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Tennessee basketball: 5 things we learned about Vols from SEC Tournament

By Caleb Calhoun

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - MARCH 16: Rick Barnes the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers gives instructions to his team during the 82-78 win over the Kentucky Wildcats during the semifinals of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 16, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - MARCH 16: Rick Barnes the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers gives instructions to his team during the 82-78 win over the Kentucky Wildcats during the semifinals of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 16, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images /

Tennessee basketball’s three SEC Tournament games revealed a lot for the NCAA Tournament. Here are five things we learned about the Volunteers.

For the second straight year, Tennessee basketball made it to Sunday in the SEC Tournament, hoping to end a tournament championship drought since 1979. However, for the second straight year, they came up short.

This one was worse, as the Vols lost by 20 to the Auburn Tigers while at full strength with 75 percent of the crowd made up of their own fans. It also assured that, despite their longest reign ever at No. 1, their win over a No. 1 ranked team and their chance at a first-ever No. 1 seed, they come away empty-handed from the regular season.

The Vols have no SEC regular season title, no share of a title, no No. 1 seed and now no tournament title. As a result, all they have left to hang a banner for this year is a Final Four run and maybe a national championship.

But is that possible after such a devastating blowout loss on Sunday to their former coach, Bruce Pearl? That is the question we must all as of a team led by veterans but with very few superstars and with a coach in Rick Barnes known for not winning the big game.

Every year stands on its own, and this year certainly stands on its own for Tennessee basketball. And now we’re seeing every game stands on its own. So how do we analyze what happened in the SEC Tournament for the NCAA Tournament?

That’s what we’re gong to do here. Despite an entire regular season, the Vols revealed a lot about themselves this past weekend, good and bad. Those three games against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, Kentucky Wildcats and then Auburn opened our eyes more than lots of the season did.

As they enter the NCAA Tournament with a No. 2 seed and looking to make a deep run, we can use what happened during that time to predict what they’ll do. Obviously, things are always up in the air, but we now have a lot of information on this team thanks to those few games.

One look at what happened Friday, Saturday and Sunday will help with determining what will happen with this team in the Big Dance. And there are good and bad things to take away. So let’s break down what we’re talking about. These are the five things we learned from Tennessee basketball in the 2019 SEC Tournament.

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