SEC
Southeastern Conference's teams, coaches, style of play.
Big wins like Vanderbilt’s force a re-thinking of one’s hoop perceptions.
So I thought more about the Commodores last night, slept on it, did more research this morning and here’s my verdict:
This isn’t the year Vandy breaks through to the Elite Eight, let alone the Final Four.
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Two quick thoughts on Tennessee’s loss to Vandy, with more to come in the morning.
The Vols are still a No. 1 seed, no doubt.
Second, Tennessee’s scrappy style – played to perfection against Memphis – does have its flaws.
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Tuesday reading, with an eye on the Vols vs. Commodores and Hoosiers vs. Buckeyes. But first, another Kelvin Sampson update.
Former Indiana University president Adam Herbert, who approved the Sampson two years ago, commented on the Sampson fiasco, telling the Jacksonville Times-Union that he thought the coach’s previous NCAA violations were “an aberration.”
Ex-squeeze me? Baking power?
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Tennessee did two things Saturday night with its scrappy, impressive win against Memphis.
The Vols erased any further doubts about them as a national title contender. And two? By knocking off previously undefeated Memphis, the Vols established March Madness – just over three weeks away – as wide open. The Tigers were the last squad who could’ve made any argument to being the nation’s dominant team, and even that was shaky after their recent close encounters.
Instead, this is shaping up to be a March where 15-20 teams could make a title run.
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College basketball’s regular season gets tagged as blasé, but even naysayers should be pumped about Saturday.
After all, No. 1 vs. No. 2 just doesn’t happen that often. Top 10 games, sure. But this’ll be the 38th time since 1949 when the top teams face off in what should be the regular-season’s best game.
In this instance, the SEC’s best team, Tennessee, travels to No. 1 Memphis.
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Tuesday was the Kentucky we expected to see this season. It always should’ve been a tough, defensively sound team with flashes of brilliance, despite a young roster led by a new coach.
But until a win against No. 3 Tennessee it was unclear if we’d see this Kentucky team this year. But UK seems to have figured it out.
So what to make of Kentucky now? And Tennessee, for that matter?
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You gotta love Deadspin. The snarky, irreverent humor, the plentiful links and the wide range of stories, a good portion coming from other blogs.
It all leads to stuff like this.
The gist is prized Kentucky recruit Alex Legion will transfer at the end of the fall semester. Legion, along with Patrick Patterson, was one of the fab freshmen who was supposed to make Billy Gillispie’s first year in Lexington a little easier.
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It’s a funny thing about Florida. The 2004-05 squad won 24 games, won one NCAA Tournament game and 58 percent of their offense left for the NBA.
No one thought they'd be a title contender after that. Back-to-back crowns later, shouldn't we have second thoughts about not giving this year's group a chance?
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The sky isn’t falling in Lexington, Kentucky fans. A loss to Gardner-Webb just feels that way.
There’s no glee or Schadenfreude behind that sentence, either. I may think Tubby Smith got the short end of the stick, but that doesn’t mean I can’t empathize with an unexpected, frustrating loss. Every fan can. Just last season, my Jayhawks lost at home to Oral Roberts, Old Dominion handed Georgetown its first on-campus loss since 1982, and Missouri State shocked Wisconsin.
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