CSNbbs

I bet you couldn't guess which of the 14 teams I am a fan of based on the thread title :)

Texas A&M has impressed me, and I believe are currently in sole possession of 2nd place in the league, winners of 7 of 8. They and Ole Miss both have taken off after their close losses to UK, and are playing like tournament teams. Both Kennedys are doing outstanding work.

South Carolina looked great for a while, then hit a wall, Tennessee looked ahead of schedule under Tyndall but not sure what his deal will make for UT's future.

Didn't think Florida was a top-10 team before the season, but expected them to at least be Top 25 and am disappointed in how they've looked - yeah, they lost four key players from last year, but they still have the second most talented roster in the league overall, in my opinion, though the Bayou Bengals and Hawgs certainly have talented rosters too.

Two of the teams expected to be among the 3 or 4 worst in the league are making strides, and that's because they have hands-down two of the best coaches in the league, Vanderbilt and Auburn. Neither will be close to an automatic win for anyone the rest of the season, imo.

I still think Arkansas is probably the second best team in league, with apologies to TAMU who currently have the slot in the standings, and look forward to seeing them continue their re-emergence to the Nolan days.

Georgia and LSU both have the ability/matchup style to pick UK off in the games they play, I thought on paper they would be the two toughest games for UK headed into conference, and still believe that, despite LSU dropping a couple they shouldn't have in conference play thus far - of course we all do that from time to time, and it makes us hear all the "no one in the SEC is really any good" stuff we hear, though they pick each other as much as just about any other conference. Both should be tourney teams, and deservedly so.

I don't know about Alabama, I feel like they should be better than they are, and I honestly was surprised Anthony Grant made it to this year. Still have a high ceiling for the future there.

Missouri and Mississippi State - hang in there guys - both teams have shown improvement from the start of the season. Missouri in particular has the ability to improve in a hurry in the next couple years.

Does anyone else here watch basketball? Or am I on a lonely Big Blue island?!

(02-08-2015 01:24 AM)Blue Dynasty Wrote: [ -> ]I bet you couldn't guess which of the 14 teams I am a fan of based on the thread title :)

Texas A&M has impressed me, and I believe are currently in sole possession of 2nd place in the league, winners of 7 of 8. They and Ole Miss both have taken off after their close losses to UK, and are playing like tournament teams. Both Kennedys are doing outstanding work.

South Carolina looked great for a while, then hit a wall, Tennessee looked ahead of schedule under Tyndall but not sure what his deal will make for UT's future.

Didn't think Florida was a top-10 team before the season, but expected them to at least be Top 25 and am disappointed in how they've looked - yeah, they lost four key players from last year, but they still have the second most talented roster in the league overall, in my opinion, though the Bayou Bengals and Hawgs certainly have talented rosters too.

Two of the teams expected to be among the 3 or 4 worst in the league are making strides, and that's because they have hands-down two of the best coaches in the league, Vanderbilt and Auburn. Neither will be close to an automatic win for anyone the rest of the season, imo.

I still think Arkansas is probably the second best team in league, with apologies to TAMU who currently have the slot in the standings, and look forward to seeing them continue their re-emergence to the Nolan days.

Georgia and LSU both have the ability/matchup style to pick UK off in the games they play, I thought on paper they would be the two toughest games for UK headed into conference, and still believe that, despite LSU dropping a couple they shouldn't have in conference play thus far - of course we all do that from time to time, and it makes us hear all the "no one in the SEC is really any good" stuff we hear, though they pick each other as much as just about any other conference. Both should be tourney teams, and deservedly so.

I don't know about Alabama, I feel like they should be better than they are, and I honestly was surprised Anthony Grant made it to this year. Still have a high ceiling for the future there.

Missouri and Mississippi State - hang in there guys - both teams have shown improvement from the start of the season. Missouri in particular has the ability to improve in a hurry in the next couple years.

Does anyone else here watch basketball? Or am I on a lonely Big Blue island?!

I agree with your assessments. What I would add is that the ACC is over rated outside of Virginia, and the Big 10 has a wide middle with little at the top. I'm not so sure that Kentucky would be any worse off playing a Big 10 or ACC schedule this year with the exception of Virginia and even then I like the Wildcats chances just on talent alone.

Parity has come to college basketball in the same doses that it has hit college football. While that makes for an interesting regular season, it doesn't leave us with much of a feeling about tournament which I believe will be the most difficult to seed in recent memory. The top 8 might be reasonably decided but beyond that the rest of the 57 will be tough to justify one way or the other.

As for the blue bloods of hoops Kansas is not stellar, nor is U.N.C., Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Michigan State, Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana, U.C.L.A., Arizona, Louisville, Gonzaga, Butler, V.C.U., or many of the other tourney darlings of recent years. IMO it is the Cat's year to take it unless they give it away. They just need to avoid a U.N.L.V. style let down in the tourney.

There are some saying the SEC might land as many as 6 this year. We'll see. But at least the talk about our schools isn't as negative as it has been in the recent past. Last year's tournament should have given us more cred in my opinion. We had half of the final four and almost had 3/4's of it. But like in football the biggest reason I believe we have parity is because most of the freshman I've seen have no fundamental skills. Too many of our high schools build a season around 1 stud and four guys who aren't terrible. So the stars that arrive at our campuses aren't familiar at all with the ballet that can be basketball. They aren't trained to move the ball around, spot an open man when they are doubled, run a pick, or for that matter handle the physical level of play which is much more intense at the college level. I think that is why it took a year for the Harrison twins to assert themselves as fully as they have this year. Oh well, we'll see.

(02-08-2015 10:43 AM)JRsec Wrote: [ -> ]

(02-08-2015 01:24 AM)Blue Dynasty Wrote: [ -> ]I bet you couldn't guess which of the 14 teams I am a fan of based on the thread title :)

Texas A&M has impressed me, and I believe are currently in sole possession of 2nd place in the league, winners of 7 of 8. They and Ole Miss both have taken off after their close losses to UK, and are playing like tournament teams. Both Kennedys are doing outstanding work.

South Carolina looked great for a while, then hit a wall, Tennessee looked ahead of schedule under Tyndall but not sure what his deal will make for UT's future.

Didn't think Florida was a top-10 team before the season, but expected them to at least be Top 25 and am disappointed in how they've looked - yeah, they lost four key players from last year, but they still have the second most talented roster in the league overall, in my opinion, though the Bayou Bengals and Hawgs certainly have talented rosters too.

Two of the teams expected to be among the 3 or 4 worst in the league are making strides, and that's because they have hands-down two of the best coaches in the league, Vanderbilt and Auburn. Neither will be close to an automatic win for anyone the rest of the season, imo.

I still think Arkansas is probably the second best team in league, with apologies to TAMU who currently have the slot in the standings, and look forward to seeing them continue their re-emergence to the Nolan days.

Georgia and LSU both have the ability/matchup style to pick UK off in the games they play, I thought on paper they would be the two toughest games for UK headed into conference, and still believe that, despite LSU dropping a couple they shouldn't have in conference play thus far - of course we all do that from time to time, and it makes us hear all the "no one in the SEC is really any good" stuff we hear, though they pick each other as much as just about any other conference. Both should be tourney teams, and deservedly so.

I don't know about Alabama, I feel like they should be better than they are, and I honestly was surprised Anthony Grant made it to this year. Still have a high ceiling for the future there.

Missouri and Mississippi State - hang in there guys - both teams have shown improvement from the start of the season. Missouri in particular has the ability to improve in a hurry in the next couple years.

Does anyone else here watch basketball? Or am I on a lonely Big Blue island?!

I agree with your assessments. What I would add is that the ACC is over rated outside of Virginia, and the Big 10 has a wide middle with little at the top. I'm not so sure that Kentucky would be any worse off playing a Big 10 or ACC schedule this year with the exception of Virginia and even then I like the Wildcats chances just on talent alone.

Parity has come to college basketball in the same doses that it has hit college football. While that makes for an interesting regular season, it doesn't leave us with much of a feeling about tournament which I believe will be the most difficult to seed in recent memory. The top 8 might be reasonably decided but beyond that the rest of the 57 will be tough to justify one way or the other.

As for the blue bloods of hoops Kansas is not stellar, nor is U.N.C., Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Michigan State, Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana, U.C.L.A., Arizona, Louisville, Gonzaga, Butler, V.C.U., or many of the other tourney darlings of recent years. IMO it is the Cat's year to take it unless they give it away. They just need to avoid a U.N.L.V. style let down in the tourney.

There are some saying the SEC might land as many as 6 this year. We'll see. But at least the talk about our schools isn't as negative as it has been in the recent past. Last year's tournament should have given us more cred in my opinion. We had half of the final four and almost had 3/4's of it. But like in football the biggest reason I believe we have parity is because most of the freshman I've seen have no fundamental skills. Too many of our high schools build a season around 1 stud and four guys who aren't terrible. So the stars that arrive at our campuses aren't familiar at all with the ballet that can be basketball. They aren't trained to move the ball around, spot an open man when they are doubled, run a pick, or for that matter handle the physical level of play which is much more intense at the college level. I think that is why it took a year for the Harrison twins to assert themselves as fully as they have this year. Oh well, we'll see.

Agree wholeheartedly with your thoughts, JR, re: parity in general, lost fundamentals, and the lopsided logic every single year on the SEC compared to rest. Definitely agree that the ACC is overrated as a whole, I mean the league is obviously good to have five teams ranked, but they act like it's like running through the meat grinder the SEC is in football - it's not. The ranked teams are good, though agreed individually all are probably overrated other than UVa and Duke, who when playing right, is as good as anybody. There are two or three more are capable of getting you on a good night for them (Miami, NC State, maybe Syracuse), the rest of the league is pretty terrible imo. Miami is a good example of a double-standard, they go into Cameron Indoor and beat up on Duke, and talk about how maybe Miami should be ranked, and the ACC is a grinder - swept under the rug is when EKU beat Miami by 28 earlier in the year. It happens - doesn't mean Miami is completely terrible, but does show a lack of consistency when similar things happen in other leaagues. Big Ten has one great team (Wisc) one team with a good ranking though how good remains to be seen (UMd), and a bunch of middling teams, as you said. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But it is what it is.

It's just funny to me the abuse the SEC takes most years, when in the highly thought of Big 12, Texas Tech, who is perhaps the worst P5 team in any league this year, beats Iowa State, it's because "anybody can beat anybody in this league, they're all good". Auburn beats LSU, both teams get thrown under the bus and backed over, can't be because AU has one of the best Xs and Os coaches in America and one of the best scorers in America, and had a good night in the Bayou.

I'm a UK fan, ergo, I am a basketball nut. I watch it as much as I can, on all the low-rated networks on my system, up to the major nationally televised games, I take in as much as I can. I'd like to think I am pretty knowledgeable on the game and in comparing our teams to the rest that's out there. The SEC has as many tournament-capable teams as any league. We deserved more than just UK, UF and UT last year, and hopefully we get twice that amount this year as you mentioned. UK, Arky, LSU, TAMU, Ole Miss, UGa, all look like March teams to me, and UT and SC had tournament resumes before hitting the skids a bit recently. And that's not counting the team that was expected to not only make it, but be a 2 or 3 seed going into the season, Florida. I am really hoping for 6, would be great for our league.

I haven't been able to watch a ton of games this year, but I definitely agree that the stage is set for UK - and frankly, if they don't win it all, it's definitely an underachievement, even considering the volatile and unpredictable nature of the tournament. There simply aren't other great or potentially great teams out there this year.

Close to home, the Big 12 is very solid from top to bottom, but our only top-shelf program is flawed and schizophrenic. I do think our league is very strong overall, but to contrast it with SEC football, there just is not the depth of teams that can challenge for the title year after year, and our top brand is frustratingly prone to early exits (even if "early" is sometimes defined as "Sweet 16", which is a good run for many teams).

I'm also enough of an old fart to bemoan the continued drop in fundamentals. I know everyone is desperate for more scoring, but I think the shorter shot clock proposal (that even people like Bill Self favor) is not a good idea. All that will get is more bad possessions marred by sloppy play.

I also think it was inevitable that the coaches would win last year's game of chicken in terms of trying to reduce the contact in games. There were two possible outcomes - the referees would remain consistent in calling tighter games, and teams would have to adjust, or else the powers that be would be unwilling to wait out an adjustment period because of the outcry on message boards, sports radio and SportsCenter, and have refs swallow their whistles. Naturally, the latter occurred, even though there's was definitely potential for adjustment to have taken place had the referees remained steadfast. So now we're talking about a shorter shot clock. I will always root for KU to win, but I won't be alone in finding other entertainment options if the NCAA goes too far down the road of taking away NCAA hoops' unique character and just turning it into "NBA Lite".

The Big Ten is either going to surprise everyone at the Tournament or it is going to have a very short lifespan in the Tournament. There are some strong squads in the Big Ten this year but unfortunately there isn't a very clear hierarchy this year. There is immense parity. That doesn't mean the conference is weak. That just makes it very hard to rank them.

(02-09-2015 11:42 AM)BewareThePhog Wrote: [ -> ]I haven't been able to watch a ton of games this year, but I definitely agree that the stage is set for UK - and frankly, if they don't win it all, it's definitely an underachievement, even considering the volatile and unpredictable nature of the tournament. There simply aren't other great or potentially great teams out there this year.

Close to home, the Big 12 is very solid from top to bottom, but our only top-shelf program is flawed and schizophrenic. I do think our league is very strong overall, but to contrast it with SEC football, there just is not the depth of teams that can challenge for the title year after year, and our top brand is frustratingly prone to early exits (even if "early" is sometimes defined as "Sweet 16", which is a good run for many teams).

I'm also enough of an old fart to bemoan the continued drop in fundamentals. I know everyone is desperate for more scoring, but I think the shorter shot clock proposal (that even people like Bill Self favor) is not a good idea. All that will get is more bad possessions marred by sloppy play.

I also think it was inevitable that the coaches would win last year's game of chicken in terms of trying to reduce the contact in games. There were two possible outcomes - the referees would remain consistent in calling tighter games, and teams would have to adjust, or else the powers that be would be unwilling to wait out an adjustment period because of the outcry on message boards, sports radio and SportsCenter, and have refs swallow their whistles. Naturally, the latter occurred, even though there's was definitely potential for adjustment to have taken place had the referees remained steadfast. So now we're talking about a shorter shot clock. I will always root for KU to win, but I won't be alone in finding other entertainment options if the NCAA goes too far down the road of taking away NCAA hoops' unique character and just turning it into "NBA Lite".

I'm in complete agreement Phog. The last thing we need is less offense by design. Run down and throw it up just isn't basketball, and if I want to watch that I'll go to the YMCA and watch a pick up game. Basketball played as a team sport can be beautiful to watch and enjoyable for even a novice fan. But run and shoot and to body foul the shooter (if not outright mug him) under the basket isn't what I want to see either. And being another old guy, I just get sick of watching layups where the shooter takes 4 or even 5 steps to the basket and begins the drive with a palm.

Kentucky is definitely the team to beat this year. They are the deepest & most talented. LSU has a chance to pull an upset in conference but the Cats should enter the dance undefeated. Virginia would be a great game, I would give them the advantage on defense but the offensive edge would go to UK. I would love to see that game. Wisconsin may be another that could pull an upset. A healthy Texas could be another. I dont know anything about Gonzaga so I cant comment on them.

Its hard to rank the conferences because like you all have said there is so much parity. The Big 12 maybe the toughest top to bottom but there isn't a drastic difference between any of them. As for the shot clock I would leave it alone.

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(02-09-2015 07:28 PM)Lenvillecards Wrote: [ -> ]Kentucky is definitely the team to beat this year. They are the deepest & most talented. LSU has a chance to pull an upset in conference but the Cats should enter the dance undefeated. Virginia would be a great game, I would give them the advantage on defense but the offensive edge would go to UK. I would love to see that game. Wisconsin may be another that could pull an upset. A healthy Texas could be another. I dont know anything about Gonzaga so I cant comment on them.

Its hard to rank the conferences because like you all have said there is so much parity. The Big 12 maybe the toughest top to bottom but there isn't a drastic difference between any of them. As for the shot clock I would leave it alone.

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Agree as well with my friends from Kansas, Iowa and Louisville upthread re: the overall parity.

As far as UK, there are definitely chances for UK to be upset pre-tournament, LSU has the bigs to make a real game of it tomorrow night. Lenville, you mentioned Texas, we had a really rough game with them earlier this year, and I agree, that is a team that could really give UK a run again - the thing is, it almost seems like their team chemistry went downhill once Taylor came back, so not sure where that leaves them come tourney time. Then again, UK themselves had their chemistry righted just in time for a deep tourney run last year.

As a UofL fan, how did the UK and UVa defenses look in comparison to one another from your standpoint? I didn't get a chance to see much of the UVa-UofL game until the end, and the Cards were making a bit of a run when I was watching. I've seen the UVa D at times look fantastic, but other times I wonder how much of the low point totals are due to playing at an absolute snail's pace - don't get me wrong, I know they play great team defense, not saying they aren't a terrific defense, but is it HISTORICALLY great, as a lot of people are making it out to be? I believe they play either the lowest, or maybe second-lowest, possessions per game in all of Division 1, so definitely a slow pace.

(02-10-2015 12:56 AM)Blue Dynasty Wrote: [ -> ]

(02-09-2015 07:28 PM)Lenvillecards Wrote: [ -> ]Kentucky is definitely the team to beat this year. They are the deepest & most talented. LSU has a chance to pull an upset in conference but the Cats should enter the dance undefeated. Virginia would be a great game, I would give them the advantage on defense but the offensive edge would go to UK. I would love to see that game. Wisconsin may be another that could pull an upset. A healthy Texas could be another. I dont know anything about Gonzaga so I cant comment on them.

Its hard to rank the conferences because like you all have said there is so much parity. The Big 12 maybe the toughest top to bottom but there isn't a drastic difference between any of them. As for the shot clock I would leave it alone.

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Agree as well with my friends from Kansas, Iowa and Louisville upthread re: the overall parity.

As far as UK, there are definitely chances for UK to be upset pre-tournament, LSU has the bigs to make a real game of it tomorrow night. Lenville, you mentioned Texas, we had a really rough game with them earlier this year, and I agree, that is a team that could really give UK a run again - the thing is, it almost seems like their team chemistry went downhill once Taylor came back, so not sure where that leaves them come tourney time. Then again, UK themselves had their chemistry righted just in time for a deep tourney run last year.

As a UofL fan, how did the UK and UVa defenses look in comparison to one another from your standpoint? I didn't get a chance to see much of the UVa-UofL game until the end, and the Cards were making a bit of a run when I was watching. I've seen the UVa D at times look fantastic, but other times I wonder how much of the low point totals are due to playing at an absolute snail's pace - don't get me wrong, I know they play great team defense, not saying they aren't a terrific defense, but is it HISTORICALLY great, as a lot of people are making it out to be? I believe they play either the lowest, or maybe second-lowest, possessions per game in all of Division 1, so definitely a slow pace.

Virgini'as defense is as good as advertised. They dont give you an open shot & they play the ball better than anyone that I can remember. Their TEAM defense is second to none this year, all 5 guys play the ball perfectly. UL was able to get more open shots against UK but even then our shooters were intimidated by Kentucky's defense which forced them to rush their shots. UL rushed their shots against Virginia and they were still contested. UL went over 12 minutes without scoring, the last ten of the first half & start of second. It seemed that UL would never get off of unlucky 13. UL started making more shots in the 2nd half but getting within 8 was like pulling teeth. Virginia also had one of their better guards out. You are right, they average under 60 possession a game which the 2nd slowest in D1.

UK would need to utilize their advantage in the post. The transition game should favor UK as well. It would be like two heavyweights battling it out but if UK guards can keep themselves from getting frustrated on the offensive end then I would pick the Cats to win. UK's defense is good enough to hold Virginia to a low fg% but the slow pace doesn't leave either side with much room for errors. If the twins can keep themselves from getting frustrated, to me that will be the key.

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(02-09-2015 11:42 AM)BewareThePhog Wrote: [ -> ]I know everyone is desperate for more scoring, but I think the shorter shot clock proposal (that even people like Bill Self favor) is not a good idea. All that will get is more bad possessions marred by sloppy play.

I also think it was inevitable that the coaches would win last year's game of chicken in terms of trying to reduce the contact in games. There were two possible outcomes - the referees would remain consistent in calling tighter games, and teams would have to adjust, or else the powers that be would be unwilling to wait out an adjustment period because of the outcry on message boards, sports radio and SportsCenter, and have refs swallow their whistles. Naturally, the latter occurred, even though there's was definitely potential for adjustment to have taken place had the referees remained steadfast. So now we're talking about a shorter shot clock. I will always root for KU to win, but I won't be alone in finding other entertainment options if the NCAA goes too far down the road of taking away NCAA hoops' unique character and just turning it into "NBA Lite".

As a BYU fan (85 points per game), I know I have a different perspective. But I want to gouge my eyes out every time I see a Big Ten game with a final score like 59-54. The BYU-Utah game at 61-65 was bad enough. Their game plan was obvious - keep the ball away from BYU's offense. Most Ute offensive possessions didn't even get within 5 feet of the 3-point line until 10 seconds or fewer left on the shot clock. That's 25+ seconds of holding the ball and passing it back and forth between guards 50 feet from the basket. LAME.

Give me the 30 second shot clock any day of the week (except Sunday...:) )

(02-12-2015 02:05 PM)YNot Wrote: [ -> ]

(02-09-2015 11:42 AM)BewareThePhog Wrote: [ -> ]I know everyone is desperate for more scoring, but I think the shorter shot clock proposal (that even people like Bill Self favor) is not a good idea. All that will get is more bad possessions marred by sloppy play.

I also think it was inevitable that the coaches would win last year's game of chicken in terms of trying to reduce the contact in games. There were two possible outcomes - the referees would remain consistent in calling tighter games, and teams would have to adjust, or else the powers that be would be unwilling to wait out an adjustment period because of the outcry on message boards, sports radio and SportsCenter, and have refs swallow their whistles. Naturally, the latter occurred, even though there's was definitely potential for adjustment to have taken place had the referees remained steadfast. So now we're talking about a shorter shot clock. I will always root for KU to win, but I won't be alone in finding other entertainment options if the NCAA goes too far down the road of taking away NCAA hoops' unique character and just turning it into "NBA Lite".

As a BYU fan (85 points per game), I know I have a different perspective. But I want to gouge my eyes out every time I see a Big Ten game with a final score like 59-54. The BYU-Utah game at 61-65 was bad enough. Their game plan was obvious - keep the ball away from BYU's offense. Most Ute offensive possessions didn't even get within 5 feet of the 3-point line until 10 seconds or fewer left on the shot clock. That's 25+ seconds of holding the ball and passing it back and forth between guards 50 feet from the basket. LAME.

Give me the 30 second shot clock any day of the week (except Sunday...:) )

Right...because only Big Ten games have final scores in the 60's.

So UK finished the regular season 31-0 but definitely with the road hiccups at LSU and Georgia we mentioned earlier in the thread.

Will our conference get the six teams we hoped for in the tourney? Maybe we should've expected the final day of the season to end as it did, with Texas A&M dropping a home game to Alabama, and Ole Miss a home game to Vanderbilt. I believe both are deserving of spots in the field of 68, and UK, Arkansas, UGa and LSU should be safely in regardless of the outcome of the SEC tournament. I feel the Rebs are in regardless, but they may wanna make sure to at least win their first game in the SEC tourney to be certain. TAMU may need to win two now.

The bracket, for those not paying more attention to spring football already :)

First round Wednesday: 12) MS St vs 13) Auburn, 11) SC vs 14) Mizzou
Second round Thursday: 8) Florida vs 9) Alabama, 5) TAMU vs MS St/AU winner, 7) Vanderbilt vs 10) Tennessee, 6) Ole Miss vs SC/Mizz winner
Quarterfinals Friday: 1) UK vs UF/Bama, 4) LSU vs TAMU/MSU/AU, 2) Arky vs VU/Tenn, 3) UGa vs Ole Miss/SC/Mizz
Semis Saturday and Final Sunday.

First three days on SEC Network, the semis and final will be on ESPN.

(03-09-2015 12:24 AM)Blue Dynasty Wrote: [ -> ]So UK finished the regular season 31-0 but definitely with the road hiccups at LSU and Georgia we mentioned earlier in the thread.

Will our conference get the six teams we hoped for in the tourney? Maybe we should've expected the final day of the season to end as it did, with Texas A&M dropping a home game to Alabama, and Ole Miss a home game to Vanderbilt. I believe both are deserving of spots in the field of 68, and UK, Arkansas, UGa and LSU should be safely in regardless of the outcome of the SEC tournament. I feel the Rebs are in regardless, but they may wanna make sure to at least win their first game in the SEC tourney to be certain. TAMU may need to win two now.

The bracket, for those not paying more attention to spring football already :)

First round Wednesday: 12) MS St vs 13) Auburn, 11) SC vs 14) Mizzou
Second round Thursday: 8) Florida vs 9) Alabama, 5) TAMU vs MS St/AU winner, 7) Vanderbilt vs 10) Tennessee, 6) Ole Miss vs SC/Mizz winner
Quarterfinals Friday: 1) UK vs UF/Bama, 4) LSU vs TAMU/MSU/AU, 2) Arky vs VU/Tenn, 3) UGa vs Ole Miss/SC/Mizz
Semis Saturday and Final Sunday.

First three days on SEC Network, the semis and final will be on ESPN.

I would love to see the Cats finish a perfect season with sweeps in the SEC tournament and the NCAA tournament. As far as the number of schools we get in, it should be six due to the parity in all conferences this year, but somehow the committee (always stacked with SEC envy types who think that basketball credits are a way to make up for shortcomings in bowl revenue) will likely snub one of our schools. It looks like 5 to me.

Thought South Carolina would make some noise this year but like OP said we hit a serious wall. Frank Martin is slowly getting us there

Congratulations Cats! Kudos to Notre Dame as well. A great basketball game with good team work on both sides.

(03-22-2015 01:28 PM)Gamecock Wrote: [ -> ]Thought South Carolina would make some noise this year but like OP said we hit a serious wall. Frank Martin is slowly getting us there

No doubt about it brother, I am a big fan of Coach Martin, you are definitely on the right track. He definitely did more with less talent than a few other schools in the league this year.

(03-28-2015 10:29 PM)JRsec Wrote: [ -> ]Congratulations Cats! Kudos to Notre Dame as well. A great basketball game with good team work on both sides.

Phew, it was an outstanding game, glad to be going to the Final Four! The second half was one of the best halves of ball I've seen in a long time. Well since maybe last year's second halves with UK vs Wichita State, Louisville, Michigan and Wisconsin

Now you just need to win it all Kentucky.