TheHill98

But it wasn’t single elimination…. The regionals in Fayetteville was double elimination and the hogs had to lose 2 games against NC State in the supers to be kicked out the tournament. Also, can’t see the benefit of risking the health of college athletes who may now have to play 17 games.

I was there and I definitely think that Tre Morgan was the target of the fans. That said, the Tennessee fans did not say anything that could be determined as “nasty”, unless them saying that Dugas “doesn’t smell very good” is nasty, and to top it off, Tre Morgan was the best player on the field on either team that weekend, batting above .650 for the series, had zero errors, and becoming the SEC leader for hits this season in the process. I had a tremendous amount of respect for Mainieri but I’ve lost just about all of it for him after his comments. On Saturday’s game, LSU finished with 17 hits and still couldn’t win the game. If you lose a game with 17 hits, then that’s on YOUR team.

Although you’re clearly right about the system we play in, I was referring more to the collapse of the program. With the resources Tennessee had at their disposal throughout the season, the coaching staff, and overall athletic department support, there really isn’t an excuse for how poorly this team played. This wasn’t an upset like O.R and O. State, I honestly wasn’t even shocked that we lost. I’m not as annoyed as I would be if this was a non-COVID year, and I know how hard it must have been, but it still doesn’t justify how poorly the team played. Barnes clearly is not a great offensive coach, so something needs to be shaken up within his support staff.

How does this happen? 3 five star recruits on the roster, a preseason rank in the top 15, a coach with 30+ years of experience and ranked 7th in most wins for active coaches, ranked 4th in defensive efficiency, and we lose by double digits to Oregon State. All credit to Tickle and his team, they completely outplayed Tennessee and 100% deserved to win. These kids are young, and I respect that, but I do not think that our coaching staff did remotely enough to prepare these guys to play on college basketball's biggest stage. Rick Barnes made Tennessee basketball relevant for the first time since Pearl, but the scant moments of quality are often overshadowed by the long, painful periods of mediocrity. I love Rick Barnes, but I have way too many questions about the collapse of this team over the course of the season. If this program doesn't take a big step up overall, I can see 2021-22 being Rick's last season on Rocky Top. Nothing but love for the big orange, but incredibly disappointed with the level of performance for a team that had so much potential.