The Tennessee Vols' 2021-22 season came to an end this weekend via a 76-68 loss to the Michigan Wolverines in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Tennessee won their first SEC Tournament Championship in 43 years this season, but losing in the second round of the NCAA tourney will undoubtedly leave a bitter taste for fans this offseason.

The loss marked the ninth time in the last 10 tries that Rick Barnes has failed to advance past the opening weekend (dating back to Barnes' time at Texas).

Understandably, some folks are frustrated with Barnes after watching a talented Tennessee basketball team fail to live up to expectations in the NCAA Tournament.

While the loss to Michigan doesn't necessarily fall on Barnes — the Vols' were atrocious from beyond the three-point line (2-for-18) — it's still another red flag on his tourney resumé.

I think two things are true of Barnes at this point:

1. Barnes is a Hall of Fame basketball coach who has done a great job at Tennessee.
2. Barnes is never going to win a national championship and he likely will never make another Final Four.

Tennessee basketball is in a better spot under Barnes than it was under Cuonzo Martin and Donnie Tyndall. It's even in a better spot than it was under Bruce Pearl.

The Vols winning their first SEC Tournament in 43 years is an incredible accomplishment. And Tennessee fans should be forever grateful to Barnes for bringing an SEC Tournament Championship banner to Thompson-Boling Arena.

But this is the ceiling for the program. Barnes' teams simply don't perform in the NCAA Tournament. That's not an opinion at this point. We have decades of results to back up that claim.

It's a weird place for the Vols to be in right now. Barnes isn't a coach that Tennessee is going to force into retirement. Nor should they. There isn't some obvious replacement out there for Barnes that can take this program to the next level. In fact, I think there's a legitimate concern about the program regressing once Barnes leaves (just like Texas regressed after they fired Barnes).

But at the same time, this is as good as it's going to get with Barnes running the ship. He's had an insane amount of talent at UT and hasn't been able to deliver anything more than one Sweet 16 appearance.

For now, I think Tennessee fans need to enjoy Barnes and enjoy being a perennial NCAA Tournament team. The expectations, however, shouldn't be more than an appearance in the tourney at this point. Enjoy the NCAA tourney run if it happens, but don't get upset when it ends after the first weekend.

There's simply no good reason to move on from Barnes and no good reason to raise expectations.

It's a strange place for the program to be in, but it's much better than being relegated to the NIT every season.

Featured image via USA TODAY Sports