Rick Barnes calls for more accountability with NCAA Tournament selection process after snubs

There has been a lot of talk about snubs within the SEC in the NCAA Tournament bracket. Notably, Texas A&M was left out of the tournament after making a run to the SEC Championship, and Tennessee finished as a three seed despite many believing they belonged on the two line. After Tennessee won the SEC Tournament title, Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes had some strong comments directed at the selection committee.

Barnes wants the committee members to have a press conference following the release of the NCAA Tournament bracket, allowing for people to understand what went behind the decisions.

“It is what it is,” Barnes said about Tennessee being a three seed in the NCAA Tournament. “So we can discuss and talk about it – I told Tom, I’m here today to talk about this and what I do. I do believe after Selection Sunday that the chairman or the people of the committee should have to have a national day of press conference where they could be asked questions, not just for three minutes or two minutes, from people that have really covered college basketball throughout.”

Tennessee was comfortably into the tournament regardless, and was likely still going to be a three seed even with a loss to Texas A&M in the SEC title game. But it appears that the results of the conference tournaments had little to no impact on the committee’s decisions. That is the part that is the most frustrating to Barnes.

“And when you look at it, everybody said that we were a three seed going into the SEC Tournament,” Barnes said of Tennessee. “So it doesn’t look like the tournament helped us. Certainly I don’t understand a team in the SEC that wins 12 games like Texas A&M and playing great basketball at the end not being in the tournament. It just baffles me, it really does. If that’s the way it’s going to be, if the conference tournament doesn’t mean anything and the teams that are already slotted to be in the tournament can’t improve their seeding, we should stay at home and let the teams that are trying to get in the tournament fight for that one bid. Give our league a chance to get more.”

Barnes: A press conference could help teams like Tennessee, Texas A&M understand their tournament fates

Barnes isn’t the only person ripping into the NCAA Tournament selection committee following the bracket reveal. Kentucky head coach John Calipari and Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl are among the many others to question the committee’s decisions. But Barnes truly believes that a press conference could help everybody involved in the selection process.

“So those are the questions I think that should really be asked and answered,” said Barnes. “I mean there’s people out there much more thorough than I am in terms of looking at resumes and all that, but from a coaching standpoint, I’m – this is what we have, and we’re gonna go from here. But on a national level and for our game, maybe a press conference where tough questions have to be answered, it helps people going forward.

“If it’s scheduling that people aren’t doing, they can help, they can take care of that themselves. But like I said, it is what it is. We gotta go play basketball. I’m proud of our guys for the effort that they’ve done and put in all year long and to have a chance to be part of this.”