Mike Strange: Tennessee tough? Still working on it

Peering into the crystal ball back in October, the view at the top was clear. Same at the very bottom.

In between, everything was cloudy.

That's the SEC men's basketball crystal ball. Line up the preseason predictions next to the seeding for the SEC tournament that begins Wednesday in Nashville. In both places, Kentucky's on the top line, followed by Florida. Missouri's on the bottom line both places.

Auburn was predicted 11th and finishes 11th. That's it for Nostradamus.

The biggest over-achievers? Tennessee and South Carolina, each with a four-notch jump. The Gamecocks were picked eighth and landed the No. 4 seed. The Vols, picked 13th, got the No. 9 seed.

Ole Miss, the No. 6 seed, finished three lines higher than expected, Arkansas, at No. 3, and Alabama, at No. 5, improved two lines each.

Texas A&M wears the dunce cap. The Aggies were picked for third and report to Nashville as the No. 10 seed.

Mississippi State underachieved by two spots, Vanderbilt and LSU one each.

Rick Barnes wasn't taking solace Monday in beating expectations. Nobody chants, "We're Number Nine!"

He knew his team could have, should have finished stronger and, thus, be better positioned for the postseason.

"At the beginning of the year, we never saw ourselves as a 13th pick,'' Barnes said. "I was asked if I thought we were capable of being a postseason team and I said I do think that.''

Barnes believed some of his freshmen were going to be a pleasant surprise, Grant Williams in particular. He anticipated returning players Robert Hubbs III, Admiral Schofield and the rest improving. They did, modestly.

During a tough non-conference schedule, the Vols turned out not to be terribly over-matched after all. By the end of January, Tennessee was in the thick of bracketology talk.

"We were in position coming down the stretch,'' Barnes said, "but we didn't take it to another level. I'm talking about intensity, focus. ... We leveled off on the mental side. I don't think we had bad days of practice but did I see us moving the needle just a little bit forward? I didn't.''

The needle was backsliding most of February. A 59-54 win over Alabama on Saturday snapped a three-game skid.

Why didn't the Vols extend their surge? Injuries and illness were factors. But that stuff is hardly unique to Tennessee. Look at Georgia, Tennessee's opening-round SEC tournament foe. Yante Maten, an All-SEC big man, has been out almost a month and probably won't play Thursday.

Immaturity was another culprit. When the intensity ratcheted up in February, Tennessee couldn't stand the heat.

Thus the Vols report to Nashville this week far behind the NCAA tournament 8-ball. The 13 seed plays Wednesday night. At least surpassing expectations is worth a bye until Thursday. Get past Georgia and the reward is a rested Kentucky on Friday in what will amount to a Rupp Arena on Lower Broadway atmosphere.

Conference tournaments often swing on which teams are interested in continuing to practice and play at this point and which are ready for spring break. It would behoove the Vols, for future considerations, to stick around Nashville and work on that mental toughness component.

"There will be some things we'll tell our guys they should feel good about,'' Barnes said, "but there will be some other things that we'll make sure, going forward, they understand we have to get better at. Because that's our goal, to be in (the NCAA) tournament.

"We were good enough. Were we tough enough? We still haven't proven that.''

Mike Strange may be reached at mike.strange@knoxnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at Strangemike44.