The 30 Lowest Moments for Tennessee Vols Athletics in the Adidas Era
Feb 8, 2014; Knoxville, TN, USA; A general view of Thompson-Boling Arena before the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and South Carolina Gamecocks. The Pat Summitt Plaza is located in the lower left. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
18. Buzz Peterson’s Fourth Tennessee Men’s Basketball Team is a Massive Disappointment in 2004-2005
Remember when Buzz Peterson was hired? Vol Nation wanted to believe in him from the start. Here was a guy from Western North Carolina who had ties to Michael Jordan and was a product of the Dean Smith coaching tree, and being with the University of Tennessee was home to him.
After the Jerry Green fiasco and the PR nightmare that he was despite his success, Buzz was a huge breath of fresh air, and referring to himself as a teacher who believes in discipline only helped things.
It was so refreshing, in fact, that Vol Nation overlooked a lot about him, including the fact that he was hired away from Tulsa, a team that failed to make the NCAA Tournament despite making the Final Four the year before, when he wasn’t there. Fans also overlooked the fact that he took a team loaded with Jerry Green talent and had a losing record his first year, and in his second year his team missed the tournament.
Youth was an excuse in his third year with no seniors, but going into the 2004-2005 season, the jig was up. The Vols had finished a game over .500 that year and returned everybody for the next year along with transfer Andre Patterson and sharpshooting Mr. Basketball in Kentucky Chris Lofton. All of this had fans finally expecting Buzz Ball to take shape, and guys like Tyler Smith were to enter the program next year, so all was well.
But, in a fashion I still cannot explain for the life of me, the Vols got significantly worse. After getting blown out by Texas and North Carolina, they continued losing to bad teams like Nebraska and Tennessee-Chattanooga. That carried over to the SEC season. When all was said and done, the team finished the year 13-16, and Vols fans were forced to accept that Peterson would not work out. It was a sad day for Tennessee basketball, because everybody wanted him to succeed.
Suddenly, people wanted the Jerry Green years back. That is how low it sunk at that point.
Next: #17: Football Loss to Georgia in 2003