All for Tennessee
Fansided

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) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 5
Next
NEW ORLEANS – MARCH 18: Head coach Rick Barnes talks with Justin Mason #24 and Avery Bradley #0 of the Texas Longhorns during a timeout against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons during the first round of the 2010 NCAA men�s basketball tournament at the New Orleans Arena on March 18, 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS – MARCH 18: Head coach Rick Barnes talks with Justin Mason #24 and Avery Bradley #0 of the Texas Longhorns during a timeout against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons during the first round of the 2010 NCAA men�s basketball tournament at the New Orleans Arena on March 18, 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

1. team. 467. . 2009-2010. . Longhorns

24-10 (9-7)

Lost in NCAA Tournament Round of 64

Very few teams in history have had letdowns like the 2009-2010 Texas Longhorns. This was also ironically Tennessee basketball’s best NCAA Tournament year under Bruce Pearl. These programs seem oddly connected.

Anyway, coming off that 2008-2009 season we mentioned earlier, which still involved an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Barnes returned a ton of talent. Sure, he lost A.J. Abrams, but he returned future NBA players Damion James and Dexter Pittman. In fact, he returned six of eight rotational players from the previous year.

Most importantly, though, he added the No. 3 ranked recruiting class with two five-stars in Avery Bradley and Jordan Hamilton, whom he was able to plug into the lineup. Two four-stars in Shawn Williams and J’Covan Brown added even more depth.

More from All for Tennessee

With a loaded team, Texas started the year ranked No. 3 nationally. This was clearly Barnes’ most talented program. They got off to a red-hot start as well, getting to 17-0 by mid-January and scoring quality wins over the North Carolina Tar Heels and Michigan State Spartans. On Jan. 11, he led Texas to its first ever No. 1 ranking in school history. It lasted two weeks.

The second week they came in ranked No. 1, they lost a road game to the No. 10 ranked Kansas State Jayhawks. Later that week, they were upset by the UConn Huskies. However, they faced a top 10 team and a traditional powerhouse on the road, so at 17-2, they were still No. 6, and there was no cause for panic.

A home loss to the Baylor Bears brought up some concerns, but Baylor was ranked and it was in overtime, so it wasn’t time to panic. Losing at the Oklahoma Sooners brought up even more concern, and then they lost to the top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks the next game. Now at 20-5 after beating the Nebraska Cornhuskers, they had gone from No. 1 to No. 15.

However, none of the losses were embarrassing yet. That happened next. Texas lost at the Missouri Tigers by five. A week later, they lost at the Texas A&M Aggies. Then they closed out the year being swept by Baylor.

These guys didn’t lose to any unranked teams at home, but by the end of the regular season, they had lost two games at home and to three unranked teams on the road. That’s unbecoming of a team that was No. 1 at one point. A third loss to Baylor in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament had these guys at 24-9 after a 17-0 start.

That was a major disappointment, and Texas stumbled to a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They lost in the first round by one point to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. On Jan. 18, they were No. 1 in the nation and undefeated. Less than two months later, they finished the year unranked and didn’t win a game in the NCAA Tournament.

Next. 10 greatest shots in Vol basketball history. dark

That year’s Texas team had a similar make-up to this year’s Tennessee basketball team. Both returned a ton of talent and added two five-star players. Will these Vols go the same route in the end? We’ll find out soon enough.

Home/Vols Basketball