Rick Barnes: Vols earned No. 4 seed 'because of our body of work'

Rick Barnes didn’t have a problem with his Tennessee basketball team getting saddled with the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s East Region and opening with No. 13 Louisiana Thursday night in Orlando. In fact, the veteran head coach didn’t have an opinion one way or the other on his team’s draw.

“I don’t have any thoughts on it,” Barnes said on Monday at Pratt Pavilion. “I’ve always trusted the (selection) committee. I think they’re under a great deal of scrutiny.”

But Barnes wasn’t done. What he was willing to do was go to bat for what his team has accomplished as a whole this season, not just how they’ve played the last six weeks. 

“And all I know is this, we got seeded because of our body of work, and these guys certainly deserve it,” Barnes said. 

When Tennessee (23-10) tips off against Louisiana (26-7) on Thursday (9:40 p.m. Eastern Time, CBS) the Vols will be looking to shake off the 5-7 record over their previous 13 games. They’ll be looking to get back to being that team that started the season with 18 wins in 21 games and climbed to No. 2 in the rankings before a disastrous February dropped them down multiple seed lines.

Vols enter NCAA Tournament with 5-7 record over previous 13 games

Tennessee was No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches Poll after the home win over Texas on January 28, improving to 18-3 overall, but went 5-7 after the calendar flipped to February. 

There was a run of five losses — at Florida, at Vanderbilt, Missouri, at Kentucky and at Texas A&M — over seven games, including two back-to-back buzzer-beaters. The regular-season ended with a loss at Auburn on March 3 and Missouri eliminated the Vols in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal round on Friday, giving Mizzou a two-game sweep of Tennessee this season.

But Barnes pointed out on Monday that games earlier in the season count just as much as the ones later in the schedule.

“It goes back to what we talk about all year long,” Barnes said. “Every game is important. Every game is an NCAA game. Starting from the time you walk on the court, whether it’s your first home game against whoever, those tournaments (early in the season). Every game is an NCAA Tournament game.”

No, he doesn’t have a problem with the NCAA Tournament’s selection committee. The analysts breaking down the brackets on TV, though, is a different story.

“I always think it’s funny when you hear those talking heads on TV talk about how if Carolina would’ve won a game in December they would’ve made the tournament,” Barnes said. “Yet they question our seed. Well, it’s because of what we did in December and January, put us where we (are).”

Up Next: No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 13 Louisiana, Thursday, 9:40 p.m. ET, CBS

Tennessee’s body of work includes wins over two of the No. 1 seeds in the tournament, Alabama and Kansas, and a No. 2 seed in Texas. There are two more wins against No. 8 seeds, Arkansas and Maryland, and a No. 10 seed, too, in USC.

The Vols beat Kansas and USC in the Bahamas in the Battle 4 Atlantis in November, beat Maryland in December in Brooklyn, beat Texas in January and Alabama and Arkansas in February.

Tennessee lost seven games to NCAA Tournament teams — No. 2 Arizona, No. 6 Kentucky (two), No. 7 Missouri (two), No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 9 Auburn. The Vols three games to teams that did not make the tournament — Colorado, Florida and Vanderbilt.

“These guys, where we are (seeded), I get it totally,” Barnes said. “That’s where I would probably put it. Even though we haven’t won the way we wanted to in February, we’ve had some issues we’ve had to deal with, but they fought. We deserve where we are.”

The new season starts now, though. 

“Like everybody, it starts 0-0 and it’s a four-team tournament this week in Orlando for us,” Barnes said. “And we have to be ready.”