over and stole the ball. That is the kind of stuff that makes Bradshaw hard to replace.

Bruce Pearl said about Bradshaw, "I will never miss a player more than I'll miss Dane."

Pearl plans to announce on senior night that he will be personally endowing a scholarship in Bradshaw's name.

This scholarship will be given to a Tennessee student-athlete who has similar qualities to Bradshaw. Someone who cares more about their team winning then putting up huge numbers and who will give up their body to help the team.

On a team that relies heavily on freshman, Bradshaw is the lone senior.

He leads by example. Whether its diving on the floor for loose balls or battling against a bigger, stronger opponent for a rebound.

Ironically on a night they are to honor him, Bradshaw faces Florida, the team that some of his biggest moments have happened against.

When Tennessee plays Florida at 9 p.m. on Tuesday night, perhaps the game will be just a footnote that this game was his last home game, but maybe he will do something to send the fans home happy again.

Either way he truly will be hard to replace.