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Tennessee basketball: Looking at last 5 seasons Vols were in top 5

By Caleb Calhoun

MEMPHIS, TN - FEBRUARY 23: Chris Lofton #5 of the Tennessee Volunteers shoots a layup around Robert Dozier #2 of the Memphis Tigers at FedExForum on February 23, 2008 in Memphis, Tennessee. Volunteers beat the Tigers 66-62. (Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images)
MEMPHIS, TN - FEBRUARY 23: Chris Lofton #5 of the Tennessee Volunteers shoots a layup around Robert Dozier #2 of the Memphis Tigers at FedExForum on February 23, 2008 in Memphis, Tennessee. Volunteers beat the Tigers 66-62. (Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images) /
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4. 2000-2001

22-11 (8-8 in SEC); NCAA Tournament

Highest ranking: No. 4

While the 2007-2008 Tennessee basketball team maintained their expectations, the 2000-2001 team is a note of caution. And Rick Barnes’s team this year could suffer the same thing if they aren’t careful and don’t remain focused.

Heading into this season, the Vols were coming off a close Sweet Sixteen loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels the year before. Kevin O’Neill’s highly touted 1997 recruiting class was now made up of all seniors. Vincent Yarbrough, the elite recruit from the next class, was a junior. And the elite class of 1999 was made up of all sophomores, leaving Jerry Green with a stack of talent.

Returning all but one player, expectations were sky-high Tony Harris’s senior year. And they started out reaching those. An 8-0 start got these guys to No. 4 on Dec. 12, and they held that into the next week with a 9-0 start before falling to the No. 14 ranked Virginia Cavaliers on the road.

However, in similar fashion to 2007-2008, they still  got to 16-1. This time, Green’s team won seven straight and got back to No. 4 after getting to 14-1, maintaining that spot a week later. But then, like 2008, a loss at the Kentucky Wildcats knocked them out of the top 5.

Unlike 2008, Tennessee basketball never really recovered. After a win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs, they lost seven of eight, including a five-game losing streak closed out by three straight losses at home. In the process, they ended up getting swept by Kentucky, the Georgia Bulldogs and Florida Gators. An injury that limited Harris definitely hurt matters, but the team was clearly falling apart.

Then came the PR fiasco of Green trashing Vols fans, and there was no recovering. UT won its final three games and one game in the NCAA Tournament before falling to the Ole Miss Rebels in the second round. Then, as a No. 8 seed, they lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to UNC Charlotte.

It was one of the most underachieving teams in history. And it was a remarkable fall for a team that had reached No. 4 in mid-January. Green resigned under pressure after the season, condemning Tennessee basketball to four years of Buzz Peterson before the arrival of Bruce Pearl.

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