Dan Fleser
Rick Barnes has characterized the prospects of playing Sunday in a conference tournament championship game and then being assigned a Thursday first-round game in the NCAA tournament as a worst-case scenario.
Well, that’s the case for Barnes’ Vols, leaving the coach to perform the verbal equivalent of a reverse pivot after Tennessee lost to Florida in the SEC final but gained a No. 2 NCAA seed and an opener against Wofford four days later in Lexington, Ky.
“Everybody (asks) is it good to come in here, win a game and go home. You always want to win. I don’t care. I just told (the players) I would be disappointed if they weren’t disappointed that we lost today because I know they felt we had a chance to win.”
I count myself among the “everybody” Barnes was referencing with his comment and wrote accordingly last week. My thinking was another run through the conference gauntlet – even for only three more days – could leave the Vols diminished for March’s main event. Their play, particularly in what amounted to a Final Four dress rehearsal, suggested otherwise.
On Saturday, the Vols got even for an earlier loss to Auburn by beating the regular season-champion Tigers 70-65 in a hard-fought game that featured 18 lead changes. The significance of the victory was magnified by the Tigers receiving the No. 1 overall NCAA seed.
“Tennessee is a great team; they play the right way,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “They’re worthy of defeating us.”
Even while losing to Florida, the Vols’ play was compelling. The Gators, who also received a No. 1 NCAA seed, outrebounded Tennessee by 14 and twice built double-figure leads in the second half. In each instance, UT rallied to within single digits before falling 86-77 to a team that might cut down nets again next month in San Antonio.
“It was the Final Four of the SEC tournament, but it easily could be the real Final Four,” said guard Jordan Gainey, who scored a career-high 24 points against the Gators, including 10 in a row during the first comeback. “It’s all preparing us.”
Only the most optimistic individuals among Tennessee’s fan base could’ve imagined the season unfolding in this fashion. The sum of UT’s players and their play has covered for a diminished post-game presence, which has left the Vols with little margin for error.
A league that is sending 14 teams on to this weekend could’ve easily worn out this team. Instead, the quick turnaround notwithstanding, it has prepared Tennessee for best-case aspirations.
“The fact is you spend a year building this program, this team to where you want it,” Barnes said. “You got to trust it, believe in it.”
And see where such faith takes you in the end.
“ . . . You think about it,” he continued. “We were right here, right in the mix in the best league in the country. I think there’s a bunch of teams in this league that feel like us. They get in that tournament, they got a chance to go really deep into it with a chance to win it.”
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Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri, who has covered University of Tennessee athletics since 1988. He is a member of the Tennessee Sportswriters, U.S Basketball Writers and Greater Knoxville Sports Halls of Fame. He can be reached at danfleser3@gmail.com.