Has Tennessee ever made a Final Four? Vols hope third time's a charm under Barnes
The Tennessee Vols are knocking on the door of the Final Four for the third year in a row. Is this the year Rick Barnes kicks it in?
For the third straight season, Rick Barnes has Tennessee basketball in the Elite Eight. After Sunday, March 29's game against No. 1 Michigan, he's hoping to have taken the Vols where they've never been before.
Despite becoming a March Madness fixture, the Tennessee Vols have never, in their history, made the Final Four. Despite a pedigree of modest success, including 11 regular season SEC titles and and five conference tournament championships (most recently in 2022), Tennessee has not been able to cross the threshold to college basketball's most coveted weekend. ARMOUR: 'Regular-Season Rick' is winning in March.
Rick Barnes won't gloat about it, though The Barnes era marks the closest Tennessee has come, with consistency, even though its best shot arguably came before Barnes' time. The Vols' first Elite Eight trip was under Bruce Pearl in 2010, while Barnes was still roaming the Longhorns bench in Texas. Barnes has taken Tennessee to the 2024, 2025, and 2026 Elite Eights.
There's an argument to be made 2026 is his most impressive run yet, as a No. 6 seed in the Midwest bracket. The Vols went as a No.