College Basketball
Final Four Madness
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I’m not a religious man.
Don’t get me wrong, I was raised Catholic but the only thing I retained are the litany of jokes regarding Catholicism. After this Loyola Chicago run and the support they’re receiving from America’s most popular nun since Whoopi Goldberg in “Sister Act”, I’m starting to rethink my religious convictions.
March Madness always has upsets, buzzer beaters, etc., but it just feels like this year has taken all those things to a whole new level. From a 16 seed defeating a 1 seed for the first time in history, to a Sweet Sixteen consisting of two regions without any top 2 seeds, to an 11 seed making it to the Final Four; throw in all the other stuff that has happened in between, I’m not sure there’s been a more entertaining tournament in recent memory.
Of course, based upon the first two weekends of the tournament, it’s only fitting we have the Final Four that awaits us in San Antonio. This year, we’ll get a little bit of everything.
The Pedigree: Kansas. After two years of having their season end in the Elite Eight, the Jayhawks were finally able to break through and advance. I’m not sure they are the best team remaining, but they are the most complete team.
Like the other three teams, Kansas’ strength is their perimeter play, but nobody has their size down low. If the Jayhawks are to win it all, they’ll need their post players to play big.
Arguably the Best Team All Season: Villanova. The Wildcats will arrive in Texas as the favorites to win their second title in three years. There really isn’t anything they don’t do well.
Defense? Yes. Take care of the ball? Yep. Potent offense? Sure, if you’re the type of person who likes your team to score a lot of points and hit a lot threes. For a team that plays 4 guards a majority of the time, they even rebound well. Not to say they can’t have an off night, or can’t be beat, but they’re the favorite for a reason.
Big Conference Team Clicking at the Right Time: Michigan. As much as I just drooled over Villanova and the way they play, you could argue the Wolverines are playing the best of this group. Three point shooting is going to be the key. If they’re making their shots from beyond the arc, they’ll have a shot. If not, it may be a one and done situation for the Big Ten champs.
Cinderella Team: Loyola Chicago. There have been other double digit seeds and mid-major schools (George Mason in 2006) that have made the Final Four, but I’m not sure any of them had as legitimate a chance to advance to the championship game as this Ramblers team.
Defensively, Loyola is good enough to disrupt Michigan’s offense and either of the teams they would meet in the championship game, if they are to make that far. They’re the underdogs, without a doubt, but don’t be surprised if they cause a little commotion.
After a season and tournament that has more than lived up to the hype, you can only hope that the final weekend will be more of the same. Based on the way the remaining four teams have played, I would expect nothing less.
You can take the pageantry of the Super Bowl or the excitement leading up to the college football playoffs; I’ll take March Madness over either of those every single time. It’s become a religious experience.
A Maddening Weekend
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It feels like just about every year you could make the claim “this year’s opening weekend to March Madness was the craziest one yet”!
Obviously, this year was no different. Over the course of the tournament’s four day opening weekend, among all the upsets and buzzer beaters, I learned a few things as well as had some beliefs reinforced.
For instance, I learned the next time Syracuse makes the tournament as one of the “last four” teams in, I need to automatically pick them to make it to the Sweet 16.
For the 2nd time in 3 years the Orangemen won 3 games in 6 days, to make it the second weekend. Two years ago, they made it all way to the Final Four. They’ll have to go through Duke and possibly Kansas, if they want to make a return trip this year; it’ll be rough, but I’m not counting them out.
I also felt more secure in my theory that when it comes to tournament knockout pools, under no circumstances should you ever pick a team coached by Sean Miller or Rick Barnes.
While the final score against Buffalo was a surprise, Arizona actually losing to them wasn’t. As for Tennessee, I thought about picking them for their game against Loyola Chicago, until I remembered who was coaching. Barnes may have a done a great job with the Vols over the course of the season but winning in the tournament isn’t exactly his forte.
I realized this year that if an ACC team makes their conference tournament and enters the NCAA tournament as a 2-seed, playing in the closest venue to their campus, just go ahead and pick them to be upset.
It happened to Duke last year. They won the ACC tournament; were upset by USC in Greenville, as a 2-seed and it happened this year with UNC getting completely dominated by Texas A&M.
This next one hasn’t exactly taken place yet, but I feel so confident that it will, I’m going to go ahead and include it under the “beliefs I had reinforced” category.
After complaining about Kentucky’s seeding and draw, John Calipari will somehow try to convince people that his Wildcats made the most miraculous run to the Final Four ever and that the other teams had a much easier route, although his own team won’t have played a team seeded higher than 9th.
For the record, if Kentucky makes the Final Four, I’m not diminishing their accomplishment because of who they played to get there; just pointing out one of the many ways Calipari contradicts himself. Trust me, it’ll happen.
One thing I probably knew but was finally forced to come to terms with is as good of a coach as Tony Bennett is, the style of play his teams run isn’t conducive to being successful in the tournament; at least not consistently.
They’ve had some success in the tournament over the past 5 years (1 Sweet Sixteen and an Elite Eight appearance), but they’ve also been purses in the first weekend three time; twice as a 1-seed and once as a 2-seed. Plus, there’s the loss to UMBC, which doesn’t help their case.
Speaking of UMBC, the most important thing I learned over the first four days of the tournament was what UMBC actually stands for; University of Maryland, Baltimore County. I mean, it’s only fitting I try to learn everything I can about the team that made this “the craziest opening weekend in March Madness history”!
Georgia Hires Crean Of Crop
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
They fired their basketball coach and so obviously they needed to find a new one. It was supposed to be Thad Matta.
There was a 5-year, $16 million contract offer made and he was expected to sign it, but on Wednesday he decided not to.
That’s was the first choice. To say that the guy who was hired was a second choice does a disservice to him. Simply, because it only took three hours after Matta’s contract rejection to make an offer to the next guy on the list.
Tom Crean showed up and showed off the kind of infectious enthusiasm he’ll be bringing to the table after he was announced as the new University of Georgia men’s basketball coach this week. He started off on an excited and positive note, leaving just one thing left to do, get ready for the next season of ball.
Exuberance and enthusiasm are good things for first impressions, certainly, but even beyond that I think that Crean is the right man for the job right now. His resume is one that shows a guy who can right a ship and build up a program that needs it.
Look at his successes at Marquette, where he took a rarely successful program and took them to the Final Four in his fourth year. As well as made every post season after. He also took a program that was on probation in Indiana and got them to the Sweet 16.
These aren’t just little schools either. Indiana is Indiana, with five National Championships to their name. Marquette had won the big one as well and both of those schools were in dire straits before Crean turned them around.
In both situations, Crean utilized the progams’ wide reaches and rich pools of resources to return them to glory. UGA is different in that its former glory doesn’t include championships, but it’s about where those two schools were before Crean came aboard and pushed them towards excellence.
It is no small matter that he was the head coach at Indiana. UGA is an SEC school, sure, but the pressures of a basketball coach at Indiana are more akin to what Kirby Smart faces each year than they are to the situation Crean now finds himself in.
He’ll need to produce wins to keep his job but the pressure of being the top dog (no pun intended) of a school’s sports program is off of him. That is likely to be a positive as he inherits the Bulldog’s basketball team.
Hugh Durham and then Mark Fox took a broken program after the 2002 scandal and led them back to winning ways but they were never able to implement consistency and take the next step.
That sporadic success has made UGA fans ravenous for more and more success.
The return of UGA’s football program to an elite level has also raised the expectations of its other programs. UGA is a football school and it will always come first, but success breeds expectation and Crean should be the guy to elevate the basketball program to an equal level of Kirby Smart’s boys.
February and March could merely be a continuation of sports fanaticism, not a just a lull in between the end of a bowl game and G-Day.
Crean can make that happen. He’s already been speaking about his approach and his plans to attack the Greater Atlanta area for recruiting once his staff is in place.
He’s got a history of getting programs past their previous barriers, and he can be expected to do the same thing at UGA.
Not bad for a second choice.
Oh, The Madness
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It is that time of the year again where you fill out your brackets and let the madness start.
As I type this story I am sitting here watching Arizona getting blown out by Buffalo by 21 points and not many will have predicted this. I had Arizona going to the sweet 16 in my bracket.
Another surprise in my bracket was Miami going down in the first round to Loyola Chicago. I had the Canes going deep into the tournament. How many people on social media will say they picked Buffalo and Loyola in their big money brackets?
So how are my brackets holding up? I am taking a beating in my South Bracket so far with Arizona and Miami losing.
I am on the Virginia bandwagon as I have the Cavs coming out of the South. Virginia plays defense like the old school Bad Boy Detroit Pistons of the late 1980’s and will be a tough team to beat in this tourney.
In my West bracket Houston came through for me with a first round buzzer beater against San Diego State. I have picked Ohio State to upset its way to the regional final by knocking off Gonzaga and number 1 seeded Xavier along the way.
I have Michigan beating North Carolina in the sweet sixteen to face the Buckeyes in the regional final. Can you imagine a Michigan/Ohio State regional final to go to the final four? The West is my upset bracket. I have Michigan coming out of the West.
My East bracket is all about Villanova. I have Nova going through this bracket and making it to the final four. I have seventh seeded Arkansas upsetting Purdue to get to the sweet sixteen. I have Texas Tech beating both Florida and Arkansas to get to Villanova in the regional final.
My Midwest Bracket held up today with Rhode Island beating Oklahoma in OT today. Now they face Duke where their season will end.
I have top seeded Kansas getting to regional final by beating Clemson. Kansas over the years has won me a lot money in previous editions of March Madness. I have third seeded Michigan State beating Duke in the sweet sixteen and then beating Kansas for a trip to the final four.
My final four match ups are: Virginia vs Michigan. Villanova vs Michigan State
Two number one seeds and two number three seeds. I am taking Virginia over Michigan because the ACC champs can defend better than any team in this tournament.
I am taking Michigan State over Villanova because the Spartans are just due under Tom Izzo to win a high profile matchup.
In the title game I have Virginia cutting down the nets baby. Virginia proves that the ACC is the best basketball conference in the country.
I will leave you this week with this little nugget my girlfriend picked Arizona to win the National Championship in her bracket.
March Madness is a national treasure.
NCAA Tourney Contenders and Pretenders
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The NCAA tournament begins this week. This is the biggest sporting event other than the Super Bowl. Let’s take a look at some of the teams from around the Southeast that made it in.
The Pretenders…
Georgia State: The Panthers (24-10) won the Sun Belt conference tournament. Coach Ron Hunter also led GSU to the tournament in 2015. GA State is the No. 15 seed in the South bracket and they play No. 2 seed Cincinnati. This would be a huge upset but I don’t see that happening.
Alabama: The Crimson Tide (19-15) snuck in the tournament. They finished 9th in a pretty weak conference. Advancing to the SEC Championship game is why they are in.
Freshman sensation Collin Sexton will be an NBA lottery pick in this year’s draft. Bama is the No.9 seed in the East and they face No. 8 Virginia Tech in the first round. I think they will win that game but they would play No. 1 Villanova in the next round. Their dreams will end after that game.
Arkansas: It must seem like I’m just picking on the SEC. The Razorbacks (23-11) finished fourth in the SEC. They are also in the East region and the No. 7 seed. They face No. 10 Butler and that will be a tough game. If they win they should face No. 2 Purdue in the second round. That means exit stage left.
Florida State: Another football school is having a resurgent year on the court. The Seminoles (20-11) are No. 9 in the West and take on No. 8 Mizzou. Talented freshman Michael Porter Jr. is returning from injury so I’m not sure if he will be rusty. The 6’10 forward was the top recruit in the country for the class of 2018 so he will give Missouri a great chance to win the game.
Clemson: honestly if this was a team with a winning history I would be more confident. The Tigers (23-9) had a very good year and finished third in the ACC. In the Midwest region they are the dreaded fifth seed. The twelve versus five game typically has several upsets each year. They will play New Mexico State. If they win they face the winner of No. 4 Auburn and No. 13 Charleston. I actually like their chance to advance to the Sweet Sixteen but not beyond that.
The contenders…
Kentucky: The Wildcats (24-10) had a very inconsistent. They finished the regular season fourth in the conference but won the SEC tournament. Coach Cal always complains about seeding but he actually has a point this year. Kentucky is the fifth seed in the South and play No. 12 Davidson in the opening round. Round 2 should be against No. 4 Arizona.
The Wildcats recruit so well that they are more talented than most teams they play.
Duke: The Blue Devils are the No. 2 seed in the Midwest and they play No. 15 Iona in the first round. They would get the Oklahoma/Rhode Island match up in the second round. This is another blue blood program that has top 3 recruiting classes every year.
North Carolina: The Tar Heels are the defending national champions. They have the No. 2 seed in the West and take on No. 15 Lipscomb. They will get the Texas A&M/Providence winner.
UNC isn’t as good they were last year but they have upperclassman leadership. They advanced to the national championship the past two years and look to make a new dynasty.
Out-Foxed
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Coaching turnover in college and professional athletics occurs about as often as The Fast and the Furious movies are released.
So, when Mark Fox was relieved of his duty as Georgia’s head basketball coach, you can understand why I was a little stunned to realize he had been at the helm for nine years.
In fact, entering this past season only Andy Kennedy (12 yrs), and John Calipari (signed his contract 4 days before Fox) had a longer tenure at their respective schools than the former Bulldog coach.
How, with all the rampant turnover in coaching did Fox, a coach with a .551 winning percentage, two NCAA Tournament appearances with no wins, and zero SEC conference or even divisional titles, last as long as he did?
The first thing that popped in my mind was that Georgia- Athletic Director, Greg McGarity in particular- was giving Fox a legitimate chance to succeed, when so many of his counterparts aren’t given that same opportunity.
I mean, nine years is more than enough time to gauge whether or not you need to make a change. I’m not sure how much truth there is within that scenario, but the optimist in me wants to believe it had to have played a little part.
The second thing was something my brother had said to me a few years ago; “When it comes to work, mediocrity is king.” If you’re completely inept at your job, it will be fairly obvious and you won’t last very long. If you are extremely successful, then you’ll be given more responsibilities and the expectations placed upon you will continue to increase. If you’re simply middle of the road and not causing any trouble, than you’ll fly under the radar and last longer in that position than most. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not encouraging mediocrity, but it does kind of make sense, right.
In the case of Fox, he wasn’t horrible, winning between 18-21 games a season over the last five years. And because he never won anything of any significance, he never had a high bar that he needed to live up to. When you think about it, he really is the living embodiment of my brother’s philosophy.
The third reason I thought of, which goes along with being mediocre and probably has more to do with Fox’s longevity than anything, is that UGA fans feel the same way about basketball that Duke fans feel about football; just don’t be an embarrassment and we’ll get along fine.
I don’t mean that as an insult, just being honest.
When Georgia football, or Duke basketball, loses a game it’s as if the apocalypse is upon us. Whenever UGA’s basketball team makes the tournament, or Duke football makes a Bowl game, the season is deemed a success.
If you need another example, look no further than this publication, The Southern Sports Edition. Over the course of the college basketball season we’ve probably written more articles on Georgia football’s incoming recruiting class alone than we have on the basketball team and it’s not on accident.
We write about topics people want to read and trust me, as far as I know we’re not being inundated with emails complaining about the lack of basketball coverage.
I guess what it all comes down to is this: If misery loves company, then in the case of Mark Fox and Georgia basketball, apparently so does mediocrity. How else can you explain his tenure lasting as long as it did?
A League Of Their Own
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There are only a few games remaining in the college basketball regular season. At this point we know who the contenders and pretenders are.
The ACC has been the best conference for several years and this season is no different. Currently there are 10 teams that will qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
Things have played out differently than we initially expected before the season began though. Duke was the top ranked team in the preseason so expectations were very high. The Blue Devils always compete with Kentucky for the top recruiting class and they had a lot of incoming talent.
They landed the top recruit in the class of 2017, power forward Marvin Bagley. Point guard Trevon Duval also committed to Duke and he was ranked 6th nationally. Teaming these young stars up with senior Grayson Allen sounded like a slam-dunk.
Bagley is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder and he’s missed some games with a right knee sprain.
They are 22-5 and the No. 5 team in the country so they are having a pretty good season. The surprise is that Virginia is the best team in the conference and they have a three game lead over Duke.
The Cavaliers have only lost one conference game and their top ranked nationally. They have sustained success over the last five years so maybe we should have expected this.
North Carolina has been inconsistent this season. We know the Tar Heels are the defending national champions and they played in the championship game the past two years. They lost several players from that team so we expected some growing pains.
They lost to Wofford at home in December. In ACC play they had a three game losing streak to Virginia Tech, NC State and Clemson.
They ended the streak against a terrible Pitt team then beat Duke. The Heels are a good team but too inconsistent to advance far in the tournament.
The most shocking team is Clemson because their typically doormats in basketball. The Tigers are No. 15 in the nation and fourth in the ACC. They have not made it to the NCAA Tournament since 2011. They are a legit team and they have a chance to win a couple of games once they get there.
Virginia Tech is also playing well. The Hokies are fifth in the ACC and have a winning record in conference play. After a 10-year absence from March Madness they made it in last season. This will make two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for a program that has only been nine times.
NC State is tied with Va Tech. The Wolfpack as a program have struggled with maintaining success. They beat Duke and North Carolina, which is a major accomplishment.
Louisville has performed well but they are on probation. I believe they have a post-season ban.
Two football schools, Miami and Florida State are both currently 19-8. These two programs have been very good over the last four years so maybe this should be expected at this point.
Syracuse is the final team that will make the tourney. They used to be an elite team in the Big East. After making the switch to the ACC they have been fairly disappointing.
The conference tournament will be very competitive. There is always the possibility of an unexpected team winning it.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When people bring up “March Madness” they’re generally talking about the NCAA Tournament; no groundbreaking news there.
However, with the way this season has played out, the “madness” part may begin a week earlier with the conference tournaments, especially in the SEC.
Over the past 8 seasons, the tournament has basically belonged to Kentucky. They’ve won five titles within that time frame (including the last three) and have made it to the finals in two of the three years they didn’t win it all.
Certainly, the Wildcats have as good a chance as anyone to extend their streak of conference titles to four; the main difference being there are six or seven other teams who have just as good a chance to win.
Currently, the eight teams that are ranked 3-11 are within two games of each other heading down the stretch. The four teams tied for third are only one game out of second. Basically, it’s about as evenly matched as it’s been in years.
Auburn has been the best and most complete team throughout the year. They lead the conference in scoring and have been tremendous on the road and in neutral site games. Their defense and focus has been a little suspect at times, but when they are engaged, they’re good enough to beat anyone.
Tennessee, with Rick Barnes and his desire to only coach teams with orange color jerseys, have struggled a little bit of late, but are arguably the best defensive team in the conference. If they can find some rhythm on the offensive end, they’ll be a tough out.
Arkansas is pretty much what you would expect; they’re going to score a lot of points and odds are, they’ll allow a lot of scoring, too. The question is can they work out their defensive issues between now and the tournament.
Missouri and Alabama are kind of in the same boat, in the sense that both teams have some really impressive wins- especially Alabama- but then they’ll both inexcusably lay an egg against a less talented team. As weird as it may sound, if I’m a fan of either team, I’d be more worried about their opening round game than anything.
When it comes to Florida it’s pretty simple; are they hitting their outside shots? If so, they are one of the better teams in the conference. When they’re not, they’re basically Ole Miss, but with a coach.
If the conference tournament were played in Starkville, I’d probably give Mississippi State the edge to win the whole damn thing; they’ve only lost once at home all season.
Unfortunately for Bulldog fans, the tournament isn’t even in the state of Mississippi and MSU has been down right abysmal away from home. Maybe someone will spray paint the Scottrade Center maroon and white?
Of course, this leads us to Kentucky. On one hand, you have to respect Calipari and his ability to get the most out of his teams come tournament time. On the other hand, I’m just not sure there’s enough talent on this team to run the table.
Combine all these things and the SEC tournament should be one of the more interesting and unpredictable conference tournaments.
For a league that has been dominated by one team in recent years, and plays second fiddle to their football programs, this type of excitement may just be what’s needed.
Then again, if it doesn’t have quite the drama I’m expecting, spring football is just a little more than a month away.
Out To Pastner
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
We have about one month left in the college basketball season. There are a few teams that have underperformed and will not make the NCAA tournament unless they win their conference tournament. Georgia Tech is poised to be one of those teams.
Tech used to be one of the few programs that were consistently successful in football and men’s basketball. They have fallen on hard times in recent years. The Yellow Jackets have not played in the NCAA tournament since 2010.
They currently are 11-11 and are ranked 11th in the ACC. Head coach Josh Pastner is not only struggling on the court. His longtime friend Ron Bell has told the media he provided benefits in violation of NCAA rules to players Josh Okogie and Tadric Jackson. Tech self-reported the violations to the NCAA in November and suspended both players.
Pastner filed a civil lawsuit in Arizona against Ron Bell and Jennifer Pendley, alleging defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy, aiding and abetting and injurious falsehoods and attempts to blackmail and extort both Pastner and his family, according to a statement from his attorney.
Pastner was a player on the 1997 Arizona Wildcats national championship team. He was also an assistant at Arizona under Lute Olson and at Memphis under John Calipari. After becoming head coach at Memphis he was named the 2013 Conference USA Coach of the Year.
He was hired as head coach at Georgia Tech in April 2016. He showed promise in his first season. During the 2016-17 regular season the Jackets knocked off Top 5 North Carolina at home, in his first coached ACC game at Georgia Tech.
They also enjoyed quality wins at Virginia Commonwealth, at home against Top 10 Florida State, and Top 25 Notre Dame. Further improving throughout the season, Tech knocked off Syracuse and Pittsburgh late in February to finish 8-10 in the ACC. The Yellow Jackets were projected to finish last in the conference and to not win a single conference game. He was named the 2017 ACC Coach of the Year.
This season there have been several bad losses against teams like Grambling, Wofford and Wright State. The NCAA violations could be one of the reasons for the sub-par season. They also lost four consecutive games in January.
There are eight regular season games remaining and it doesn’t look like things will get much better. The next few games are at Louisville followed by at home versus #9 Duke. Those are both probably bad losses.
Later this month there are back-to-back road games against #2 Virginia and #16 Clemson. The Yellow Jackets already lost to both teams and I cannot imagine them being able to get revenge.
NC State is also having a great year and they are one of the last regular season games. The Wolfpack have beaten Duke, North Carolina and Notre Dame so I expect them to dismantle Tech.
The best chance for victories is two games with Wake Forest and Virginia Tech. If they finish with a losing record (they certainly will) Tech needs to move on from Pastner and hire a new coach.
Underwhelming Wildcats
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Kentucky is one of the blue blood programs of men’s college basketball. Every year they’re expected to at least compete for a national championship. The Wildcats also have some of the best recruiting classes every year under coach John Calipari.
They started the season ranked in the top five. So far, the Cats have not lived up to the hype with a 14-5 record. Their only 4-3 in conference play which is the biggest surprise. The SEC is one of the weaker power conferences and Kentucky has dominated the league for decades.
Kentucky has lost two consecutive games to South Carolina and Florida. The Gators won a close game on the road 66-64. They also snapped Kentucky’s 30 game home win streak against conference opponents.
“At the end of the day we had our chances, and I love the fact we fought,” Calipari said.
Currently the Wildcats are unranked and tied for fourth place in the SEC.
At this rate it looks like they’ll struggle to make the NCAA tournament. We will see if Kentucky can right the ship and become a contender.
They’re led by talented freshman again this year. Forward Kevin Knox leads the team with 14.3 points per game and 5.6 rebounds per game. Knox was Mr. Florida in 2017 and he was considered a top-10 prospect by several publications. His father was a wide receiver for Florida State and a member of the 1993 national championship team.
Hamidou Diallo averages 13 ppg and 4.5 rpg. The 6’5 shooting guard was rated No.1 at his position in 2016. He actually had to redshirt last season because he was a midyear enrollee in January 2017.
Canadian guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averages 11.9 ppg and 4.3 assists per game.
With young talent, sometimes it takes time for them to adjust to college. At a school like Kentucky they have star players at each position so it can be difficult for them to play as a team.
Saturday January 27th they participate in the Big 12/SEC Challenge at No.6 West Virginia. This is the best opponent on the schedule and I think this game can determine the rest of the season.
I think a win will give the team great momentum. It will boost the teams’ confidence and encourage them to play as a team. Based on what I’ve seen I give the advantage to the Mountaineers.
The next game is home versus Vanderbilt. They beat the Commodores 74-67 earlier this month. I expect a season sweep.
February begins on the road at Mizzou. This is the first meeting of the season but I expect Kentucky to prevail since they have more talent.
I expect the Wildcats to stop struggling in conference play and put a decent winning streak together. I don’t see them catching up with Florida to win the regular season conference title.
