Around The SEC East – 2/10/09

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Here’s your SEC East news for the morning:

Vandy:  The Commodores lost five of their first six SEC games while averaging just 64 points per game.  In their last three games (all wins), Vandy has averaged 77 points per game.  Can you say: healthy AJ Ogilvy?

UT:  One fan of Lane Kiffin’s cocky attitude is star safety Eric Berry.  “It’s great to have a coach (who) has so much confidence in us.  He’s making us feel we can compete with anyone.  He has raised the bar on and off the field.”  Oh, the pro-Phillip Fulmer crowd won’t like hearing that.

UT:  Bruce Pearl and his team say they aren’t taking Georgia lightly heading into Wednesday’s game.  They shouldn’t, the Bulldogs led them by double-digits in the second half of their first meeting.

UT:  Pearl is taking part of the blame for his team’s 14-8 record.  “I’m as accountable as anyone for the fact that we’re a couple games under where we’d like to be.  But nobody’s panicking.  We lost by one point on the road (Saturday at Auburn), and we’re disappointed.  But I don’t think our confidence is terribly shaken.”

USC:  Senior guard Brandon Conrad could potentially return to the court in a couple of weeks IF an evaluation of a heel injury goes well.

USC:  In another sign that Darrin Horn “gets it” at South Carolina, the coach and his players actually put about 75 students (the so-called Garnet Army) through a boot camp last night.  He even allowed the students to play a little bit against his team, drawing up plays for them… that didn’t work.  Good stuff.  This guy is looking like a strong hire for the Gamecocks.

USC:  Signs still point to former Georgia defensive end Michael Lemon transferring from Georgia Military College to a non-SEC school.  Much to the chagrin of Carolina fans.

USC:  Gene Sapakoff of The Charleston Post & Courier writes the the Sterling Sharpe number fiasco is another example of how Carolina’s football program seems to pull apart rather than stick together.

UK:  Tonight’s ESPN battle with Florida couldn’t get much bigger for Wildcat coach Billy Gillispie.  The man who took the UK job after Billy Donovan turned down Kentucky’s overtures needs a win or else the Cats’ 17-year NCAA Tournament streak could be in jeopardy.  Baby.  Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh.  Jeopardy.

UK:  A loss at Rupp tonight would mark the program’s first four-game skid since a six-game streak in 1988-89.  It would also be the first ever three-game SEC losing streak at Rupp Arena for the Cats.

UK:  Gillispie isn’t of the opinion that his team is finished, mind you.  “The sky is falling, I don’t think that’s the way it works.  We were pretty good 10 days ago.  We will return.  We just need to do it quickly.”

UK:  The coach also made his team watch tapes of his old teams at Texas A&M, paying special attention to their toughness and intensity.

UGA:  Georgia basketball has gotten so bad that neither The Atlanta Journal-Constitution nor The Athens Banner-Herald wrote a single word about them today.  That, in itself, is news.

UF:  Kevin Brockway of The Gainesville Sun writes that the Kentucky-Florida rivalry has lost its “sizzle.”  At least for now.  Afterall, neither team is ranked coming into tonight’s game.

UF:  The Sun also provides a list of five things to watch for from Rupp.

UF:  One key for Florida is to keep Jodie Meeks from re-awakening.

UF:  Despite their lack of size, toughness, rebounds and blocked shots… Gator players don’t want to be called a “finesse” team.  Too bad, that’s exactly what they are.

UF:  In football news, if you were just dying to get your hands on a wrap-up of Florida signing class — there you go.