Tremendous Nugget Shows Just How Good Rick Barnes Has Been For Us
Image: fox17.com
By Cody McClure
For most of Rick Barnes’ tenure at Tennessee, I’ve taken him for granted.
I wouldn’t say I was “Bring Back Bruce” guy by the time we hired Barnes but I was definitely that guy during the search that led to Donnie Tyndall.
And I’m not that different from many of you, as I know many of you, too, maybe haven’t always appreciated Barnes as much as you should have.
He’s been great at Tennessee. Sure, still no Final Fours. No nattys. That sucks, but we’re consistently great every year.
We should all appreciate that. We’ve got a Top 10 (Top 8? Top 6?) current basketball program.
Today the “Associate AD of Strategic Comms and MBB SID at the University of Tennessee” Alex Schwartz posted a great stat on X about Tennessee’s program.
“Vol Hoops has 24 top-25 wins in the last four seasons (2021-25), tied with Kansas and Iowa State for the most in the nation.”
Imagine that. As many Top 25 wins as Kansas. Best in the nation. Did we realize that before? I didn’t, so thanks Alex.
Also, Tennessee has 17 AP Top 15 wins in that span. That ranks second behind only Kansas. Can you say elite?
Maybe we’re all coming around on realizing it’s not all about a couple games in March.