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Tennessee basketball: Five things we learned about Vols in 2022 SEC Tournament

By Caleb Calhoun

Mar 13, 2022; Tampa, FL, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Kennedy Chandler (1) and guard Zakai Zeigler (5) forward Uros Plavsic (33) celebrate after defeating the Texas A&M Aggies at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 13, 2022; Tampa, FL, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Kennedy Chandler (1) and guard Zakai Zeigler (5) forward Uros Plavsic (33) celebrate after defeating the Texas A&M Aggies at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 13, 2022; Tampa, FL, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes cuts down the net after defeating the Texas A&M Aggies at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 13, 2022; Tampa, FL, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes cuts down the net after defeating the Texas A&M Aggies at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Despite the disappointment of just achieving a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, Tennessee basketball still made history, The Vols managed to win their first SEC Tournament Championship for the first time since 1979, which was the first year the conference tournament had resumed since the 1950s.

To win the event, the Vols beat the Mississippi State Bulldogs, Kentucky Wildcats and Texas A&M Aggies Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Now at 26-7, they are looking better than ever on a seven-game winning streak, which bodes well for March Madness.

Before looking ahead to the Big Dance, let’s take one look back at what the Vols just did in Tampa, Fla., at Amalie Arena. This past weekend revealed a lot about them, mostly positive. In this post, we’ll break those things down. These are the five things we learned about Tennessee basketball in the 2022 SEC Tournament.

5. Rick Barnes CAN win the big one.

This has been a longstanding concern of Rick Barnes dating back to his days with the Texas Longhorns. It makes sense. He never won the Big 12 Tournament with Texas, and he never won the ACC Tournament with the Clemson Tigers. His last conference tournament title was the Big East Championship with the Providence Friars in 1994.

At UT, Barnes and the Vols lost the SEC Tournament title game in 2018 and 2019. Then there are all the issues of Barnes’ history in the NCAA Tournament. Simply put, the narrative is he can’t win the big one. Well, he put that narrative to rest with this championship.

Detractors will say he benefitted from the Texas A&M Aggies eliminating the Auburn Tigers and Arkansas Razorbacks. However, both happened before Tennessee basketball played the Kentucky Wildcats, a top five team, in the de facto championship game Saturday, and the Vols won it. As a result, for now, Barnes exorcised a major demon.

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