The Tennessee Vols suffered a second straight heartbreaking loss on Saturday night.

For the second game in a row, the Vols lost on a buzzer-beating three-pointer while up two points. Both losses came after guard Santiago Vescovi was unable to convert at the free throw line, which would've iced the game for Tennessee.

Vescovi has to be better in those situations, but ultimately these losses fall on one person — Vols head coach Rick Barnes.

And there's a truth about Barnes that Tennessee fans need to accept.

Barnes has peaked at UT.

The last five to six years are as good as it's ever going to get with Barnes at the helm.

Now, that's not an insult to Barnes. I think Barnes is a Hall of Fame coach. And I think he's been everything the Vols could've hoped for when they hired him in 2015.

Tennessee basketball has been relevant during the duration of Barnes' tenure. The Vols were the No. 1 team in the nation under Barnes. And they won an SEC Tournament championship thanks to Barnes. No one is suggesting that Barnes has been a letdown in any way at UT. He's going to have a special place in Vols history.

But if fans are hoping that Barnes suddenly becomes a coach that will lead Tennessee to a championship, they're likely going to be disappointed. Barnes has been a head coach since 1987 and he's reached one Final Four. There's a body of work that stretches nearly 40 years that shows us exactly who Barnes is — a good coach that will keep a team in the top 25 most years, reach the tournament regularly, and then get bounced before the Elite Eight.

There's no evidence that suggests otherwise.

So what's the takeaway here?

I think it comes down to fans and leadership at Tennessee asking what they want out of Vols basketball.

Is hovering inside the top 25, making the tournament most years, and exiting the tournament before the second weekend in most years enough?

Or should the program have its sights set higher?

We've quickly seen at Tennessee with the right head coach in place that great things can happen. UT football just had its best season in over 20 years thanks to Josh Heupel. And Tennessee baseball is among the top programs in the nation thanks to Tony Vitello.

Vols basketball can be just as good as any program in the nation. Barnes has proven that elite talent can be landed at Tennessee. And he's proven that UT can have some staying power in college basketball. The program just needs to take that next step.

And I just don't see that happening under Barnes — a 68-year-old who runs an antiquated offensive scheme and hasn't really evolved much in the latter half of his coaching career.

I'm not calling for Barnes to be fired — I think that's silly talk. You don't fire a coach who is getting to the tournament every season (just look at UNC and Duke this season — two blue-blood programs that are struggling by their usual standards).

But it might be time for Tennessee athletic director Danny White to have some tough conversations with Barnes. Maybe those conversations center around retirement. Or maybe they center around Barnes committing to change of some sort. Perhaps letting an assistant have more of an impact on the Vols' offensive playing style.

Whatever conversations happen, Tennessee basketball fans simply have to stop hoping that Barnes is going to be anything other than what he's been for the last 35-plus years. Barnes' identity is what it is at this point and it would be foolish to expect that to change.

The Vols are at a crossroads. Moving on from Barnes and making the wrong hire could send Tennessee back into the abyss. Sticking with Barnes would almost certainly mean more of the same.

It all depends on what Tennessee wants out of its basketball program.

With White leading the athletic department, the answer to that question is likely "championships" — he doesn't set his sights low.

That's why I think there could be some major changes when it comes to Vols basketball in the next year or two.

Featured image via Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports