It was barely over an hour ahead of tipoff before the Southeastern Conference cancelled its tournament Thursday amid the coronavirus. Tennessee basketball was set to face the Alabama Crimson Tide at 1 p.m. ET. However, as we reported here, Rick Barnes spoke out against it immediately beforehand.
Less than five minutes after reports of what he said were brought to light, the league announced the cancellation of the tournament. Barnes and many other people expressed their relief, but this all came amidst a PR backlash.
Unfortunately for Rocky Top, the coronavirus is not the first time in the past two decades that the SEC nearly forced UT to compete amidst a crisis.