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Tennessee basketball: Five underachieving Rick Barnes teams that resemble 2020-21 Vols

By Caleb Calhoun

WACO, TX - JANUARY 31: Texas Longhorns head coach Rick Barnes has words for his team against the Baylor Bears on January 31, 2015 at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
WACO, TX - JANUARY 31: Texas Longhorns head coach Rick Barnes has words for his team against the Baylor Bears on January 31, 2015 at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images) /
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ARLINGTON, TX – DECEMBER 19: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Texas Longhorns during play against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Cowboys Stadium on December 19, 2009 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX – DECEMBER 19: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Texas Longhorns during play against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Cowboys Stadium on December 19, 2009 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

4. team. 467. . 2008-2009. . Longhorns

23-12 (9-7)

Lost in NCAA Tournament Round of 32

The previous season, Rick Barnes led the Texas Longhorns to a share of the Big 12 Championship and to the Elite Eight, where they lost to the Memphis Tigers. That year also included a blowout win over Tennessee basketball’s best team in history, the one Bruce Pearl led to No. 1 at one point.

Anyway, coming off a 31-7 season, Barnes lost D.J. Augustin but returned four other starters, including A.J. Abrams and Damion James. He also returned Dexter Pittman, who became a starter. As a result, Texas started the year off ranked No. 7. An 8-1 start with quality wins over the UCLA Bruins and Villanova Wildcats got them to No. 5 on Dec. 15.

Despite losses to the No. 19 ranked Michigan State Spartans and at the Arkansas Razorbacks and No. 6 ranked Oklahoma Sooners after that, they were still ranked No. 11 in late January with a 15-4 record. However, a home loss to the Kansas State Wildcats on the final day of January sparked a three-game losing streak, all to unranked teams and two at home.

Starting with that loss, Texas would finish the regular season wildly inconsistent, going 5-6. However, they managed to upset Oklahoma when they were ranked No. 2 in late February, so nobody knew what to make of the team. Barnes’ team then won two games in the Big 12 Tournament before losing in the semifinals to the Baylor Bears.

That was enough to get them a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and they did beat the Minnesota Golden Gophers to advance to the second round before losing a close one to the Duke Blue Devils. It wasn’t a horrendous underachievement, but this was a big drop-off from being in the top 10 through January and reaching No. 5 at one point.

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