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Tennessee basketball: Comparing Vols to last Rick Barnes team that reached No. 1

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 22: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Tennessee Volunteers reacts to a play during the first half of the game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 22, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 22: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Tennessee Volunteers reacts to a play during the first half of the game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 22, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images /

2. How similar are the 2009-2010 Texas Longhorns to Tennessee Basketball?

An inside-out strategy is the mark of both teams.

Tennessee basketball entered the year with immediately high expectations. The offense is built around Grant Williams scoring off the block with help from Kyle Alexander and then dishing it out to Admiral Schofield if he can’t. Schofield can drive, post up, or shoot from the outside, and if nothing is there, the Vols have a collection of guards who can shoot from outside.

Texas in 2009-2010 was the same way. Damion James and Dexter Pittman are Williams and Schofield. Avery Bradley and Jordan Hamilton were the guys to stretch the floor like Jordan Bone, Jordan Bowden and Lamonte Turner. And the offense worked well together doing it.

Both teams are coming off a second round NCAA Tournament exit.

This may be a small one, but Texas did lose in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2009, one year after reaching the Elite Eight. Only that time, they lost to the Duke Blue Devils as a lower seed, not by a last second shot to Loyola-Chicago as the higher seed.

January was the month both teams reached No. 1.

This is why you have to be careful about this ranking. The Vols have a lot of basketball left to play, and Texas only maintained this No. 1 ranking for two weeks in January before they fell victim to what was a brutal schedule. So the question now is if Rick Barnes can ever lead a team to a No. 1 ranking in February.

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