Tennessee's Rick Barnes: NCAA Tournament selection committee should answer for its bracket decisions
Rick Barnes held a news conference to preview Tennessee basketball in the NCAA Tournament on Monday.
The Vols coach used it to propose an idea for another news conference that should have taken place Monday.
“What I do believe is after Selection Sunday that the chairman or the people of the committee should have to have a national day of press conferences where they can be asked questions by you all,” Barnes said. “Not just for three minutes or two minutes. But from people who have really covered college basketball throughout.”
Barnes’ comments came after Tennessee was assigned a No. 3 seed for the NCAA Tournament, despite having a better resume than Duke and winning two of three games against Kentucky — both of which earned No. 2 seeds. The Vols will face No. 14 Longwood on Thursday (2:45 p.m. ET, CBS) in Indianapolis, Indiana.
NCAA Selection Committee Chair Tom Burnett briefly answered questions on CBS after the bracket was announced. Barnes felt those involved in the bracket should have to address seeding and decisions with more depth the day after unveiling the 68-team field.
"For our game, maybe a press conference where tough questions have to be answered, help people going forward,” Barnes said
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Tennessee enters the NCAA Tournament having won 15 of its past 17 games. UT ran through the SEC Tournament and claimed the title Sunday, beating Texas A&M 65-50 for the program’s first conference tournament title since 1979.
The Vols were projected as a No. 3 seed entering the weekend despite having a more compelling profile than other potential No. 2 seeds, according to the NET rankings. It left the weekend in the same position.
“It doesn’t look like the tournament helped us,” Barnes said.
UT has the second most Quadrant 1 victories in the nation with 11, trailing only Kansas’ 12. Baylor and Gonzaga had 10 each. All three earned No. 1 seeds. The Vols did not lose a game to a team ranked lower than No. 30 in the NET.
Tennessee was 4-2 against teams that earned a No. 1 or No. 2 seed. UT got one of those wins in Tampa, against Kentucky in the SEC Tournament semifinals.
But Barnes was left questioning the conference tournament’s importance. It didn’t appear to improve Tennessee’s seeding, which led him to pose that teams like the Vols — which are safely in the 68-team field already — should sit out the conference tournament and allow teams that are on the bubble to fight for an automatic bid.
His comments were focused on Texas A&M, which did not receive an invite to the NCAA Tournament despite an impressive run in Tampa and a strong finish to the regular season.
“Those are the questions that should be asked and answered,” Barnes said. “There are people out there much more thorough in terms of looking at resumes and stuff like that.
“From a coaching standpoint, this is what we have.”
Tennessee will travel to Indianapolis on Tuesday and have a practice at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Wednesday. It will play Thursday, with the seeding settled and the matchups made.
“It is what it is and we have to go play basketball,” Barnes said.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Rick Barnes reacts to Tennessee basketball as No. 3 in NCAA Tournament
