Baylor basketball fans got a little creative with their taunting on Wednesday night when their Bears were facing off with Texas.
Baylor hosted Texas on Wednesday in basketball, and things were looking dire. The Longhorns had a 19-point lead at one point in the second half, and the Bears’ NCAA Tournament resume was about to take a big hit.
Then, Texas collapsed.
The Bears fought back, forced overtime, and eventually escaped with an 84-83 victory to improve to 19-9 on the season.
The Longhorns’ collapse was the biggest story from the game, but Baylor fans stole headlines too because of their brilliant troll towards Texas.
Some Baylor fans pulled out a poster-sized photo of former Texas head coach and current Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes during the game. Texas parted ways with Barnes after the 2014-15 season after he served as their head coach for 17 seasons. Tennessee was quick to swoop in and hire him afterwards.
Baylor fans honoring the great Rick Barnes after his old team coughed up a 19-point lead. pic.twitter.com/OCzo1GXzPO
— Matt Mosley (@mattmosley) February 28, 2019
Since Texas decided to move on from Barnes and hire Shaka Smart as their head coach, the Longhorns have gone just 65-63 overall and have only made two NCAA Tournament appearances and have failed to make it past the first round both times. Texas is currently 15-13 this season and is in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years.
In his 17 seasons at Texas, Barnes led the Longhorns to 16 NCAA Tournament appearances and made it to at least the Sweet Sixteen five times and appeared in the Elite Eight three times. He helped lead Texas to a Final Four in 2003.
Since Tennessee hired him, the Vols have gone 82-47 overall including a combined 51-12 record counting last season’s 26-9 mark and Tennessee’s 25-3 record this year. The Vols ascended to No. 1 overall in the AP Poll this season and stayed there for four-straight weeks. Tennessee has been ranked inside the top-10 of the AP Poll since the beginning of the season and have been a top-five team for 13 weeks.
Last year, the Vols won a share of the regular season SEC title, made it to the SEC Tournament Final, and earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. This season, the Vols are in a three-way tie atop the SEC standings and are making a push for a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
It’s pretty clear who won and lost when Texas let go of Rick Barnes and Tennessee hired him. And Baylor fans let the Longhorns know about it.
