Remember Me? Rick Barnes Wanted UT Vols (Not 'Horns) in 2024 Sweet 16

Rick Barnes, despite directing Texas to the NCAA playoffs 16 times in his 17 seasons with them, was canned by the Longhorns following the 2014-15 campaign after failing to advance to the Sweet 16 for the seventh straight year. As #2 seed Tennessee's mentor, he wanted to mess with Texas this year and have the Volunteers, not the 'Horns, reach the Sweet 16 when they opposed each other in Midwest Regional second round. It was also an emotional second-round reunion for Oregon's Dana Altman when he lost in double overtime against Creighton, which he directed to seven NCAA tourneys in a nine-year span from 1999 through 2007.

There should be an extra dose of spice to the "UT vs. UT" contest comparable to passionate pilot Bobby Hurley hurling invective as Arizona State, infected by competing against undisciplined St. John's in First Four five years ago, stumbled badly against his old stomping grounds (Buffalo). Hurley steered the Bulls to the 2015 NCAA playoffs before departing for the Sun Devils. X marked the first head coaching spot for Sean Miller when he directed Xavier for five seasons from 2004-05 through 2008-09 before leaving with nine years remaining on a contract to join Arizona. In 2017, the Cincinnati-based Jesuit school meant eXit for the frustrated mentor seeking his initial Final Four appearance. Miller, who guided the Musketeers to a regional semifinal each of his last two campaigns with them, opposed his old stomping grounds in the West Regional for the second time in three-year span.

Norm Sloan is the only coach to post an NCAA playoff victory against a school he previously guided to the national championship. Sloan was Florida's mentor in 1987 when the Gators notched an 82-70 first-round triumph over North Carolina State, the institution he took to the 1974 title.

Gene Bartow is the only individual to oppose two different schools in the playoffs he previously coached to the Final Four (UAB lost against Memphis State in 1985 and UCLA in 1990). North Carolina's Roy Williams lost three times by double-digit margins against Kansas in a six-year span from 2008 through 2013 after guiding the Jayhawks to the Final Four on four occasions (1991, 1993, 2002 and 2003).

Lute Olson is the only coach to twice defeat the same school he previously took to the NCAA playoffs (Arizona beat Iowa in 1988 and 1996). Barnes and Altman are among the 18 different bench bosses on the following chronological list of "muscle-memory" mentors opposing a school in the NCAA Tournament they previously directed in the playoffs: