College Basketball
Disney Or Six Flags?
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Since John Calipari arrived in Lexington almost twelve years ago, Kentucky has dominated the SEC.
Over that period of time, in conference play, the Wildcats have won six regular season and conference tournament titles, while finishing in either first or second place in every season but one.
Kentucky has essentially been operating at the level of Disney and the rest of the SEC has been Six Flags.
Still, even when you’ve been as dominant as the Wildcats have been there is usually a season mixed in there somewhere, when other teams are able to get their shots in- last year’s UNC season comes to mind.
Could this be the year the tables are turned?
The one team that automatically comes to mind that’s in the best position is Tennessee.
The Vols are probably the league’s most completely team, with a nice mix of experience, talent, and coaching.
They have played the second toughest schedule of anyone in the SEC (Kentucky’s has been the most difficult, by far) and they have been the most impressive doing it.
The only thing I worry about, and I realize I’m contradicting myself a bit here, is I just don’t trust Rick Barnes.
Yes, I think he’s a good coach, his teams just tend to fall short when they’re the leaders. In a weird way I would actually feel better about their chances if Kentucky were playing at a higher level.
Teams like Arkansas, Missouri, Auburn, and LSU could certainly let wind up at the top of conference if Tennessee were to falter, but there are still too many questions about each for me to feel comfortable separating any one of those from the pack.
I think some of the other teams (Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M) will certainly have a shot at some upset wins, I just don’t think they’ll be able to compete for a shot at the top spot.
Florida is the one wild card in this whole thing. After witnessing Keyontae Johnson collapse on the court and then the aftermath of that event, you can’t predict how they’re going to react.
And just to be clear, these are a bunch of teenage kids who saw a teammate and friend collapse in front of them, so however they respond on the court is really inconsequential.
Of course, this topic is only relevant because Kentucky is off to their worst start in over a hundred years. An optimistic fan will argue the team has played the most difficult schedule in the country and their young players will mature and grow over the course of the season.
Everyone else will counter with the fact Kentucky still lost those games and those young players have more than likely never faced this kind adversity that is currently staring them in the face.
We should have a good idea who may be on the right path after the first few games, since Kentucky begins their conference schedule against some of the league’s weaker teams.
Even though we knew this season was going to be different for all the obvious reasons, I think most still felt like Kentucky was the team to beat and most everyone else was playing for second place.
With Kentucky’s early struggles it feels as if a number of teams have an opportunity to feel what it’s like to be the top dog.
Don’t get me wrong, going to Six Flags can be great, but it’s Disney that most everyone is after.
Let Them Play
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Let me go ahead and begin by stating that I am not a fan of the NCAA, specifically it’s governing board.
Besides the whole student athlete model being a bit archaic, and truthfully a sham, most of the decisions made by the board in regards to the student athletes, they claim to care so much about, is a complete contradiction to what is actually in the athlete’s best interest.
Now that you’ve been privy to my inner Jay Bilas, it should come as little surprise I think the NCAA has squandered a perfect opportunity make this upcoming basketball season memorable, not because of Covid, but in spite of it.
Before the NCAA announced the basketball season would begin on Nov. 25, the ACC coaches (unanimously, I believe) proposed to expand the NCAA tournament and allow all 351 Division I teams to participate.
The main idea behind it was that a team wouldn’t have to worry about their tournament chances being diminished due to games being cancelled because of covid.
As we are seeing with football, it’s almost a given that games will be cancelled.
In a year as unorthodox as this year has been, it was an interesting, outside the box idea, that had the potential to be a lot of fun; can you imagine a single elimination tournament featuring 351 teams? Obviously, the NCAA didn’t see it that way.
There were two particular issues the NCAA had when asked about the proposal- making the tournament is a special achievement and allowing everyone in would take away from that honor, and the extra 2-3 rounds it would take to include everyone would be too taxing on the athletes.
On one hand I understand the first line of thinking, if you’re looking at it strictly from the viewpoint of conference tournaments; for all the mid-major teams the regular season doesn’t mean anything in terms of making the tournament.
In a way, their regular season has always been diminished because they’re only making the tournament if they win their conference.
I know the conference tournaments wouldn’t have as much at stake in this scenario, but personally, I’d be ok with that for one season.
Where the NCAA loses me though, is arguing that the longer season would be detrimental to the athletes.
They ask students to play on holidays, spring break, during exams, as well as a myriad of other things that take them away from their studies/families, but adding what amounts to an extra week of games is too much?
I’m sure if you were to ask the players how they felt about allowing all teams into the tournament and playing an extra week of game most of them wouldn’t mind.
Then again, the NCAA and most coaches don’t seem to want to listen to what the players have to say, except for when it supports their own agendas.
I say all this realizing it may come across as an “everyone gets a trophy” argument, which may or may not rub you the wrong way.
However, with all the metaphorical garbage we have to wade through on a daily basis it would actually be nice to see something that even fits everyone.
Unfortunately, with all the changes and adjustment we’ve had to endure over the past six months, when it comes to the betterment of the NCAA athlete you can always count on the NCAA to take a look, and then do the opposite.
The Same Old Story
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Optimism among Georgia Bulldog basketball fans had to be pretty high two years ago after the program brought in Tom Crean to be their head coach.
He was the highest profile coach since Jim Harrick (minus the baggage) with a Final Four appearance under his belt and stops at Marquette and Indiana.
The excitement only increased with the signing of Anthony Edwards last year, giving the impression that the basketball team just may be on the brink of turning things around and becoming more competitive in the SEC.
After two seasons of Crean being at the helm, and having the possible #1 draft pick, the hope would be the team would be able to build upon that momentum with a top-level recruiting class. I’m not sure the 2020 class is quite what fans would’ve hoped for.
To be fair, I’m not saying the expectation should be like that of a Duke or Kentucky; obviously that’s the goal, just not a very realistic one.
When I look at Georgia’s incoming class there are there two things that stick out to me; the level of talent and the number of transfer/JUCO players.
KD Johnson, the four-star point guard out of Virginia, is the prize recruit in the class. The good news on Johnson is he comes from an elite high school program and should be a very productive four-year player for Georgia.
The bad news is your star recruit is a borderline top 100 player and there’s a pretty precipitous drop off after him.
Besides Josh Taylor, the three star forward from Norcross, the rest of the class consists of two JUCO players, (Mikal Starks, Jonathan Ned) who will more than likely spend most of their time in Athens as practice players, two mediocre transfers from inferior conferences (Justin Kier, Andrew Garcia) and a role player, (PJ Horne) who at least played in a major conference with Virginia Tech.
Oh, and Kier, Garcia, and Horne will only be in Athens for one year, so it’s not like they were recruited to be developed for future seasons. They’re basically one-year rentals so Georgia can fill out a roster, which leads me to the high school recruits to transfers ratio of this incoming class.
The fact that five of the seven players in this year’s class are basically transfers, and not very sought after ones at that, is a bit concerning. I understand Georgia lost a lot of players after this season, but outside of the two players who transferred out of the program, none of them should’ve been a surprise.
Considering Crean is having to fill his roster with JUCO players and graduate transfers means he either wasn’t prepared, which isn’t a good look, or he wasn’t getting much interest from high school players, which is what I’m afraid may be the case.
The state of Georgia offered eight of the top players from the state and the only one they were able to sign was Taylor, ranked tenth.
A New-Man Day
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Every UGA fan I know is trying to find out what they can about UGA quarterback Jamie Newman, who many expect to be the starting quarterback for the University of Georgia this fall.
Newman attended Graham High School in Graham, North Carolina. He was a four-year starter at quarterback in high school. He committed to Wake Forest University to play college football. He was rated a three-star prospect coming out of high school.
Newman redshirted his first year at Wake Forest in 2016. As a backup to John Wolford in 2017, he completed two of four passes for eight yards and an interception.
Newman entered 2018 as a backup to Sam Hartman, but started the final four games after Hartman was hurt.
He was named the 2018 Birmingham Bowl MVP after throwing for 328 yards and a touchdown.
For the season, he completed 84 of 141 passes for 1,083 yards, 9 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Newman beat out Hartman for the starting job entering 2019.
He enjoyed a breakout season as a redshirt junior in Wake Forest’s high-scoring offense, accounting for 32 total touchdowns, 2,868 passing yards and 574 rushing yards in 2019.
On January 10, 2020, Newman announced that he would transfer to the University of Georgia for his final year of eligibility.
He had a 10-6 record as a starter the last two seasons.
Newman will be counted on to replace Jake Fromm, while leading Georgia back to the SEC championship game for the fourth straight season. He brings a skill set to the position that UGA fans have not seen since the days of DJ Shockley and Aaron Murray; that is a QB who is true dual threat.
Newman at 6’4 and 225 pounds can run the football, and it’s on new offensive coordinator Todd Monken to make that work.
Head Coach Kirby Smart is saying all the right things about the QB position during the most unusual offseason any football coach has dealt with during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Newman is going into the fall without the benefit of a spring practice, and some are saying that he doesn’t have the reps to pick up the new offense in time for the fall. He comes to Athens with a degree from Wake Forest University so I wouldn’t worry about him not picking up the system in time.
The Question that many are asking: Will Jamie Newman be a drop off from Jake Fromm?
Many will say yes to this question, but I’m going to say it will be an upgrade and that is because Newman brings two things to UGA that Jake struggled with and that is throwing the deep ball, and being a threat with his legs.
Newman plugs into one of the most talented rosters in the country and his strengths will make the UGA offense dangerous. Georgia has talented skill people; vastly more talented that what Newman had at his disposal at Wake Forest.
Quick stats for you from 2019, Jamie Newman was ranked second behind Joe Burrow last season in throwing into tight windows and on 20 yard or more throws Newman ranked second nationally in 2019.
Newman was breakout player in 2019 and the likes of Oklahoma and Oregon wanted to plug Newman into their program badly.
Kirby Smart pulled out a huge recruiting win in landing Jamie Newman. UGA may have the best defense in the country in 2020, and now they have a true dual threat QB to run the offense. And let’s face, it’s an offense that needs major tweaks.
If Jamie Newman does what I think he can do this fall he could be a legend in the Classic City.
He has a better skill set than any other QB in the SEC East and would start for any of those teams.
King Bees
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When we think of the best ACC basketball programs North Carolina and Duke come to mind. The conference has some other very good programs and once upon a time Georgia Tech was in that category. Let’s look at the best players in program history.
Mark Price (1982-86): He was a two-time All-American and four-time All ACC player.
Price lead the Yellow Jackets to an ACC Championship his junior year by beating North Carolina in the ACC Tournament championship game. He was the ACC Player of the Year in the 1984-85 season.
He was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 1991 and his jersey was retired. He holds several records and he’s the All-time leader in steals (240), consecutive games started (126), minutes played (4,604) and 3-point field goal percentage (.440). He was the first pick in the second round of the 1986 draft (25th overall) by the Dallas Mavericks.
Kenny Anderson (1989-91): He won ACC Rookie of the Year in 1990. Anderson was All ACC and All-American both years at Tech.
He averaged 23 points per game and 7 assists per game. He was a key member of the 1990 team that got to the Final Four. That team also won the ACC title. He was the second pick in the 1991 NBA draft by the New Jersey Nets.
Stephon Marbury (1995-96): You may have noticed a theme here since we have another point guard on the list.
Marbury was a 1995 McDonald’s All-American along with Kevin Garnett, Antawn Jamison, Paul Pierce and Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
He averaged 18.9 ppg and 4.5 apg and was named a Third Team All-American. Tech was 13-3 in conference play which made them the regular season ACC champs.
They advanced to the ACC Tournament championship game but lost by one point to Wake Forest, led by Tim Duncan.
The Yellow Jackets got to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament. He was selected fourth overall by Milwaukee in the legendary 1996 draft.
Chris Bosh (2002-03): Bosh was the ACC Rookie of the Year in 2003.
He averaged 15.6 points, 9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 31 games. Georgia Tech had a disappointing season and finished 16-15. They got to the third round of the NIT. He was the No. 4 pick by Toronto in 2003, which is another legendary draft class.
Dennis Scott (1987-90): He led the Yellow Jackets to the NCAA Tournament each year he played.
Scott was ACC Rookie of the Year in 1988, ACC Player of the Year in 1990 and Sporting News Player of the Year (1990). He was also a consensus second-team All-American in 1990. In his career he averaged 21.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 3 apg. He was the No. 4 pick by Orlando in the 1990 draft.
Matt Harpring (1994-98): Harpring was a four-year starter and was named First Team All-ACC three times.
He set career highs in his senior season with 21.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, ranking second in the ACC in both categories.
He finished his collegiate career as Georgia Tech’s second all-time leader in points (2,225) and rebounds (997).
Harpring is the institute’s all-time leader in free throws attempted (675) and made (508).
His jersey was retired in his final regular season home game. He was the 15th pick by Orlando in the 1998 draft.
Travis Best (1991-95): The McDonald’s All-American led Tech to the 1993 ACC Tournament Championship.
He averaged 16.6 ppg and 5.6 apg. He was one of only three ACC players to score 2,000 points with 600 assists. He was the 23rd pick in 1995 by Indiana.
Top Dawgs
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When you’re contemplating the best players in a college program you have to take into account whether or not you’re counting just their college career or if you’re including their professional one as well.
Michael Jordan is the perfect example of this; he’s arguably the greatest basketball player to ever live, but you can make a very legitimate argument that he wasn’t one of the five best collegiate players to attend North Carolina.
So, for today, I’m basing everything off a player’s tenure at Georgia and ignoring what transpired afterwards. It’s kind of like how I’ll give my wife a hard time about not helping me with dishes, while completely ignoring how she does everything else around the house.
The first one is pretty obvious, regardless of what the criteria is, and that’s Dominique Wilkins. The talent the two time All-American, SEC Player of the Year, and Basketball Hall of Famer possessed is oftentimes overlooked due to his highlight reel dunks, which is a shame, because he was an outstanding player.
Wilkins, the third overall was one of those rare athletes that left school after his junior year, which at the time was almost unheard of.
I’m going to cheat on the next two names and go with Vern Fleming and Jarvis Haves, due to the fact they were both two-time Associated Press All-Americans.
I was only a few years old when Fleming played at Georgia, but his All-American stays, combined with his contribution to Georgia’s only Final Four team as well as his 1984 Olympic gold medal is more than enough accolades to earn him a spot.
I did see Jarvis Hayes play and I always wondered how he ended up at schools like Western Carolina to begin his college career because he could play. Two years at Georgia, two First Team All-SEC awards along with the All-American hardware; not sure you can be more productive than that.
This whole article would be a joke and a sham if the all-time leader in points and assists was excluded from this list, so please give a warm welcome to Litterial Green. The former Bulldog point guard was three-time All-SEC selection and led the program to their first, and I believe only, SEC Championship in 1990. Plus, he may have the coolest name on this list, right next the one remaining player I’ve yet to mention.
With all due respect to Bob Lienhard (2 time Helms Association All American) and Yante Maten (2018 SEC Player of the Year and the one who undoubtedly would’ve had the coolest name on this list) I went with Kentavious-Caldwell Pope to round out the top five. I never saw Wilkins play, and I don’t remember Green, but KCP was the best Georgia player I’ve seen come through Athens.
Of course, the one omission from this list is the likely number one overall pick in this year’s draft, Anthony Edwards.
Look, Edwards was a really good player and may have the best NBA career of anyone from Georgia not named Wilkins, but I would still take any of the five I mentioned over him in terms of college performance.
I know Georgia doesn’t have the history of a lot of other major college basketball programs, but those five players are nothing to be ashamed of. Just don’t look at their professional careers too closely- there’s a reason I left those out.
Back To 1983
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
In most years the first weekend in April means one thing, Final Four.
Even though that’s obviously not taking place this year, it doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate the Final Four in some capacity.
So, in that spirit I thought I’d hop inside the DeLorean in my mind and travel back to 1983, the one and only year the Georgia Bulldog basketball team made it to the Final Four.
Now, before I start, I should let you know I was only two years old at the time this was taking place, so there’s no firsthand knowledge on my part about what transpired. However, that doesn’t mean there weren’t a few things that stood out while reading up on that team and that season.
The team most people remember from that year’s tournament is N.C. State; their improbable run, the team they beat to win it all (Houston), and definitely the way they won.
What I imagine is most people outside of Athens don’t remember, or like me, were completely unaware of, was how improbable Georgia’s tournament run was compared to State’s.
Back then 52 teams made the tournament, which produced a bracket of preliminary games and abbreviated first round games (5-12 seeds only), in order to arrive at the Round of 32. Luckily for Georgia, they were a four seed and got to move directly past go, to the second round.
After squeaking by fifth seeded VCU, they defeated one-seeded (#3 overall) St Johns, and a second seeded (# 8 overall) North Carolina team, whose roster was made up of players like Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, and Brad Dougherty, before losing to NC State in the Final Four.
NC State, by comparison, was a six seed, had to win one more game than Georgia to advance to the Final Four, but did not face the same level of competition to get there.
Since I was watching “Sesame Street” and “He-Man” at this point in my life, I can’t accurately judge the talent on the ‘83 roster, outside of the fact the only name I recognized was Vern Fleming.
As far as I can tell the former Georgia and NBA guard is the only player from that team to make it to the NBA. Based on that, I imagine they were a good college team that had a player or two get hot in the tournament, and probably had a little luck in what looks like fairly competitive games.
The other thing that stands out, and this has to do with the regular season as opposed to the tournament, was how balanced the SEC was that year.
Of the ten teams that made up the SEC, only Kentucky (13-5) and Florida (5-13) didn’t finish somewhere between 8-10 and 10-8. In fact, Florida was also the only team that finished below .500 on the season.
Just for the fun of it, this year’s SEC consisted of fourteen teams, ten different conference records ranging from 5-13 to 13-5 and four teams that finished either at or below .500 for the season.
With sports on an indefinite hiatus, it doesn’t mean we can’t go back and watch highlights of the teams we enjoyed watching while we grew up, or in some cases, before we became sports fans.
If you happen to be a Georgia basketball fan and are jonesing for a fix, the ‘83 team is a great to start.
NCAA Crystal Ball
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
At the beginning of conference basketball play I made three predictions that I promised to revisit after the season, regardless of how they turned out.
With the season now over, unfortunately not the way anyone would’ve predicted, I guess it’s time to see if I’m Nostradamus or the back-alley fortune teller.
Prediction: Florida will win the SEC Regular Season. Final Result: Fifth Place. Well, this one blew up in my face.
Not only did Florida finish fifth in the SEC, but they were one of the more disappointing teams in the country.
A top 10 team to begin the season, the Gators season is almost a perfect microcosm of the college season in general; they could never really find any consistency throughout the year.
The defense, which has been Florida’s calling card since Mike White arrived a few years ago, just wasn’t where they needed it to be.
They added some offensive talent, but when looking at their record anytime they allowed more than 65 points, their winning percentage dropped drastically.
It’s tough to win conference games when you have difficulty playing to your strength. The talent was there to make a deep run in the tournament, and I think so Mike White is a good coach, but sometimes it’s just not your year.
Prediction: Anthony Edwards will be the SEC Player of the Year. Final Result: Second Team All-SEC. So yes, technically I missed this one, but I’m ok with that.
Out of the three predictions I made, this one was probably the longest shot of them all. And it’s not like Edwards had a bad season. He did win Freshman of the Year honors and at least made an All-SEC team.
To expect him to come into a league like the SEC, playing for a program like Georgia where the lack of talent around him would make it easier for opposing teams to game plan against him, was a bit unrealistic.
Also, as good an overall season as Edwards had, he certainly had his struggles in conference play. There’s a good chance he’ll still be a Top 3 pick in the upcoming draft, but it’ll take him a few years to adjust.
Prediction: No more than five SEC teams will make the NCAA Tournament. Final Result: ??? Obviously, we’ll never know for certain how many SEC teams would’ve made the tournament, but I feel like I may have actually gotten this one right. Kentucky, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State, and Florida were all probably locks to make it, depending on how conference tournaments turned out.
Outside of those five, there really wasn’t any team that was even on the bubble.
South Carolina may have been able to make an argument had they made a deep run in the conference tournament, but I’m not sure that would’ve been enough to get them in.
The talent level in college basketball was down across the board and the SEC was no exception. Even with teams like Auburn and LSU exceeding preseason expectations, this was still a rough year for the conference.
So, in the end, I completely missed the one prediction I thought I would get right, got a bit carried away with my expectations on the one that was a little out of reach to begin with, and never got a chance to validate the one that I may have actually have gotten right.
Well, that sounds about right.
Conference Survival
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The SEC Men’s basketball tournament starts this week in Nashville, Tennessee.
Kentucky has dominated this conference since its inception. The Wildcats have won 51 regular season SEC Championships (including this year) and 31 Conference Tournament championships.
Kentucky (25-6) had the best record in conference play (15-3). They have the top seed in the tournament. The top four seeds in the tournament do not have to play until the third day of the tournament.
As good as Kentucky is, they are always led by freshmen since they embrace the one and done players. Because of this they do lack experience, which means they are more susceptible for an upset.
They have lost games to Evansville, Utah and South Carolina, who are not great teams. They are led by sophomore guard Immanuel Quickley who averages 16 points per game.
Auburn (25-6) is the No. 2 seed in the tournament. Bruce Pearl has turned the program around since he was hired in 2014. They have gotten to the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons. Last year they advanced to the Final Four.
Three of their top four scorers are seniors so they have a lot of experience. Senior guard Samir Doughty leads the team with 17 PPG and 4 rebounds per game.
Auburn has beaten Kentucky during the regular season so they have already proven they can beat them.
LSU (21-10) is the third seed but they have the same conference record as Auburn, 12-6. This team confuses me because they play to the level of their competition. They have lost to VCU, Utah State, USC and East Tennessee State. For a Power 5 team going to the NCAA Tournament they should win those games.
The Tigers lost to Auburn on the road but only by one point. They also lost to Kentucky by three. I don’t believe in moral victories but they have shown they can compete with the best teams in the conference.
Senior guard and Baton Rouge native Skylar Mays is the team leader with 17 PPG. If they advance and face Kentucky or Auburn, they have a legitimate chance to win.
Mississippi State (20-11) is the fourth seed. They have the same conference record (11-7) as Florida but they won the tiebreaker by beating the Gators last month.
Despite this, they are on the bubble to make the NCAA Tournament.
“They base so much off November,” said Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland. “There’s not enough emphasis based today on how you play at the end of the year, how you play in the last 12 games. That used to really be important. But we have to beat a Quad 1 team (Florida) to continue to make our case.”
They have non-conference losses to Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State. In conference play they have lost to lower level teams like Ole Miss (15-16), Alabama (16-15), Texas A&M (16-14) and South Carolina (18-13). The Bulldogs have to win their quarterfinal game to have a chance to get to March Madness.
Florida (19-12) is also on the bubble. The Gators need to win a couple of games to get to the tournament. Their first game is the second round against the winner of No. 12 Ole Miss or No. 13 Georgia. If they win, the next game is against Mississippi State. I think they can win those two games but time will tell.
The Madness
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Football is the most popular sport in the country and baseball may be America’s favorite pastime, but for my money there is no better sporting event than the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
With its close games, buzzer beater shots, upsets, and feel good storylines, it always seems to deliver year after year, even though some years are better than others. It’s basically the sporting world’s version of Marvel movies.
As unpredictable as the opening weekend has been in the past, this year has the potential for there to be even more surprises than usual.
Normally, in most seasons heading into the tournament, there’s two or three teams you feel fairly confident in having a legitimate shot at making a run. This year though, it’s wide open; just take a look at this past week’s top ten.
Dayton and San Diego State have had arguably the most successful seasons, and depending on conference tournament results, could both wind up being number one seeds.
They’ll also be the two teams picked most likely to lose before the Sweet Sixteen.
Then you have teams like Florida State, Maryland, Louisville, Baylor, and Seton Hall that have all exceeded expectations this season, but they suffer from major flaws, many of which have been exposed over the year by inferior teams.
And as much as you’re likely to hear John Calipari complain about where Kentucky is seeded, along with how difficult their bracket is, and how disrespected they are, the truth is they’re not very good. Throw in Hagans taking time away from the team and they seem primed for an early tournament exit.
Which leaves Kansas and Gonzaga, who are probably the two best overall teams, yet I’m not really sure there’s much confidence in either. Or, looking at it another way, whatever confidence there is has more to do with what the rest of the field looks like, as opposed to the talent level on each team.
You could almost make the argument there are more teams ranked outside of the top ten with a better chance of winning it all.
It’s one of the reasons why this year’s outcome, more than ever, will rely heavily on seeding and which bracket teams are placed in.
It’s actually kind of a scary proposition when you think about it; the committee doesn’t exactly have a great track record of getting those decisions right.
That’s not to say the committee is charged with an easy task when it comes to seeding, but those choices will be extremely impactful.
One of the running jokes come tournament time, once the field has been set and the brackets have been printed out, is that anyone can win their local office pool, no matter their knowledge of college basketball.
That the tournament itself is such a crapshoot that you almost have a better chance of winning by guessing or picking teams because you like their mascot or the color of their uniforms than you do overthinking the whole thing.
In a year where very little separates the top team and say, the twenty fifth, that joke may never be more true.
And for a tournament that predicates itself on upsets, buzzer beaters, and Cinderella runs, don’t be surprised if this year’s edition shows you something you haven’t seen before. Personally, I can’t wait for it to begin.
