Was SEC Tournament cancelled because Rick Barnes spoke up?
The Tennessee Volunteers and Alabama Crimson Tide were set to open the second round of the SEC Tournament before the coronavirus outbreak cancelled it.
Initially, the Southeastern Conference took a lot of heat because it would not cancel the SEC Tournament. The plan was for the games to take place Thursday, beginning with Tennessee basketball facing the Alabama Crimson Tide, with no fans in attendance.
Then, barely over an hour before it was set to tip off, the league reversed course and went ahead and cancelled the rest of the tournament due to COVID-19. The SEC, AAC and Big Ten all made the decision to cancel their tournaments on Thursday, and the ACC eventually followed suit.
What was behind the league changing its mind? Well, lots of things could have gone into play, but UT head coach Rick Barnes may deserve credit for being a part of it. Never shy about his opinions, Barnes undercut what the league was trying to get away with right before his team was set to tip off in the SEC Tournament.
Less than five minutes before the SEC tweeted out that it would cancel the rest of the tournament, Barnes apparently protested the fact that it was happening. Marty Smith of ESPN tweeted out exactly what Barnes said about the event.
Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes just told me in no way should the SEC basketball tournament be played. He told me, “The kids have no voice. Are we just waiting on someone to get sick? Us and Alabama should be the first ones to say, “We ain’t playing.’”
— Marty Smith (@MartySmithESPN) March 12, 2020
Are these two things connected? They happened so close together that it’s eery. Well, we have no way of knowing. But what’s clear is that Barnes was not holding back his opposition to the SEC Tournament continuing, and he deserves credit for thinking about player safety first.
Remember, Barnes’ program needs this tournament more than other programs do. His team is not on the NCAA Tournament bubble right now. They may have to win the SEC Tournament to get in, but they at least have to make a run.
Cancelling the tournament hurts his program more than it does Alabama’s, whom the Vols were set to face and who has no shot at the Big Dance without winning the conference tournament, and the Kentucky Wildcats, which UT would face if they won Thursday and who is already in the NCAA Tournament. Barnes needs this more than both teams.
However, the veteran coach is known for being honest and taking principled stances. With a 17-14 team that is 9-9 in the SEC and has a chance to reach the bubble, he took a principled stance again with what he said about the SEC Tournament. We can’t say for sure if that had an impact, but we know that Barnes deserves credit for what he said. So we’re giving it to him here.