Around The SEC East – 3/12/09

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From the East Division come this list of links, notes and headlines:

Vandy:  At 19-11, the Commodores are still dreaming of an NCAA Tournament bid.  (And they’ll probably need to win the SEC tourney to get one.)

Vandy:  Winning four games in four days might sound impossible, but Georgia proved that last year that it can be done.

Vandy:  VU is familiar with the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa… they lost to Siena there in the first round of last year’s NCAA tourney.

UT:  Bruce Pearl is happy that his team has “had two good days of practice where we competed” following the day-off he gave them on Monday.

UT:  Pat Dooley of The Gainesville Sun believes the tourney is wide open, but he picks the Vols to win it.

UT:  In gridiron news, Tennessee will no longer feature two defensive tackles… but one tackle and one nose guard.

UT:  Joe Biddle of The Tennessean thinks the alleged gas-pumping comments of Lane Kiffin show just how dirty recruiting is getting.

USC:  Darrin Horn’s trip to the Sweet Sixteen with Western Kentucky last year started in the St. Pete Times Forum.

USC:  When asked about returning to Tampa for the SEC tourney, Horn said, “I’d love to stay undefeated in that building.  That would be great.”

USC:  Carolina was so loose in practice yesterday that Horn challenged the media to take part in a shooting contest.

UK:  Kentucky’s players seemed at ease in Tampa yesterday, no signs of the pressure their coach must be feeling.

UK:  John Clay of The Lexington Herald-Leader writes a forceful column listing all the things he believes need to be said in that end of the year meeting between Mitch Barnhart and Billy Gillispie — namely: “If you’re Kentucky, be KENTUCKY!”  It’s a good read from a guy who, to be honest, sounds ticked off.

UK:  Gillispie, when asked about his job security, said “outside things don’t really affect me because I don’t believe in wasting a lot of energy on those things.”

UK:  According to Jodie Meeks, Gillispie told his team, “Whatever’s said outside the lockerroom, don’t worry about it.”

UK:  The Wildcats lost 25 games in Tubby Smith’s last two years.  They’ve lost 25 in Gillispie’s first two seasons.  As Mark Story of the Herald-Leader points out, things haven’t gotten worse under the new coach.

UK:  Finally, Patrick Patterson — whose mother recently voiced questions about the program — says “We love Coach Gillispie; we know that he wants to continue on the tradition here of Kentucky basketball. Unfortunately, this year we’ve had not that good of a year in the SEC.”

UGA:  Georgia’s players have confidence heading into the SEC Tournament because they won the thing just last year.  “We’re going in as defending champions,” said Zac Swansey.

UGA:  Of course, Sundiata Gaines is no longer around to lead the way to the tourney finals.

UGA:  After a season ravaged by a plague of injuries, Georgia’s new football signees will be put through a new series of tests (used in the NFL) which could help identify early vulnerability to injury.  Interesting stuff.

UGA:  One of those new signees is tight end Orson Charles who’s now trying to play down comments that a “horrible” recruiting effort from Florida led to him signing with Georgia.

UF:  Nick Calathes admits that down the stretch, he was “kind of careless with the ball and obviously as a point guard I’ve got to take care of the ball better, run the offense.”

UF:  His first chance to get things going in the right direction again comes tonight against Arkansas… and here are five things to watch in that matchup.

UF:  Florida’s players are taking a relaxed approach to this year’s tourney… even though they’re probably playing for their NCAA lives.

UF:  One note that might concern the Gators: Arkansas has had a second half lead in six of its last eight games.