Every coach wants to leave every team they coach better than they found it. While Rick Barnes has not seen the postseason success he deserves, he has undoubtedly left his mark on the Tennessee basketball program as the Vols' head coach.
Barnes has a record of 199-99 at Tennessee, so depending on how the first round goes, we could be celebrating or suffering a monumental moment in Barnes' coaching career since coming to Rocky Top.
With all of the success Barnes has brought to Knoxville, a 31-win season, multiple 25+-win seasons, two SEC Championships, and an SEC Tournament Championship, also comes some unfortunate bad luck in the postseason.
His postseason struggles plagued him throughout his tenure at Texas and Tennessee. Barnes has a 25-26 record in the NCAA Tournament, with 19 of those wins as the Longhorns' head coach. Barnes has a 12-8 record in SEC Tournament play and a 6-5 record in the NCAA Tournament as the Vols' head coach.
While Barnes has done a great job against his SEC opponents, that success has not translated to the NCAA Tournament. The Vols have suffered some tough beats in recent years, and we all felt that again with their loss to Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament.