Tennessee Basketball: 3 reasons why the Vols will win the SEC in 2018-19

ST LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Rick Barnes the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers gives instructions to his team against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the semifinals of the 2018 SEC Basketball Tournament at Scottrade Center on March 10, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

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DALLAS, TX – MARCH 17: Admiral Schofield #5 of the Tennessee Volunteers reacts in the second half against the Loyola Ramblers during the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at the American Airlines Center on March 17, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

Massive edge in experience for the Vols

A couple of years ago Rick Barnes played an 11-man rotation that included three upperclassmen and eight underclassmen. And while the team fought hard and earned accolades for staying close with ranked opponents such as North Carolina, Gonzaga, Wisconsin, and Oregon, the results were all the same (losses).

But that was an important period for that core group of players, learning how to win and overcome talent disparities to pull of the upset, including at the time a program-defining win over Kentucky on Jan. 4, 2017. Tennessee really became a tough out from that point on for the rest of the season, using those lessons to turn close losses into convincing wins the following year.

In terms of overall team experience, the Vols by far has the edge in that battle over the other heavyweights. As great as the talent that Kentucky turns over each season, it makes them a young team prone to bad losses. The SEC is so difficult from top to bottom that the Wildcats are much more likely to drop a game out of nowhere than the Vols.

Same can be said for Auburn, who brings in two players (Danjel Purifoy and Austin Wiley) who haven’t experienced any true winning at the D-1 level. The won’t have the cohesion of Tennessee, who brings back five starters with over 60 career starts each.

Teams like Vanderbilt and LSU are babies compared to Tennessee and while Mississippi State is the closest to the Vols in terms of returning experience, they don’t have nearly the big-game exposure like the Vols, evident by the Bulldogs’ very poor non-conference strength of schedule. Regardless of talent, no team will be more prepared for SEC play than the one residing in Knoxville.

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