“Erase That”: Barnes Regrets Betting Joke After Tennessee Win

Coach Rick Barnes quickly realized he’d crossed a line with a joke after the Tennessee Volunteers’ 77-69 victory over the Auburn Tigers on Saturday. 

“I Shouldn’t Say That, Erase That.”

The Volunteers had struggled with turnovers, coughing the ball up 15 times, and Barnes let his irritation slip in a postgame interview.

“I mean at the end of the game, some of the passes that we throw, I don’t know what to say other than sometimes I wonder if my guys are betting on games,” Barnes said, making media representatives laugh. 

However, almost immediately, he covered his face and tried to backtrack.

“I shouldn’t say that. Erase that,” he continued. “I just wonder what’s happening. I mean, I know that we’re too good of players to do that. Was that bad? Should I not have said that? I apologize. I shouldn’t have said that. But the fact is, we’ve got to get smarter. We do. We got to get smarter. We have to. They know it.”

Frustration Took Over

Barnes went on to explain that his comment was in jest and reflected more his disappointment with the pace of the game than anything else. 

“We’ve got a good group of guys, and I know they don’t want to do it, but sometimes we play so hard on defense, and we’re playing at a really hard frantic pace and we’re not able to gear it down like we need to on offense because it’s got to be played a different pace, and we’re still a little too frantic on the offensive end.”

In Tennessee’s case, the turnovers were spread across all five starters, and some late mistakes allowed Auburn to cut into the Volunteers’ lead. 

However, Tennessee held on to secure the win and improve to 15-6 on the season. Barnes’ slip of the tongue may have drawn attention, but it also highlighted the pressure and frustration of coaching a team through a hard-fought game.

His caution was understandable given the climate around college sports right now. Just recently, 20 men were charged in a point-shaving scandal involving more than 30 players accused of trying to profit by manipulating game outcomes. 

In that context, even a lighthearted comment about betting could be easily misunderstood.