Tennessee could be good enough to overcome bad tournament history

John Adams
Knoxville
Tennessee forward Admiral Schofield (5) celebrates after defeating Georgia during a game between Tennessee and Georgia at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee on Friday, March 2, 2018.

Tennessee already has risen far above its preseason projections. Maybe, it can overcome its history, too.

If it does, it could become the program’s most accomplished team.

Ultimately, that won’t be determined until the NCAA tournament. But the Vols are off to a great start.

They’re SEC regular-season co-champions. Rick Barnes is the SEC coach of the year, as selected by the conference coaches, who also chose Grant Williams as the SEC player of the year.

And they’re 23-7 as they enter the SEC Tournament in St. Louis on Friday night. Only five other Tennessee teams have won more games.

FOLLOW THE MADNESS: NCAA tournament brackets, scores, schedules, teams and more.

Now, it has a great opportunity to secure its place in school history.

The SEC basketball tournament so often has brought out the worst in UT. The Vols' worst showings haven’t been limited to their worst teams.

Since the conference tournament was renewed in 1978-79, the Vols have lost their opening tournament game 14 times. Not all those one-and-done ventures were predictable.

Coach Jerry Green’s 1999-2000 team went 26-7, won the SEC East and was on the verge of advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament until it faltered down the stretch against North Carolina. As good as it was, it had a short stay at the SEC tournament, losing its first game to a 17-loss South Carolina team, which went 5-11 in conference regular-season play.

Three other 20-plus-win Tennessee teams also lost their opening game in the SEC tournament.

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Coach Bruce Pearl’s best Tennessee team went 31-5 in 2007-08.  But it was almost upset in its tournament opener against an 18-loss South Carolina team before being eliminated by Arkansas the next night.

In 2009-2010, the Vols went 28-9 and won two games in the SEC tournament. But Kentucky, which UT beat by nine points at the end of February, overwhelmed them 74-45 in the SEC tournament.

That game was close compared to another Tennessee-Kentucky SEC tournament matchup. The Wildcats beat the Vols 101-40 in the 1993 tournament.

UT’s lackluster performances in so many past conference tournaments might not boost the confidence of its fan base Friday. And there’s another factor to consider. The league rarely has had so much quality depth and balance.

Vanderbilt, a No. 13 seed, was good enough to beat No. 3 Florida in the regular season. Ole Miss, a 14th seed, also beat Florida.

In fact, the conference is so balanced, there’s no shame in losing to anyone.  But that wouldn’t be much consolation to Tennessee.

Never mind how much the Vols already have accomplished. This team has as much motivation as it does talent.

And that’s not just because it was picked to finish 13th in the conference in preseason.

UT hasn’t had a winning season since 2013-14. It didn’t even qualify for the NIT the past three seasons.

So, you shouldn't expect the Vols to saunter into the SEC tournament, comfortable with their regular-season success and knowing they're assured of a place in the NCAA tournament.

It's more likely they will attack the tournament the way they did the last few games of the regular season.   

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: Twitter.com/johnadamskns.