If Coach Barnes gets this team to the Sweet 16...

[Power_Sweep_Vol]

Dragging this team without a single NBA player to almost having a #1 seed just shows what an amazing coach that Barnes is. It's a bit crazy that we are where we are given the talent.

 

[Volnanza]

Don't you know, he's been Riding off into retirement for 10 years now on Tennessee's dime.

Hope he keeps on riding.

 

[vol94]

Boy, this thread took a turn.

 

[Go47]

The tournament is very unpredictable . . . And so much of it comes down to upsets within your bracket, matchups, and a bit of luck.

Having said that, I think it’s a fair assessment to say UT men’s basketball has underachieved more often than not in the tournament.

 

[SGMVols]

Nobody said anything about 2023 and losing to FAU, but since you pointed it out, there is another choke example.

FAU was legitimately great in ‘23 and should’ve been seeded much higher than a 9

 

[VolCalls]

FAU was legitimately great in ‘23 and should’ve been seeded much higher than a 9

Do you think Memphis was also underseeded that year? I ask because it took a tip-in at the buzzer for FAU to beat them in the first round.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

FAU was legitimately great in ‘23 and should’ve been seeded much higher than a 9

TN seems to always get bracketed with teams that are much better than their seed indicates. Michigan. Loyola-Chicago. Oregon State. FAU. It’s a committee tradition. We’re Cinderella’s ugly step sister.

 

[87Vol]

FAU was legitimately great in ‘23 and should’ve been seeded much higher than a 9

This is just a poor excuse, IMO. If this were a one time instance for Tennessee, I would buy it. However, when there is a pattern of losing to a much lower seeded team, time after time after time, then this is just another in a long line of choke jobs in the tournament.

 

[adam.vol]

If we don’t make it to the elite 8, it’s a disappointment. We spent weeks ranked #1, so if we don’t finish among the final 8 it means we got out coached, out developed, out hustled.. In other words - something went wrong.

 

[87Vol]

If we don’t make it to the elite 8, it’s a disappointment. We spent weeks ranked #1, so if we don’t finish among the final 8 it means we got out coached, out developed, out hustled.. In other words - something went wrong.

THIS !!!

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

If we don’t make it to the elite 8, it’s a disappointment. We spent weeks ranked #1, so if we don’t finish among the final 8 it means we got out coached, out developed, out hustled.. In other words - something went wrong.

It would be disappointing but not necessarily any of those other things. It's a one and done crapshoot

 

[87Vol]

It would be disappointing but not necessarily any of those other things. It's a one and done crapshoot

If it keeps happening (as it has) over and over in multiple tournaments, the odds of it just always being bad luck, and not at least somewhat attributable to one or more of the other things he mentioned, go way down.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

If it keeps happening (as it has) over and over in multiple tournaments, the odds of it just always being bad luck, and not at least somewhat attributable to one or more of the other things he mentioned, go way down.

We just went to an EE last year. The year before we advanced to the Sweet 16, beating Duke's ass, without a point guard

 

[WiseOlVol]

Coach RB MUST get COY now.

 

[stillwater5]

I think this has been his best coaching job at Tennessee, but if we are being realistic Pearl or the houston coach will win it.

I like Awaka and Arizona

 

[VolCalls]

Coach RB MUST get COY now.

COY is only based on the regular season.

 

[livefaith]

TN seems to always get bracketed with teams that are much better than their seed indicates. Michigan. Loyola-Chicago. Oregon State. FAU. It’s a committee tradition. We’re Cinderella’s ugly step sister.

Nope. The Vols have had the rails greased right into the FF at least a couple of times in the Barnes era. We have laid eggs each time. Nobody's fault but our own to lose to teams below us. Who knows, maybe this is the year that we put it all together for 4, 5 or 6 games in a row!

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Nope. The Vols have had the rails greased right into the FF at least a couple of times in the Barnes era. We have laid eggs each time. Nobody's fault but our own to lose to teams below us. Who knows, maybe this is the year that we put it all together for 4, 5 or 6 games in a row!

You don’t think that those 4 teams were better than their seeds indicated? Oregon State won the PAC12 tournament and were a #12 seed that #5 TN drew as an opening round game. Oregon State made the Elite Eight that year. Michigan played lazy and racked up a bunch of losses and shouldn’t have even been in the field. But TN as a #3 seed was bracketed with them in their second game. They had multiple NBA players. FAU and Loyola Chicago made Final Fours.

 

[gainesvol82]

If we don’t make it to the elite 8, it’s a disappointment. We spent weeks ranked #1, so if we don’t finish among the final 8 it means we got out coached, out developed, out hustled.. In other words - something went wrong.

Depth and/or foul trouble, whether legit or due to bad officiating, could knock this year's team out of the tournament pretty much any time after the first 2 rounds and it not be an indictment of Barnes program or players.

We're good enough to make a deep run in spite of a lack of depth and size. It's extremely impressive how good we have been this year with a bunch of new players and only a couple of dependable offensive threats. I also think the SEC talent parity has created a strange year where there's no clear favorite(s). I could see any of around 10 programs winning the championship.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

Blueblood or not, with a #2 seed, making the Sweet 16 should be the minimum expected result. The Sweet 16 would still be 1 round below what our seeding will likely be. Not playing up to your seeding in the tourney should always be considered disappointing. I've never understood fans that are always willing to settle for less.

Let’s see how much chalk blows in the wind in the 3 rounds it takes to get to the E8.

 

[gainesvol82]

If it keeps happening (as it has) over and over in multiple tournaments, the odds of it just always being bad luck, and not at least somewhat attributable to one or more of the other things he mentioned, go way down.

How can you give all of these examples that happened under multiple different coaches in different eras and think there is any correlation except that we are not a traditional basketball power?

We were one of the better SEC programs not named Kentucky 45-60 years ago but that didn't mean much because only UK cared enough to really focus resources on men's basketball. We have been consistently a top tier team under Barnes and I don't think any of our NCAAT losses under him have been choke jobs......more like screw jobs by the refs against Purdue, a poor performance against Loyola-Chicago still took the luckiest nun-blessed jump shot ever to knock us out, the Springer/Keon team that lost to Oregon State was young and had deficiencies. All of our appearances under Barnes have either been pretty damn successful or were predictable losses against better offenses.

Bruce, on the other hand......I think he way underachieved at UT in most NCAAT appearances and had two definite choke jobs.

 

[orangemadam]

If this team doesn't make it to EE, Barnes March legacy will snowball.

This elite roster along with a very favorable pathway should allow a comfortable path to EE

 

[superdave1984]

I think this team has the potential for a final 4 appearance. I would be shocked if they won it all, but they may be able to. I would wager if they were to win it all, Barnes would hang it up soon thereafter. Besides, men's basketball is the only major sport at Tennessee left to hoist the trophy.

 

[NEO]

Pitino is coach of the year with what he did at St John’s. Barnes has had a great season but Pitino is having a historic season there.

 

[NighthawkVol]

Pitino is coach of the year with what he did at St John’s. Barnes has had a great season but Pitino is having a historic season there.

Pitino is the best coach in college basketball history. I have no doubt about that. What he’s done at multiple programs across 5 different decades is incredible.