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Tennessee basketball: Vols low SEC preseason poll makes no sense

By Caleb Calhoun

NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 10: Rick Barnes the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers gives instructions to his team during the 67-65 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores during the second round of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 10, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 10: Rick Barnes the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers gives instructions to his team during the 67-65 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores during the second round of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 10, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee basketball is picked to finish 13th in the SEC this year. But the Volunteers’ low preseason ranking does not make any sense.

Last year, in Rick Barnes’s second season, Tennessee basketball was in the thick of the NCAA Tournament race midway through the season. Fatigue and an injury to Robert Hubbs III cost them down the stretch, though, and they finished 10th in the SEC.

This year, Hubbs is the only key departure for the Vols. Meanwhile, they return every other valuable player, and they added five new players. Those players include a fifth-year senior transfer in James Daniel, who led the NCAA in scoring two years ago, and four-star wing player Yves Pons, who should immediately fill the void that Hubbs left.

With John Fulkerson getting healthy, the addition of a junior college combo guard Chris Darrington, and the addition of two interior players, the Vols are loaded with depth now.

They also have the well-respected Barnes as their head coach.

Simply put, they should be significantly better than last year. But amidst all that, the SEC media picked the Vols to finish 14th in the SEC this year.

What is the basis for that? It is fair to say that the Vols did not have one of the highest ranked recruiting classes in the SEC. But they certainly filled their exact voids.

Meanwhile, schools like the Mississippi State Bulldogs lost more key players than Tennessee basketball. They also had a lower ranked recruiting class and finished behind the Vols last year. But the media picked them ahead of Tennessee. Seriously?

Now to be fair, that Tennessee basketball is picked No. 13 shows the depth of the SEC in basketball now. As Clay Travis mentioned last year, the SEC has completely reshaped itself in basketball by hiring a huge collection of good coaches.

Those coaches are all on the precipice of taking their programs to the next level this year. So the conference may be deeper than ever.

John Calipari still has the Kentucky Wildcats as a consistent powerhouse. Frank Martin has arrived with the South Carolina Gamecocks. The additions of Will Wade and Cuonzo Martin will make the LSU Tigers and Missouri Tigers better respectively.

And like Barnes at Tennessee, three other schools have almost arrived with their proven coaches. Those schools are the Mississippi State Bulldogs with Ben Howland, the Auburn Tigers with Bruce Pearl and the Alabama Crimson Tide with Avery Johnson.

As a result, SEC basketball is looking better than SEC football right now. And Barnes has a ton of competition at Tennessee. But the Vols should still be higher than No. 13. They proved way more than that last year.

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