Rick Barnes' tournament struggles follow him to Tennessee
What does every team Rick Barnes has coached over the last decade have in common? They've all failed to get past the NCAA tournament's round of 32.
Tennessee, seeded third in the South Region, was upset Saturday in the second round by unheralded Loyola Chicago, the 11th seed hailing from the Missouri Valley Conference.
The loss marked the 10th straight year that Barnes, who may have done the best coaching job of his career with the 2017-18 Volunteers, is going home before the Sweet 16.
Barnes has led either Texas or Tennessee to the NCAA tournament in seven of the last 10 years. In all seven trips, he's barely been able to make a groove on his dancing shoes before being eliminated:
Season | Program | Result |
---|---|---|
2009 | Texas | R32 |
2010 | Texas | R64 |
2011 | Texas | R32 |
2012 | Texas | R64 |
2013 | Texas | N/A |
2014 | Texas | R32 |
2015 | Texas | R64 |
2016 | Tennessee | N/A |
2017 | Tennessee | N/A |
2018 | Tennessee | R32 |
It's hard to explain why Barnes' teams keep falling short in March. He had ample success in the NCAA tournament over his first 10 seasons at Texas - he led the Longhorns to a Final Four in 2003, the Elite Eight on two other occasions, and the Sweet Sixteen two additional times - so it's not like he doesn't know how to coach through Madness.
In any case, the reigning SEC coach of the year wasted a golden opportunity to get past the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament for the first time in a decade by losing in the second round to the Ramblers.
And his critics now will be the ones rambling - mainly about Barnes' inability to get the job done when it matters most.