Rick Barnes reveals his message to Tennessee after falling short in SEC Tournament

After winning the regular season in the Southeastern Conference, Tennessee bowed out of the SEC Tournament in their first and only game as the No. 1 seed in Nashville. It was not the postseason start that those on Rocky Top were hoping for but one that Rick Barnes knows firsthand won’t impact their chances of succeeding in the next tournament.

On Sunday, Barnes spoke about what his message to his Volunteers has been about what’s next for them after their loss to Mississippi State in their conference quarterfinal. He said several old tales have been part of his words to them over the weekend. That includes what Texas did under him back in ’02-’03 in a similar position to where his team is now.

“Well, again, I’ve told them a lot of stories,” said Barnes. “I’ve got a lot of stories I can tell.”

“I go back the year that we went to the Final Four. We lost in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament to Coach Knight and Texas Tech. I remember him grabbing me and said, ‘Hey, man, this is good for you’. He said, ‘Now go win you a national championship,'” Barnes said. “We got there, we didn’t win it. But, again, I could keep going stories after stories.”

Barnes also understands that Tennessee isn’t the only team that was upset earlier than expected in their respective tournaments. Of the No. 1 seeds in Power Five brackets plus the Big East’s, only one managed to win both the regular season and tournament titles. Still, four of those six remain the four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament while the remaining two are No. 2 seeds.

“But, you look at college basketball this weekend? Teams that won the regular season – I don’t know. I think only Connecticut won it, their postseason tournament,” said Barnes. “You go through it.”

This is all known as madness for a reason. While the best still often rise by the end of it, the unexpected is the expectation when the calendar turns to March in the sport.

That’s why Barnes sees this as nothing more than the next opportunity for Tennessee. Every team that is left has their own chance and, as such, the Vols’ goal of winning their first national title remains the same today as it did last week, regardless of what happened back in Music City.

“It’s college basketball. We are where we are right now. I think we know who we are, what we need to do,” said Barnes. “It’s a whole new season. It’s the postseason but it’s a new season for 68 teams. All of them are playing for a chance to win a national championship and play on Monday.”