Recruiting Forum Football Talk VI

[volbeast33]

Great analysis….the only question I would have is how many teams made the tournament when Mears coached? It was far less than 64 in most years.

23-25

 

[Enki_Amenra]

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Great analysis….the only question I would have is how many teams made the tournament when Mears coached? It was far less than 64 in most years.

From 1962-1965 = 32 teams
From 1966-1968 = 36 teams
From 1969-1974 = 25 teams
From 1975-1978 = 32 teams

SEC basketball was pretty disrespected though in Mears time at TN. The first 12 years he was here only 1 SEC team made the NCAA each season, in his last 3 seasons 2 SEC teams made the tournament (he went 2 of those 3 years).

 

[butchna]

Great analysis….the only question I would have is how many teams made the tournament when Mears coached? It was far less than 64 in most years.

He covered that.

 

[RudyVol]

Nice...just poking fun at you. Do you feel better about our team now?

Lmao, I never meant for that to get that way! I admittedly got caught up in the banter but I was really thinking "people are really this upset about me saying this team stinks when they're playing like dog crap down the stretch here?". None of those bad games will be remembered now!

Original question though...."Do I feel better?" - HFY....Sweet 16 is incredible, Elite 8 would be more incredible, and don't get me started past there.

 

[drvenner]

Does he take the rains down in Africa?

It's gonna take a lot to take him away from you.

 

[Nash_Vol97]

FanDuel spread:

 

[drvenner]

Why do you hate dogs Byron?

LOL, I felt bad for the pooch, but I love me some physical comedy and that was Golden.

 

[drvenner]

That is pretty cool. Didn't their dad work at Duke for a long time as well?

 

[UpstateVol613]

That “little kid” just put you out of the tournament.

 

[Christian Lowe]

His HS is ridiculous though.. @Christian Lowe post some of those pics of your athletics facilities and show them...it really is ridiculous what they have.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

It’s definitely hard to quantify it… Mears won at a higher %….. had at least 6+ other seasons that would have him easily in the tourney today… They also only allowed 23-25 teams in the tourney when he was coaching… I would probably have Mears as the best since he pretty much built that program and has a higher winning %… Barnes would over take him with a final four though.

You yourself said every season was a failure without an Elite Eight...but Mears who was 0-4 in the NCAA tournament is going to stay on top UNLESS Barnes makes a Final Four, which no former coach has ever done here...interesting.

I feel like the conference is a lot better now than it was for any other former coach so I think Barnes' success is more impressive because of that. Since Barnes has been here the SEC has had 6 or more teams in the NCAA 5 of 7 seasons (8th COVID cancelled things), while Pearl was here the SEC only sent 6 or more teams in the NCAA 2 of 6 seasons.

 

[RudyVol]

So as of now...

1. Ray Mears, 278-112 in 15 years and a 71.3%, 3 regular season titles and 3 NCAA appearances (they didn't expand the field until to 64 teams until 1985 or he'd have a ton more) never had a losing season.

2. Rick Barnes, 175-91 in 8 years and a 65.8%, 1 regular season title, 1 SECT title, and 5 NCAA appearances (two sweet sixteens) has had an AP top 10 team in 4 seasons and won 25 or more games in 4 seasons.

3. Bruce Pearl, 145-61 in 6 years and a 70.1%, 1 regular season title, 6 NCAA appearances, 2 sweet 16s and the program's only elite eight. Only finished with 25 or more wins in 2 seasons though and 4 of his 6 years at UT he didn't have to face a very good Kentucky team

4. Don DeVoe, 204-137 in 11 years and a 59.8%, 1 regular season title and 1 SECT title and 6 NCAA appearances. Only had 2 top 10 teams in his time here and despite inheriting a program built by Mears never won more than 22 games in a season


If Barnes reaches the Elite Eight I think he's got a strong claim to be the best UT coach...a Final Four and I feel like it's no longer a debate. I get that Mears built something special here, but 2 of his 3 regular season titles were shared and he didn't win a single NCAA tournament game despite playing 4

Respect to Ray Mears and I'm sure my grandpa enjoyed watching his coaching days, but Rick Barnes is the ! Totally agree with the final 4 appearance possibility. Shouldn't be a debate after that. I think an Elite 8 will put the Barnes/Pearl comparisons to rest. Appreciate Pearl and it was a lot of fun but <CRB.

 

[Glitch]

Duke can't match Tennessee's physicality.

https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/article273311485.html

View attachment 542031

 

[Volsdeep4]

I went back to read from page 1 on, and I was actually surprised that 90% of the posts were supportive of their team despite a loss and gave Tennessee (ON especially) a ton of credit. Then by about page 4 they just go all in on the officiating. Wah wah

lol and posts like this - a Duke Basketball/Ohio State Football fan. Of course.

View attachment 542034

Ohio state football fan and duke basketball fan. Probably a chiefs fan too

 

[engineerVOL]

I sure hope we can keep up with 33-3 FAU. That record is insane!!!

 

[RudyVol]

Forgot about that FAU player dunking the ball at the end of the game (and missing). Bad karma coming to them.

 

[bignewt]

We need six more teams for the RF Fantasy Baseball League, dont be shy there are no big timers here believe me:

Fantasy Baseball Join - ESPN

 

[SoilVol]

I consider every season a failure that we don’t make the elite eight….I don’t care about excuses or reasons…. The Duke game was huge and fantastic win….. Amazing job by Barnes….. we have the best set up in school history to make an Elite Eight…. Git er done!!!

You're either trolling or legitimately not right in the head.

A Sweet 16 is a success. Not making the tournament is a failure. In between is a disappointment.

An Elite 8 will be an overachievement unless we are a Top 2 seed. Come down to Earth

 

[volbeast33]

You yourself said every season was a failure without an Elite Eight...but Mears who was 0-4 in the NCAA tournament is going to stay on top UNLESS Barnes makes a Final Four, which no former coach has ever done here...interesting.

I feel like the conference is a lot better now than it was for any other former coach so I think Barnes' success is more impressive because of that. Since Barnes has been here the SEC has had 6 or more teams in the NCAA 5 of 7 seasons (8th COVID cancelled things), while Pearl was here the SEC only sent 6 or more teams in the NCAA 2 of 6 seasons.

Barnes is definitely ahead of Pearl in my eyes…. I was too young to follow basketball when Mears was our coach… I am not sure how I would have felt about the tourney when they only allowed 23-25 teams.The only reason I would keep Mears number one is bc of winning % and being so instrumental in starting our program… I have no issue with anyone thinking Barnes would be the best UT coach of all time with an elite eight…. I may change my mind tomm… it would really be a flip of the coin, imo.

 

[Buddy’s Bandit]

I am a big Barnes fan, In fact, I am a fan of all of our coaches.

An effective AD always has a list of 3-5 names you would go to IF you had to. My son and i had this conversation over the weekend. Who do you think would be on that list?

 

[volbeast33]

You're either trolling or legitimately not right in the head.

A Sweet 16 is a success. Not making the tournament is a failure. In between is a disappointment.

An Elite 8 will be an overachievement unless we are a Top 2 seed. Come down to Earth

I view every season to be a success based on whether you make an elite eight or not…. If you want to judge a season a success by making the sweet sixteen then more power to you but that should be the bare minimum, imo.

I coach several different sports and one year in football…. We won more games than we had won in ten years…. I was proud of what we accomplished and the hard work we put in but the season was still a failure bc we didn’t finish as one of the top two teams to make the championship game.

 

[BigSteve09]

 

[Orange.]

Rick Barnes on Australian rugby: 'I would pay to go see it'

“Well, you know what,” Barnes said, “I took a Big East All-Star Team to Australia back in ’90. We went to a match and I enjoyed it. I thought it was good.

“I liked the way the referee does all that stuff,” Barnes continued, motioning to signal with his arms. “I enjoyed watching it. You know what, I would probably pay to go see it. We were free that day, but I would pay to go see it.”

You have to love the guy's demeanor and sense of humor. Classic.

(hat tip: our very own @JCP201 in the bball forum.)

 

[SoilVol]

"Is preparing to tell his team soon."

Congrats, you did it for him. Where is the journalistic integrity? Why are they obsessed with being "first" at the expense of other people. The players should be the first to know, and they should hear from the coach first.