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Tennessee basketball: No reason to worry about the Vols right now

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 17: Tennessee Volunteers players celebrate after a turnover in the first half of a game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 17, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 17: Tennessee Volunteers players celebrate after a turnover in the first half of a game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 17, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee basketball has come a bit apart over the last week after an 0-2 SEC start. But there is no reason to worry about the Volunteers just yet.

Sometimes, you can be a victim of your own success more quickly than expected. And when it comes to Tennessee basketball, that’s exactly what Rick Barnes is going through.

After tough losses to the Arkansas Razorbacks and Auburn Tigers to open SEC play, fans are inexplicably in panic mode. This team is 0-2 in the SEC and set to face the Kentucky Wildcats Saturday, making 0-3 a possibility. Even if that happens, there is still no reason to worry.

However, for a team that spent part of November and all of December in the Top 25, this seems like a disaster. But what fans and analysts forget is nobody expected Tennessee basketball to be a Top 25 team to begin with.

When this season began, Tennessee was picked to finish No. 13 in the SEC. Now, fans on Rocky Top knew that was too low. And they were right. However, being a Top 25 team wasn’t the expectation either.

Given the way Barnes rebuilt the program, his tough scheduling and the depth of the SEC, Vols fans expected an NCAA Tournament bid. As a Top 20 team in the RPI with a 9-4 record and the No. 3 ranked strength of schedule, that’s still in the works.

It would be incredibly hard for the Vols to miss out on the tournament right now. They just need to be close to .500 in the conference to do that.

So why are Vols fans worried?

Yes, they failed to close out three games in the past month, including the North Carolina Tar Heels and both SEC games. But they did close it out against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. And before that they closed a game out against the Purdue Boilermakers.

This is still a good team. Keep in mind that Tennessee basketball lost its top scorer from last year. Their only contributing senior is a transfer who comes off the bench. And everybody else who plays was no higher than a three-star as a recruit.

So stop panicking? This year, for Vols fans, the goal was just to get to the big dance. At this point, they are more than in good enough position to do that. Even if they lose Saturday, they’ll be fine.

After Kentucky, Tennessee basketball plays the Missouri Tigers at home and the Vanderbilt Commodores twice in three of five games. They also still get the Ole Miss Rebels twice and the LSU Tigers at home in February. They close out the year with the Georgia Bulldogs at home.

Yes, these are still all reasonably tough games with the exception of Vanderbilt. But they’re ones you would expect the Vols to win. That is seven wins right there, and they will definitely steal a couple more. The SEC is indeed brutal, but Tennessee basketball has the horses to compete.

So don’t worry about the 0-2 start. Heck, don’t even panic if the Vols fall to 0-3. They are a young team that will play inconsistent at times. Just remember that they’re still in the NCAA Tournament as of today, they have every key member coming back next year, and a couple of top recruits could add to that. The prospects for this season are still bright. The future is even brighter.

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