Buzz Peterson has been here before.
He did it last year. He won it four years ago.
The Owens Corning National Invitational Tournament knows the Vols’ third-year coach well. Other than conference tournaments, the NIT is the only postseason action Peterson has seen since taking Appalachian State to the Big Dance in 2000.
But with Tennessee missing out on March Madness for the third-straight year, Peterson has found solace in his team’s disappointment.
“There are only two teams that end the year on a positive note,” he said. “We have a chance to end the season with a win. We have to win six games to do that.”
Most teams would only need to win five games, but the Vols must first play an opening round game against George Mason to even advance into the first round.
Peterson said, regardless, the situation is positive.
“We have a chance to get the bad taste out of our mouths (from the SEC Tournament),” he said. “We want to erase those memories and move on.”
Moving on was something UT had trouble with last season. The Vols were dominated by Georgetown 70-60 in the first round of the NIT last year.
Peterson will look for a different experience this time.
“Last year, we went into (the NIT) really frustrated that we didn’t get into the NCAAs,” he said. “Our mindset wasn’t where it should be, and then we had to turn around in 48 hours and play Georgetown.
“Your mindset going in has to be that you’re going to win the thing, and you’re going to get some extra games.”
Tennessee adopted the same mindset going to Atlanta. The result was an 84-49 blowout loss to Alabama and a quick and unmemorable exit from the SEC Tournament.
Adequate reason for a turnaround on Wednesday in Fairfax, Va., Peterson said.
“That’d be nice to get 21 wins,” he said. “It’s not going to be easy, but it is something that we can strive for. Going on the road and winning at George Mason would be nice for this ball club.”
At this point, just playing well on the road would be nice for the Vols. Peterson said that other than a blowout loss to Kentucky on Feb. 25, his young team had made the necessary strides.
“It’s just mental,” he said. “We’ve been close and it would have been nice to steal a couple on the road.
“If that would have happened, we would have been talking about something a lot different than we are now.”
