Kentucky takes down Michigan State by 7 and their freshman Maxey looked outstanding!

Auburn takes care of Georgia Southern.

Alabama misses to free throws with very little time left and loses by 1 to Penn.

Musselman era in Fayetteville looked good last night. He should dial it better than Mike Anderson.

(11-06-2019 08:29 AM)murrdcu Wrote:  Musselman era in Fayetteville looked good last night. He should dial it better than Mike Anderson.

Musselman will do a strong job at UA.

Yesterday everyone won. Auburn took down a good Davidson team in a 4 team event at Annapolis.

SEC showing strong depth but the "best teams" ... I'm not impressed.

(11-23-2019 11:20 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  SEC showing strong depth but the "best teams" ... I'm not impressed.

I've got news for you Bill. Kentucky is a work in progress and Cal's style of coaching relies upon using the first 10 games to train his rookies and hopes that they can make a run late for the tournament.

And nationally the talent in basketball is beginning to thin exactly like it is nationally. And if you take a good look you'll notice that the Big 10 has started with lots of early season losses and there is no dominant program in the PAC.

I generally agree that the SEC is getting stronger in terms of depth, but it's too early to determine the strength at the top of the league. Arkansas is much improved and for those who have not been watching Pearly has a much more impressive team than I expected after our graduation losses last year.

Expect more mid majors to perform well.

(11-23-2019 11:33 AM)JRsec Wrote:  

(11-23-2019 11:20 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  SEC showing strong depth but the "best teams" ... I'm not impressed.

I've got news for you Bill. Kentucky is a work in progress and Cal's style of coaching relies upon using the first 10 games to train his rookies and hopes that they can make a run late for the tournament.

And nationally the talent in basketball is beginning to thin exactly like it is nationally. And if you take a good look you'll notice that the Big 10 has started with lots of early season losses and there is no dominant program in the PAC.

I generally agree that the SEC is getting stronger in terms of depth, but it's too early to determine the strength at the top of the league. Arkansas is much improved and for those who have not been watching Pearly has a much more impressive team than I expected after our graduation losses last year.

Expect more mid majors to perform well.

To be frank, JRSec.... I'm not very impressed with any conference ... other than the Big East. Because the worst teams in that league are actually rather good. And that is a major factor.

I do feel, to be fair, the SEC is a bit better than I would have thought two games ago. Full credit given. Still, I'm not overly impressed with the SEC or any other conference (notwithstanding the BE, which is solid and, relatively, "better" than the others — all factors considered; now, to be be fair, that could change quickly).

I'm curious to get impressions of SEC hoops at this point. The league seemingly has taken a step or two backwards the past few weeks.

Vandy ... ouch. I was hopeful and then ... boom.

(12-19-2019 09:18 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  I'm curious to get impressions of SEC hoops at this point. The league seemingly has taken a step or two backwards the past few weeks.

Vandy ... ouch. I was hopeful and then ... boom.

You mean because of last night? It was the first game back for all of those programs after finals and the week before Christmas. And all but 1 of the losses (LSU) was on the road.

ACC: Virginia, Louisville and North Carolina have all been blown out. Duke is last man standing right now and everyone has had more than 1 loss but the Blue Devils.
B1G: Most OOC losses in recent history and no undefeated teams.
PAC: Everyone with 2 or more losses and no stellar teams, but decent competitiveness throughout most of the top to near the bottom.
Big12; impressive on paper until you look at the losses. Really haven't played anyone of note.
SEC: If Auburn has a solid showing against N.C. State (a very good basketball team with 2 good losses) then we will be poised to complete the non conference as the only undefeated P5 program in the nation. But tonight's game will be 50/50 imo. The rest of the league has shown some flashes of greatness and flashes of incompetency. I look for Florida to get better, but Tennessee put more talent on the court than did Cincinnati and yet failed to play cohesively. Georgia has 1 star and L.S.U. has shown non consistent focus. Miss State delivered a decent win over KState.

The Big East still looks solid at the top and the A10 is playing well. That's about it. What I see across the board is poorer coaching and no consistency anywhere.

Well Bill Auburn picked up that W over N.C. State 79-73 in a hard fought entertaining game.

Kentucky just lost to Utah. However, it is still too early to make an overall judgment on the SEC's success for the season. Beyond Kentucky, Auburn has shown an excellent start to date. Tennessee is also ranked. Florida, LSU, and Arkansas, are decent and could finish very well. Mississippi State has potential. South Carolina can look good, then turn around and disappoint.

The ACC has a similar pattern. The BIG has comparatively a couple more ranked at this point.
Really, there is nothing particularly unusual about the SEC beyond the movement of individual teams.

Heading downward: UNC.

I do agree that very few conferences are showing good balance at this point (specifically, the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East). So if the SEC is average (which it seems to be), that is not necessarily a bad thing. And some teams in the league can get better.

But at this point, I would think the SEC has a better chance of getting five teams in the NCAA Tournament as opposed to seven.

(12-19-2019 12:45 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(12-19-2019 09:18 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  I'm curious to get impressions of SEC hoops at this point. The league seemingly has taken a step or two backwards the past few weeks.

Vandy ... ouch. I was hopeful and then ... boom.

You mean because of last night? It was the first game back for all of those programs after finals and the week before Christmas. And all but 1 of the losses (LSU) was on the road.

ACC: Virginia, Louisville and North Carolina have all been blown out. Duke is last man standing right now and everyone has had more than 1 loss but the Blue Devils.
B1G: Most OOC losses in recent history and no undefeated teams.
PAC: Everyone with 2 or more losses and no stellar teams, but decent competitiveness throughout most of the top to near the bottom.
Big12; impressive on paper until you look at the losses. Really haven't played anyone of note.
SEC: If Auburn has a solid showing against N.C. State (a very good basketball team with 2 good losses) then we will be poised to complete the non conference as the only undefeated P5 program in the nation. But tonight's game will be 50/50 imo. The rest of the league has shown some flashes of greatness and flashes of incompetency. I look for Florida to get better, but Tennessee put more talent on the court than did Cincinnati and yet failed to play cohesively. Georgia has 1 star and L.S.U. has shown non consistent focus. Miss State delivered a decent win over KState.

The Big East still looks solid at the top and the A10 is playing well. That's about it. What I see across the board is poorer coaching and no consistency anywhere.

Well Bill Auburn picked up that W over N.C. State 79-73 in a hard fought entertaining game.

Auburn has a strong team, JRsec. I'm impressed. The Tigers look the most "Final Four-esque" in the SEC.

At this (early) juncture it looks like the SEC will get just as many teams into the NCAA Tournament as the ACC - which has to make you feel good, all things considered.

(12-24-2019 09:35 AM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  At this (early) juncture it looks like the SEC will get just as many teams into the NCAA Tournament as the ACC - which has to make you feel good, all things considered.

Tell your board that the SEC is getting stronger in hoops because we are spending our football revenue to build it up. 3-7 against the SEC isn't an accident and it's high time your hoops first schools realized it.

(12-24-2019 09:41 AM)JRsec Wrote:  

(12-24-2019 09:35 AM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  At this (early) juncture it looks like the SEC will get just as many teams into the NCAA Tournament as the ACC - which has to make you feel good, all things considered.

Tell your board that the SEC is getting stronger in hoops because we are spending our football revenue to build it up. 3-7 against the SEC isn't an accident and it's high time your hoops first schools realized it.

The football school fans realize this already. The basketball school fans won't listen.

On paper, it seems the SEC and ACC are rather equal this year. Neither is as (at this point) strong as it has been but both are competitive and have some Final Four-esque teams.

Another similarity: Both leagues have power programs (UK in the SEC and UNC in the ACC) that are nowhere near as strong as is typically the case.

The wildcard team in the SEC might end up being Ole Miss (likely a better team than folks realize). In the ACC, N.C. State could surprise as the season unfolds (admittedly, I'm biased given I follow the Wolfpack and want the team to fare well).