Arkansas officially announced yesterday that assistant coach Isaac Brown was being re-assigned to an administrative position on John Pelphrey’s coaching staff.  Fellow assistants Rob Evans and Tom Ostrom will continue in their current roles.

UA announced the move in a press release yesterday.  And Pelphrey vowed to turn things around in Fayetteville.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to improving our program, I believe these changes will result in the development of both a stronger coaching and support staff,” Pelphrey said in the release.  That’s quite the kick to the groin for Brown isn’t it?

“After making my recommendation, Jeff Long assisted me in creating this opportunity.  I appreciate the support of our administration and their continued assistance in providing our basketball program the resources and the opportunity to succeed.  I appreciate what Isaac Brown has brought to our program and look forward to working with him in his new administrative role.”

“On the court, while we have had some success, our coaches and student-athletes understand the expectations of the Razorback program is to compete for championships and win consistently in the Southeastern Conference and nationally.  We will continue to work every day in all facets of our program to meet those expectations.”

Meanwhile, the release underscores the fact that athletic director Jeff Long remains patient with his head coach.  “We have asked John and his staff to do more than win basketball games, we have asked them to build a program on and off the court of which our University and supporters can be proud.  This process will take additional time.”

Rumors continue to swirl about who will replace Brown on the Hogs’ bench… and about more potential moves.

An Arkansas television station has reported that former Alabama coach Mark Gottfried (now with ESPN) and former Texas Tech coach James Dickey would be joining the Razorbacks shortly.

“I have absolutely no idea where that got started,” Gottfried said of the report.

And Gottfried wasn’t the only person shooting down rumors yesterday. 

UA guard Rotnei Clarke said in a statement last night that it was never his intention to leave the Razorbacks, despite a television report that suggested otherwise.

“Contrary to a local television station report over the weekend that I was ’seriously considering’ transferring, I wanted to make clear to the Razorback fans that I will return to play basketball for the University of Arkansas next season.”

The apparent lesson?  Don’t get your news from Arkansas television stations.

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1.  John Pelphrey has tried to downplay Marshawn Powell’s comments about a supposed lack of leadership in Arkansas’ locker room.

2.  The Razorbacks hope to follow in the footsteps of the last two SEC tourney champs.  MSU and Georgia also had to win four games in four days.

3.  The Dawgs feel that they can make another four-game run… this time without a tornado.

4.  Georgia has lost three of its last four.  Arkansas has lost five straight.

5.  Mark Fox says that if UGA can play mistake-free ball, “we’ve got just as good a chance as a lot of teams.”

6.  Former walk-on Ricky McPhee is living his dream with the Bulldogs.

7.  This writer expects Trey Thompkins to return to Athens next season.

8.  Fox says his team needs “to have a good tournament” in Nashville before he’ll accept a bid to a lesser postseason tourney.

9.  By lesser tourney, we’re talking about the CBI and CIT.  Yep, nothing like two teams with losing records battling it out in the postseason.

GAME FOUR
Thursday, 9:45pm ET
SEC Network


West #3 Seed — Arkansas
Overall Record:  14-17
SEC Record:  7-9
Current Streak:  Lost 5
Last 8 Games:  2-6
RPI:  145
SOS:  36
Top 50 RPI Wins:  None
Losses Outside Top 100 RPI:  Morgan State, E. Tennessee State, S. Alabama, Oklahoma, Auburn, LSU
2pt Shots (% of Total Points):  52.4%
3pt Shots (% of Total Points):  25.8%
Free Throws (% of Total Points):  21.8%
Bench Minutes (% of Total Minutes):  37.1%
Playing For:  To extend their season, Arkansas will need to win the whole darn tournament


East #6 Seed — Georgia
Overall Record:  13-16
SEC Record:  5-11
Current Streak:  Lost 2
Last 8 Games:  3-5
RPI:  99
SOS:  14
Top 50 RPI Wins:  Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
Losses Outside Top 100 RPI:  Arkansas, Auburn, LSU
2pt Shots (% of Total Points):  57.0%
3pt Shots (% of Total Points):  21.5%
Free Throws (% of Total Points):  21.5%
Bench Minutes (% of Total Minutes):  30.0%
Playing For:  Like Arkansas, Georgia will have to win the tournament championship to keep their season alive


Previous Meeting:  Arkansas 72, Georgia 68 in Athens on February 3rd


Fast Facts:  Until their recent skid, Georgia was a team that had been showing improvement.  The same could be said for Arkansas which got a big boost from the return of Courtney Fortson… only to watch a West Division lead crumble into an 0-5 finish.  Fortson had to lead a 15-point rally (with 27 points of his own) in UA’s victory over the Dawgs earlier this season.


Edge:  If the Hogs get hot from three-point range, they can do some damage.  But I’ll take Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie to lead Georgia to a slight upset.  (The ridiculous East/West seeding system would make this look like a bigger upset than it would actually be.)

The second seed in the SEC West — and the first-round tournament bye that goes along with it — will be decided on the final weekend of regular season play.

With Ole Miss’ 72-59 win over LSU last night, the Rebels assured themselves of a tie for that #2 slot.  Currently, they are 8-7 in the SEC.  Arkansas is 7-8.

But the Rebels will be traveling to Fayetteville on Saturday afternoon.  If Rebels win, obviously, they’ll claim the #2 seed (and the bye) by virtue of their conference record.  If Arkansas wins, however, the Hogs will claim the seed by virtue of a tiebreaker.

If UA topples UM, both schools would have identical 8-8 league records.  The first tiebreaker is head-to-head record.  And if the Razorbacks when on Saturday, they will have beaten the Rebels in both regular season contests this year.  Thus, the tie would go to the Hogs.

Whoever earns the #2 seed will play the winner of Tennessee and LSU.  Being that the Vols are the best team in the league not receiving a bye, that’s the worst draw for any of the teams earning byes.

If Ole Miss loses on Saturday, they will grab the #3 seed from the West and likely take on South Carolina in the first round of the tournament.  The winner of that game would earn a date with Vanderbilt. 

But there are other possibilities for Arkansas.

If UA loses Saturday, the Hogs would claim the West’s third seed IF Auburn loses at Alabama.  The Razorbacks would finish a game ahead of the Tigers in the standings.

However, if Arkansas loses to Ole Miss and falls to 7-9, Auburn could actually tie their 7-9 league record by beating Bama.  In terms of tiebreakers, AU and UA split their season series at one game a piece.  So divisional record would come into play.  Arkansas would have five West Division wins… but with a win at Alabama, Auburn would have six wins in the division.

Want the simplified version? 

* Ole Miss could still tie for the West’s #1 seed — though it wouldn’t get the bye — with a win over Arkansas and a Mississippi State loss to Tennessee.  Either way, a win over the Hogs Saturday clinches the #2 seed (at least) and the bye for the Rebels.

* Arkansas could still land the #2 seed and the bye (with a win over Ole Miss), the #3 seed with a loss to Ole Miss and an Auburn loss to Alabama, or the #4 seed with a loss to UM and an Auburn win.

* Auburn could still land anywhere from third to fifth… but we’ll cross that bridge if/when we get there.

Follow?

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Congratulations to Trent Johnson and the LSU Tigers.  After 12 consecutive losses, LSU finally came out the victor in last night’s 65-54 win over Arkansas.

LSU jumped on the Razorbacks from the outset, leading 10-0 to start the game and opening up a 22-point lead at one point.

It’s another example of how ridiculously advantageous playing at home can be in college basketball.

“At Arkansas, we didn’t come out with aggressiveness and they beat us by 35,” said Tasmin Mitchell.  “They came out here, we saw them warm up, it was like it was going to be a cakewalk at home, at our house.  I was like, ‘Man, no can do.’  Let’s go out here and play these guys.  We owe them something.”

The win was a relief for Coach Johnson.

“It’s been a long time.  I forgot how it felt to be honest with you,” Johnson said.  “In all seriousness, this group never quit.  I’m relieved because we won, not because of the record.  I’m happy for the kids.  I told them, ‘We lost 12 times in a row.  Now, let’s see what it’s like on the other side.”

The win means that LSU will not become the first SEC basketball team since Georgia Tech in 1953-54 to lose every conference game it plays.

But as we pointed out earlier this week, the Tigers still need one more win to ensure that they don’t become the first 1-win club in post-expansion SEC history.

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1.  Kevin Sherrer will replace Jeremy Pruitt — now an on-field assistant — as Alabama’s director of player development.

2.  Anthony Grant wants the Tide basketball team to start putting opponents away when it has the chance.

3.  Most SEC schools are paying big bucks to their defensive coordinators… at Auburn, it’s Gus Malzahn who’s breaking the bank.

4.  Malzahn was briefly linked with head coaching jobs at Memphis and Louisiana Tech.

5.  Gene Chizik is just happy that his staff is stable.

6.  Chizik says there will be a battle for the starting quarterback job this spring, “May the best man win.”

7.  Overall, the Tigers’ coach says his second spring practice will be more routine than his first.

8.  AU running back Eric Smith has filed a lawsuit against his accuser, claiming that a fellow Auburn student threw the first punch in a fracas last August.

9.  Fresh off a Liberty Bowl win, the Arkansas football program is raising ticket prices for 2010.

10.  The SEC West race appears to be down to Arkansas and Mississippi State.

11.  This writer gives the Razorbacks a B grade for the season so far, but the final four regular season games will heavily influence the final mark.

12.  Despite losing two of their last three games, John Pelphrey believes his players’ morale is fine.

13.  There’s still no definitive word on what caused the death of Mississippi football player Bennie Abram on Friday.

14.  Junior receiver Andrew Harris has left the Ole Miss football team.

15.  The Rebels’ Murphy Holloway tweeted that he’s “super sick” and might miss Wednesday’s game with Auburn.  (I loathe Twitter.  And if you want to follow us there you can… Twitter.com/mrsec.)

16.  Andy Kennedy’s research has revealed that his team is getting absolutely killed at the free throw line.

17.  No school in the nation saw a bigger football attendance jump last year than Mississippi State.

18.  Here are the finalized spring practice dates for MSU.

19.  Wojciech Myrda of Rzeszow, Poland wishes the best for Jarvis Varnado… the man who’s about to break his NCAA shot-blocking record.

Bobby Petrino has revealed that the broken bone in Ryan Mallet’s left foot required surgery on Wednesday.  Mallett will have to stay off the foot for a full month and wear a protective boot for a month after that.

He will also have to limit his activity in the months after the boot comes off.

While many around Fayetteville are downplaying this injury, I think it’s a pretty solid setback for Mallett.  Yes, he has pro potential, a rocket arm, and great size.  And he put up record-breaking numbers for the Razorbacks last year.

But as we pointed out in a statistical breakdown that we posted soon after his decision to stay in school, Mallett’s biggest issue is his accuracy.

All 21 of the quarterbacks drafted in the first- or second-round since 2005 had better completion percentages than Mallett.  By a wide margin.

If the Hogs’ signal-caller is off his foot through mid-March, in a boot through mid-April, and still limited in May and June… that will cut down on the amount of time he’ll have to throw with his receivers over the spring and summer.

And with a completion percentage of just 55.8% last season, Mallett needs as much time as possible to try to get on the same page with his pass-catchers.

This might not be a serious injury in the long run, but it could be a costly one if Mallett’s accuracy does not improve because of it.

In January, Arkansas fans were thrilled to learn that their star quarterback Ryan Mallett would be bypass the NFL draft and stay in Fayetteville for one more season.

Now the Razorbacks will be without him for spring practice anyway.

Mallett is expected to miss three to four months with a broken bone in his left foot.  The quarterback suffered the injury during conditioning drills.

“It is unfortunate since Ryan works extrememly hard and has made a commitment to the Razorbacks,” Bobby Petrino vis press release.  “Ryan is a strong competitor who I know will put all his effort into overcoming his injury and continuing to lead his team.”

Mallett has also undergone shoulder surgery since the end of last season.

Tyler Wilson will likely take the Hogs’ first-string snaps this Spring.  Petrino went into last season planning to get Wilson at least one drive per game as quarterback.  As it turns out, he played in just five games.

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach John Pelphrey doesn’t usually get wrapped up in historical facts.
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Not long after posting the story of the Kentucky fans who’d made the John Wall snowman, I received an email from an Arkansas fan.

Seems these two Razorback fans had made their own snow pig. 

And, yes, they even managed to give it a pinkish hue.  (George Costanza would approve.)

As always, click the headline for a closer look.

Gotta love the SEC.

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Thirteen days ago Arkansas was handed its worst SEC loss ever by Kentucky, 101-70 in Lexington.  That loss dropped the Razorbacks to 8-11 overall and 1-3 in the SEC.  It turned up the heat on the seat beneath John Pelphrey’s behind.

Now… raise your hand if you thought Arkansas would win four in a row after that beatdown.

Didn’t think so.

Since that loss, UA knocked off Mississippi State by five, Ole Miss by seven on the road, Georgia by four on the road and Auburn by three in overtime.  Those teams are a combined 13-20 in the SEC.

So the Razorbacks haven’t been knocking off the best teams in the league.  But so what?  When you lose 101-70 and your team is reeling, it takes quite an effort to climb off the mat and fight another round.  The Hogs have won every fight since.

After the UK game, Pelphrey said: “Hopefully we’ll respond in a way that, if you’re an athlete you’ve got to have a short memory.  If you’re worried about your last shot that didn’t go in, the chances are it’s going to hurt you the next one.  Obviously, we need to take the same approach this game.  We need to learn from it, don’t discredit it totally, but you need to have a short memory.”

Mission accomplished.  The Razorbacks are now 12-11, 5-3 in the conference and sitting in first place by themselves in the SEC West.  Next up is a date with 0-9 LSU, so there’s a chance UA can roll up a five-game win streak for the first time since 2006.

“I am proud of the way the guys conducted themselves (during the streak),” said Pelphrey.  “I’m proud of their effort.  I can sit here and tell you it’s not great X’s and O’s that’s winning these basketball games.  It’s not because of he wonderful talent that we have.  We aspire to have that at some point in time.  To this point in time, we’ve been fortunate but we have shown great toughness and heart.”

Enough toughness and heart to climb from the depths of a 31-point loss all the way to the top of their division.

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The Arkansas men’s basketball game at Ole Miss Saturday afternoon has been postponed and…
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With a winter storm barreling toward Fayetteville, the tip-off for tonight’s Arkansas-Mississippi State game is still scheduled for 8pm CT. 

But ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes — who’ll be calling the game — said yesterday that there was a chance that the game could be moved to 2pm CT if the weather got bad early.  But a move of the start time at this point seems out of the question.

At issue is whether (and weather) or not MSU could get back out of Fayetteville after tonight’s game.  The Bulldogs host LSU on Saturday afternoon at 12:30pm CT. 

The Weather Channel is calling for freezing rain from about 5pm CT through 10pm.  At that point, sleet is supposed to enter the fray and a dreaded wintry mix is expected to continue on through tomorrow morning.

For more information, you can follow the Tweets of Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long right here.

Ryan Mallett will return to quarterback Arkansas for another season and chances are it…
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It didn’t take Bobby Petrino long to find a replacement for offensive line coach Mike Summers.  Summers left for Kentucky over the weekend… and today Chris Low of ESPN.com is reporting that Arkansas has hired Chris Klenakis.

Klenakis comes from the University of Nevada.  He joins Steve Caldwell and Kris Cinkovich as new hires on the Razorbacks’ staff.

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Arkansas fans continue to get good news on the NFL draft front.  Last week, Ryan Mallett announced that he would return to Fayetteville for another season.  (Mallett made a smart decision, by the way.)

Today, tight end DJ Williams let it be known that he would also return to the college game for one more year.

Williams is one of 17 starters who will return in 2010 from the group that started in the Liberty Bowl.

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Last Thursday, Jevan Snead announced that he was leaving Ole Miss early for the NFL.  A day later, Ryan Mallett revealed that he had decided to return to Arkansas and put the NFL on hold.

Mallett made the right decision.  Snead did not.

Let me get this out of the way right off the bat, none of us can truly know the financial situation facing the Snead family (or the Mallett family for that matter).  So perhaps Snead desperately needed to start bringing in a paycheck.

Or he might have been so unhappy in Oxford that he’d given himself ulcers.  Point is, a lot of factors other than draft stock could have played into his decision to leave.

But since we’re not privy to all those sorts of things, we must look at his decision (and Mallett’s) based on data, based on past history, and based on potential draft status.

When we do that, it becomes clear that both Snead and Mallett came up short in one key area this past season — accuracy.

Big arm, good build, mobility in the pocket, height… all are important to NFL scouts.  But the numbers show that accuracy is just as important.  Possibly more important.

We at MrSEC took a look back at the past five NFL drafts.  While high first-rounders make the biggest dough, we thought we’d look at all the signal-callers nabbed in the first two rounds of the draft.  That should give us a good idea of what pro GMs are looking for in a “franchise quarterback.”

In the last five drafts, 21 quarterbacks have been selected in the top two rounds (3 in 2005, 5 in 2006, 5 in 2007, 4 in 2008, and 4 more in 2009).

Each and every one of those quarterbacks had a higher completion percentage in their final college season than Snead and Mallett did last year.  And it wasn’t even close.

From Jason Campbell’s 69.6 completion percentage in 2005 to Chad Henne’s 58.3 percentage in 2008, all 21 quarterbacks selected in the first two rounds were at least 2.5 percentage points better than Mallett and at least 3.9 percentage points better than Snead.

A by-product of Snead’s inaccuracy was his touchdown-interception ratio.  Normally, a 2-to-1 ratio is considered solid.  Snead’s was a horrific 1-to-1 in 2009 (20 touchdowns and 20 interceptions).

That kind of inaccuracy and poor decision-making just doesn’t do it for pro scouts.  Regardless of arm strength, size and all the other factors we mentioned earlier.

In fact, only Drew Stanton (2007) and Henne (2008) finished their final collegiate seasons with interception totals nearing their touchdown totals.  In Henne’s case, he threw 17 TDs against 9 interceptions for Michigan in 2007.  Stanton threw for just 12 touchdowns against 10 picks for Michigan State in 2006.  Both also missed playing time in those seasons due to injuries.  The injuries were no doubt taken into consideration by pro scouts.

Snead didn’t have the benefit of being banged up to fall back on.  Both he and Mallett were healthy this past year.  Both had plenty of weapons around them.  Yes, Snead did have a shaky offensive line in front of him for much of the year, but you can bet that NFL scouts will take note of that.  There’s no guarantee he’ll have a great offensive line in front of him at the next level either.

Looking at Snead’s numbers — and those of the 21 previous first- and second-round picks — it’s hard to imagine Snead being selected before Round 3 of this spring’s draft.  That doesn’t mean he won’t be a great pro and won’t make a heckuva lot of cash during his career. 

But if he’s left school early in hopes of being drafted high and making a big rookie check, well, the odds don’t look too good.

Snead erred in his decision.  Mallett was wise to return for another year of college ball.


Final Collegiate Season Numbers For 21 1st Or 2nd Round QBs Since 2005

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Joker Phillips has raided Bobby Petrino’s staff and lured offensive line coach Mike Summers from Arkansas to Kentucky.

Summers will replace Jimmy Heggins, who Phillips ousted laast week.

So why would a man who’s worked with Petrino since 2003 leave the Razorbacks for the Wildcats?  He’s going home.  Summers is a Lexington native.  And his wife?  Well, she’s the daughter of former UK basketball coach Joe B. Hall.

“Mike and I have had a great seven-year run together and I appreciate all his hard work and dedication through that time,” Petrino said.  “He’s got an opportunity to go home and be with his family, which is a priority I can understand.  I want to thank him and wish Mike and his family the best.”

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After a year-and-a-half of feedback, research and daily usage, we at MrSEC.com decided it was time for an upgrade.

This morning we launched our first overall redesign of the site since we launched in May of 2008.  Over the next couple of days you’re sure to see some new links, buttons, boxes and polling widgets appear and disappear as we work out all of the kinks.

If you find any links or pages that don’t load properly, please drop us an email at either admin@mrsec.com or john@mrsec.com.  We appreciate the help.

When everything is up and running, the changes we’ve made should make MrSEC.com an even easier site for you to navigate with even more info and interactivity.

Hope you like the new look — and the other changes to come.

Many thanks for making MrSEC.com one of your daily stops,
The MrSEC Staff

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Arkansas offensive line coach Mike Summers is leaving the Razorbacks to take a similar…
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Each stop that Ryan Mallett made to announce his intention to return to school, he made…
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1.  Auburn and Mississippi State have moved their SEC opener on September 9th to Thursday night… for ESPN, of course.

2.  With the Iron Bowl coming the day after Thanksgiving, just 10 of the Tigers’ 12 games will be played on Saturdays.

3.  Redshirt sophomore Ryan Mallett will make his NFL decision public today at 2:30pm ET…

4.  And it appears that he’ll be returning to Arkansas for another season.

5.  A Fort Smith television station reported last night that Mallett will definitely return.

6.  Could there actually be some excitement about the Razorback’s DEFENSE next year?

7.  Rumors have been swirling that LSU offensive coordinator Gary Crowton was about to be fired or about to return to the Chicago Bears.  But Crowton says he and Les Miles have been talking about recruiting and spring practice.

8.  A Shreveport television station reported that Crowton would be fired, but LSU’s sports information director says that hasn’t happened and won’t happen.  (Whoops.)

9.  Point guard Bo Spencer says there’s no tension between him and coach Trent Johnson… despite that fact that Johnson ripped him in a press conference and Spencer has had “some personal issues going on.”

10.  Jevan Snead says he’s doing what’s best for him and his family by leaving school early for the NFL.  (The Rebels have quite a few other big names to replace next year, too.)

11.  Houston Nutt was surprised by Snead’s decision and will now have to ask his young quarterbacks “grow up in a hurry.”

12.  Who are some of those young quarterbacks?  Glad you asked.

13.  Here’s more on the QB candidates in Oxford…

14.  And more on Snead’s decision to leave.

15.  In basketball news, with Chris Warren healthy, Ole Miss is happy.

16.  MSU officials believe moving the Auburn football game to Thursday night will provide “tremendous exposure for the city of Starkville, the university and the athletic program.”

17.  The bombastic attorney for Renardo Sidney zipped out an email this morning ripping Mississippi State athletic director Greg Byrne for not giving Sidney enough support during the NCAA’s ongoing amateurism evaluation.  “Clearly, the current A.D. is not Larry Templeton,” read the final line of Donald Jackson’s mass email to the media. 

First, this attorney has been a loose cannon from Day One. 

Second, State knew that they were getting into bed with a player who other schools were avoiding. 

Reminds me of the old line from the movie “Airplane!”:

“They bought their tickets, I say let ‘em crash.”

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Bobby Petrino made two announcements yesterday — one that we were the first to report back on Tuesday and another that was a bit of a surprise.

Arkansas has indeed hired former Tennessee assistant Steve Caldwell to work with the Razorbacks’ defensive line.  Caldwell is an Arkansas native who Petrino pursued prior to the 2008 season for the role of defensive coordinator.

Cinkovich will replace Petrino’s brother Paul who coached UA’s receivers last year.  He too has connections to Petrino, but they date all the way back to the head coach’s playing career.

Cinkovich (offensive lineman) and Petrino (quarterback) played together at Carroll College.  They also coached together at Nevada in 1994.  Cinkovich has been at UNLV for the past six years.

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1.  Auburn must find a replacement for leading rusher Ben Tate in 2010.

2.  Alabama assistant James Willis says he’s still an Auburn man at heart, even though he left AU for UA last offseason.

3.  Charles Barkley — no surprise — picks Texas this week.  (Do you care?)

4.  In basketball news, Auburn rolled past West Georgia 77-62 last night.

5.  It doesn’t sound like the Tigers are too confident in their readiness for SEC play.

6.  Former Auburn and Ole Miss coach Tommy Tuberville was expected to interview with Texas Tech today, but reports say he actually met with Red Raider officials yesterday.

7.  Folks in Arkansas are still expecting Steve Caldwell to be introduced as a new assistant today.  (We reported this yesterday afternoon.)

8.  Courtney Fortson scored 19 points and dished out 7 assists in his return to the Arkansas basketball team last night…

9.  But the Razorbacks still fell to Texas 96-85.

10.  Fortson’s return provides a spark and some hope…

11.  Though nothing is guaranteed.

12.  What Fortson did to earn a suspension may never come out, but this writer believes it’s clear that he owned up to his problems and the university helped him “enter a program of some sort.”

13.  Eddie Sutton hopes that fans will return to Bud Walton Arena.

14.  LSU’s Rahim Alem and Richard Dickson will take part in the East-West Shrine Game.

15.  In total, six Tigers will play in All-Star games.

16.  Houston Nutt says Jevan Snead will have more competition next spring and that all of his quarterbacks will face more contact.

17.  12-2 Ole Miss took care of business last night, dispatching Central Florida 84-56 in its final non-conference warm-up before SEC play.

18.  Eniel Polynice said, “No, we weren’t looking ahead.  We wanted to come out and do what we usually do, then come back tomorrow, watch film and get ready for Mississippi State.”

18.  Was Mississippi State’s 55-52 loss to Western Kentucky an aberration… or a hint of things to come?

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So much for Courtney Fortson not rejoining the team for tonight’s game against Texas.  Just a day after John Pelphrey said that he couldn’t guarantee that Fortson would ever return to the floor, it was announced today that the guard WILL be back with the team and available tonight.

“We are pleased that Courtney has done the things necessary for him to incorporate basketball fully back into his life,” Pelphrey said.

Fortson has missed the first 14 games of the season while on suspension.

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