True difference makers on the team currently...

[ColinS]

Your first sentence is off target and isn’t happening.

Your second sentence is a fantasy. Every year? With 325 plus teams in the mix?

Those lead to the third which is just dumb.

So explain to why we can't be one of those programs. I probably should have said almost every years. Why do

How many times in history has Tennessee made the Final Four?

How is it different now?

We have increased the financial commitment, improved the arena, and we are recruiting multiple 5 stars. When did those things happen before? We are on the cusp with this coach and we were on the cusp with Pearl. There is nothing that tells me we can't be the next consistently great program or at least be in the Final Four soon. Everybody started a some point. Look at Gonzaga. I'm not saying it's gonna happen but why not us? Just looking at the SEC we should on average be the second best program out of 14 teams.

 

[ColinS]

Your first sentence is off target and isn’t happening.

Your second sentence is a fantasy. Every year? With 325 plus teams in the mix?

Those lead to the third which is just dumb.

Do you really think 325 teams are in the mix? Talk about "just dumb". Might be 20 to 25 programs you can look at and say the are capable of winning all. All I'm saying is we could be one of them. I will admit that I should have said almost every year and not every year. Every team has the occasional down year. I will give you that.

 

[HippieVol33]

This thread is toxic. Somebody lock it.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Do you really think 325 teams are in the mix? Talk about "just dumb". Might be 20 to 25 programs you can look at and say the are capable of winning all. All I'm saying is we could be one of them. I will admit that I should have said almost every year and not every year. Every team has the occasional down year. I will give you that.

Yes, 325+ are in the mix every year. It isn’t impossible to quickly fill up a roster with a couple of star players and role players that can win 4 or 5 games in a row. I had no idea who the Loyola Ramblers were and they were in a Final Four less than 3.5 years ago. More than 90 different teams have been in the Final Four while five schools have 55 of the 83 titles. 14 conferences have won NCs, but only 20-25 programs are capable of winning it all? It’s not dumb at all. Each program is competing with over 325 other programs for the EEs, FFs, and beyond. They are spending millions of dollars as well to field championship teams.

 

[HippieVol33]

Nobody said Loyola had a chance, nobody said UCLA had a chance last year, same with Oregon St. It's all about being hot when it matters.

 

[HippieVol33]

EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. There's a team that shows up when it matters most. CBB might be the dumbest sport to argue over.

 

[1985Vols]

I'm a very big Barnes supporter...that being said, those incentives aren't really that harmful to put into a contract given his overall lack of March success. I don't think UT worried too much about agreeing to them.

That being said, I really hope UT has to pay each and every one of them haha!

I think Barnes contract was written with the understanding that you’re talking about a coach that has been to one Final Four in his entire coaching career so obviously odds these extrava incentives will never be paid out.

 

[ColinS]

EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. There's a team that shows up when it matters most. CBB might be the dumbest sport to argue over.

College basketball has it's Cinderella's for sure but they don't win National Championships. You have had a couple of middle of the pack power conference teams get hot and win it all. NC State and Villanova come to mind. But that's big money athletic programs getting hot not Loyola of Chicago.

 

[cardvolfan]

He took over a dumpster fire at Tennessee. He took over a program that had been the the NCAAT 4 of 5 years at Texas. His record at Tennessee is skewed by his first two years as he built the foundation. Minus those two years, he's 70.9% at Tennessee across 4 seasons and the first four games of this season.

Don’t add facts to the mix, Chris. We know records are purely black and white. We don’t want to hear things that might damage the narrative. No reason to look at the big picture and be open and honest about our communication.

 

[VolGee4]

I think Barnes contract was written with the understanding that you’re talking about a coach that has been to one Final Four in his entire coaching career so obviously odds these extrava incentives will never be paid out.

If you understood the economics of it, Barnes getting paid 1.5 for a title pays for itself. The influx of money would far exceed that, and it’s something that has never been done at UT.

But that’s not really what you want to argue.

 

[JelloPuddinPup]

I think Barnes contract was written with the understanding that you’re talking about a coach that has been to one Final Four in his entire coaching career so obviously odds these extrava incentives will never be paid out.

That's essentially what I was implying, and I don't think there's anything wrong with admitting that either.