With the loss to No. 17 Auburn on Sunday, Tennessee's chances of getting an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament are essentially non-existent.
The only way to get in now is to win the SEC tournament.
Tennessee is locked in at the No. 8 seed for the tournament. They will play Alabama on Thursday in Nashville at 1 p.m. EST.
Since Arkansas lost to Texas A&M, Alabama will be the 9-seed and Tennessee's opponent on Thursday.
Barnes confirmed Saturday that Tennessee will play in the NIT if they are invited.