The Tennessee Vols' 2024-25 season came to a disappointing end on Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis. 

Tennessee was completely dominated by the Houston Cougars in the Elite Eight on Sunday, falling 69-50 in a game that was never particularly close. 

The Cougars outscored the Vols 30-14 in the paint. Houston also shot 42 percent from the field while Tennessee shot just 29 percent. 

It was an ugly end to an NCAA Tournament run for the Volunteers that seemingly had a lot of promise after a convincing win against the Kentucky Wildcats in the Sweet 16. 

While the loss is undoubtedly still fresh for Tennessee, the attention will immediately turn to next season with the Vols set to lose numerous key players from this year's squad. 

UT head coach Rick Barnes, however, isn't deterred by the fact that he's losing important culture players like Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack (Barnes has been through this before....such as the end of the Grant Williams era). 

Barnes told reporters after the loss to Houston that Tennessee "owes it" to Zeigler and Mashack to take the program to another level moving forward. 

"You got two guys in particular that have been with us [for] four years in Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack, who I think, [when] we look back, they'll be the two most accomplished Tennessee Volunteers players ever," said Barnes. " (in the tournament)." 

It certainly sounds like Barnes, despite the fact that he'll turn 71 later this summer, is as hungry as ever. 

There are some things that Tennessee needs to fix moving forward -- such as finding a consistent scoring presence in the paint -- but I don't think there's any doubt that Barnes, regardless of what the roster looks like next fall, will put another quality product on the court in 2025-26.