Best finish: Final Four, 2003
There is a strong argument to be made that Rick Barnes has a clear, impenetrable ceiling shy of the Final Four. After all, he has not been to the national semifinals in more than two decades. Perhaps a breakthrough was never meant to be. But it is, frankly, astonishing that Barnes does not yet have a Final Four appearance at Tennessee considering how consistently elite his teams are. Three of the last four Volunteers squads ranked No. 5 in the final AP Top 25 poll, and all but one team was a top-five seed in the tournament. Given enough swings, Barnes has to hit a home run eventually, right?
