1. Alabama 77 – Villanova 55. Crimson Tide shoot 9-of-15 beyond three-point arc.

2. Anthony Grant’s team wins a November tournament for the second straight year.

3. Auburn 55 – College of Charleston 51.  Game-high 24 points for Frankie Sullivan.

4. Oklahoma State 62 – Tennessee 45. Vols make just 13-of 50 shots from the floor.

5. Tennessee kept missing, Cowboys defense kept sagging.

6. Missouri 74 – Nicholls State 54.  10 rebounds and 17 points for Alex Oriakhi.

7. Tigers headed to the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament next week – suspended guard Mike Dixon will be allowed to travel with the team.

8. Kentucky 101 – Lafayette 49. 23 ponts for Kyle Wiltjer.

9. Nerlens Noel – king of the floor burn? Coming on strong -and fast.

10. Ole Miss 92 – Arkansas-Little Rock 52. Five players in double figures for the Rebels.

11. South Carolina 87 – Morgan State 71.  Coach Frank Martin: “I’m embarrassed.”

12, Oregon 74 – Vanderbilt 48. Kevin Stallings ejected with 15;57 left to play.  

Thursday he was being taken off Twitter.  Friday he was being booted from Les Miles’ team altogether.  Then word came Monday via ESPN’s Joe Schad that Tyrann Mathieu wanted to stay in school and return to LSU’s football team in 2013.

So where do we stand today?  That depends on who you talk to.

According to Jim Kleinpeter of (what’s left of) The New Orleans Times-Picayune, a source close to Mathieu revealed last night that a return to the Tigers “wouldn’t be happening,” that multiple failed drug tests were the reason, and that a transfer to an FCS school was always in the plans.  Kleinpeter states that Mathieu will announce his new football home tomorrow.

Yesterday afternoon, Glenn Guilbeau of The Shreveport Times said that LSU’s senior associate athletic director for NCAA compliance told him that Mathieu is: “permanently ineligible to play football at LSU.  That’s definite.  That’s what was said Friday.”

So he’s dunzo in Baton Rouge then.  Well, not according to a tweet put out by Herb Vincent, the associate vice chancellor and senior associate AD at LSU.  He tweeted after Guilbeau’s report:

Guilbeau’s source — Chris Bahnsen — said he’d been quoted out of context.  Guilbeau didn’t like that and he took to Twitter his own self:

Meanwhile, the top story at TigerBait.com — the Rivals site covering LSU — states today that Mathieu can return:

“According to LSU officials, Mathieu can enroll as a student when classes begin next week.  School officials would not comment on the possibility of Mathieu rejoining the football program.  LSU Director of Athletics Joe Alleva said last Friday that Mathieu has lost his scholarship.”

You’ve heard of a non-denial denial?  Well, this appears to be a non-dismissal dismissal.

Unless, of course, you believe Kleinpeter’s source who says Mathieu is bound for an FCS school.  Or maybe you believe The Baton Rouge Advocate’s Randy Rosetta who also went to Twitter to state that Mathieu has asked LSU officials to only allow McNeese State and Nicholls State to contact/chase him.

If that’s the case, it sure sounds like Mathieu is headed to the FCS level.  And that he knows it.  Whether all LSU officials are in agreement over that fact or not.

But stay tuned.  This is a program driven by a coach known as the Mad Hatter.  There could be a few more twists and turns before the Honey Badger saga comes to a close.

At MrSEC.com, we always find November to be a pretty interesting month around the league.  It’s the one month of the year when the two money sports are going to head-to-head with full slates of action.  In 11 SEC cities, the focus remains on football.  In Lexington, the attention switches to basketball.  Big time.

So knowing that basketball is still a back-burner sport for many of you out there, here’s a quick catch-up on what you might have missed around the league the past few days:


Georgia 2-0 (wins over Wofford 62-49 and Bowling Green 63-54)

Mississippi State 2-1 (wins over Eastern Kentucky 76-66 and South
Alabama 80-65, loss to Arkon 68-58)

Alabama 1-0 (win over North Florida 64-44)

Arkansas 1-0 (win over SC-Upstate 83-63)

Auburn 1-0 (win over McNeese State 84-62)
 
Florida 1-0 (win over Jackson State 99-59)

Kentucky 1-0 (win over Marist 108-58)

LSU 1-0 (win over Nicholls State 96-74)

Ole Miss 1-0 (win over La-Monroe 60-38)

South Carolina 1-0 (win over Western Carolina 75-50)

Tennessee 1-0 (win over UNC-Greensboro 93-63)

Vanderbilt 1-1 (win over Oregon 78-64, loss to Cleveland State 71-58)


The Commodores’ loss to the Vikings of Cleveland State dropped them a whopping 13 slots in the latest Coaches’ Poll:

Kentucky — #2 in AP Poll, #2 in Coaches’ Poll

Florida — #7 in AP Poll, #8 in Coaches’ Poll

Alabama — #16 in AP Poll, #15 in Coaches’ Poll

Vanderbilt — #18 in AP Poll, #20 in Coaches’ Poll

(In case you’re wondering, Texas A&M is ranked #18 and #19 in the polls while Missouri is ranked #24 and #25.)


Finally, three league teams are all in action tonight (all times Eastern):

Grambling at Ole Miss at 8:00pm

Kennesaw State at Auburn at 8:00pm

Oakland at Alabama at 8:00pm

1. Bowl projections for SEC teams.

2. Auburn cornerback T’Sharvan Bell left Saturday’s game with a serious knee injury.

3. Alabama injury report.

4. Jordan Jefferson got his first start of the year last night.

5. Mississippi State tried three different quarterbacks against Alabama – they combined for 119 passing yards.

6. Georgia’s defense deserves most of the credit for its resurgence.

7. Mississippi State 80 – South Alabama 65.  Renardo Sidney sits out with a groin injury. Career-high 28 points for Arnett Moultrie.

8. LSU 96 – Nicholls State 74.  Three freshmen combine to score 39 points.

1.  What goes on during halftime in Alabama’s locker room?  Find out here.

2.  BCS guru Brad Edwards believes Alabama will top the first standings of the year.

3.  Gene Chizik takes the high road when it comes to how some in the media covered the Cam Newton story.

4.  Barrett Trotter and Kiehl Frazier will continue to split the QB duties at Auburn… while Clint Moseley waits his turn.

5.  Due to an ankle injury, Arkansas running back Kody Walker could possibly redshirt.

6.  Mike Anderson is remodeling the Razorback basketball program.

7.  LSU’s John Chavis doesn’t want his return to Tennessee to become the storyline of the week.

8.  The Tigers’ season-opening basketball game with Nicholls State will be free to the public.

9.  Three years ago, Ole Miss upset eventual national champion Florida in The Swamp.  Can they upset Alabama this week?

10.  Could the shotgun formation blow up in quarterback Randall Mackey’s face on Saturday?

11.  South Carolina’s defensive ends are a big concern for Mississippi State.

12.  Dan Mullen is keeping every quarterback option on the table for Saturday.

Content provided by The Slophouse.

FAYETTEVILLE - Beating a 3-4 foe from a power conference might not sound like much, but the SEC West will take whatever it can get on the hardwood these days.

So Arkansas picked up its division’s signature win to this point on Wednesday night, downing Oklahoma 84-74 at Bud Walton Arena. The win improved the SEC West to 22-14 on the young season.

While the football division is strong, the basketball side of things has been anything-but this year. The division’s teams have suffered embarrassing defeat after embarrassing defeat this year to the likes of Nicholls State, Samford, Campbell, Florida Atlantic, Dayton and St. Peter’s.

The Razorbacks (4-1) haven’t been immune to tough losses, falling 70-65 in overtime to Alabama-Birmingham last Friday in North Little Rock. But the Blazers have made postseason noise in recent years, so that loss fails in comparison to some others in the west.

All the while, the league’s eastern division is collectively strong. Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, Vanderbilt and Georgia are all expected to compete for NCAA Tournament bids this season, and are a combined 30-7 thus far.

The win over the Sooners was a fairly convincing one for the young Razorbacks. Despite being outrebounded by nearly double, Arkansas controlled the pace of the game by hitting 51 percent of its shots and scoring 28 points off 22 turnovers.

The Razorbacks committed just 12 turnovers in the win and hit 23 of 26 free throw attempts.

Oklahoma led briefly in the game’s first minute, but never afterward. Arkansas at one point stretched its lead to 17 points in the second half and never let the Sooners within seven points after the intermission.

It was as dominant a performance against quality competition as the SEC West has seen this season and leaves the Razorbacks tied with Mississippi State for the best record early in the season.

If Arkansas can continue to build on wins like Wednesday night’s and return injured players to full-strength, it isn’t too much of a stretch to think a season of rebuilding might just yield some hardware in the end.

For more visit WholeHogSports.com. You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.

THIBODAUX, La. — Four Lady Tigers scored in double-figures, including 15 points from freshman Shanece McKinney in the second half, and the LSU women's basketball team rolled to an 88-35 win over Nicholls State with relentless effort on Tuesday night in Stopher Gymnasium.
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THIBODAUX, La. – The LSU women's basketball team will play its fourth game in five days when the Lady Tigers conclude their November road trip at Nicholls State at 6:30 p.m. CST Tuesday in Stopher Gymnasium.
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1.  LSU’s national championship hopes are very slim according to one BCS guru.

2.  Saturday could be the final home game for LSU’s Patrick Peterson and Richard Murphy.

3.  This writer thinks Peterson has done enough to be honored on Senior Day… even as a junior. 

4.  The LSU basketball team is reeling after last night’s home loss to Nicholls State.

4.  Some of Alabama’s young players may hit the field against Georgia State.  (Ya think?)

5.  A few Tide players are looking forward to reconnecting with Star Jackson who is now a backup QB for Georgia State.

6.  Alabama’s pass rush is coming to life.

7.  NFL scouts aren’t sold on Cam Newton.  (“Sold” is a funny word to use in Newton’s case.)

8.  Josh Bynes’ dad finally got a chance to see his son play at Auburn.

9.  Bobby Petrino’s team isn’t worried about cowbells at Mississippi State.

10.  The Razorbacks aren’t having to worry much about third down situations either.

11.  Marshawn Powell and Jeff Peterson will be ready for Arkansas’ basketball opener tomorrow.

From an RPI perspective, the SEC didn’t have a great night last on the hardwood.  Five league teams were in action… three lost their games… one of the losses was to Nicholls State… and one team got bombed on its home floor.

The results:


* South Carolina trailed by 17 at the break but battled back for a respectable 82-73 loss at #2 Michigan State.

* #10 Florida’s going to be dropping in the rankings after #5 Ohio State outscored them 55-34 in the second half in Gainesville last night.  The ugly final: 93-75.

* Georgia struggled at home with traditional Big 12 also-ran Colorado.  The Dawgs led just 72-70 with 1:32 remaining, but pulled away for a 83-74 victory.

* Tennessee saw tiny Belmont go on a 22-6 run to tie the game at 77 with 36 seconds left.  The Vols came back to life and protected their homecourt — barely — with an 85-76 win.

* LSU’s 82-game home winning streak against in-state foes came to an end last night as Nicholls State controlled the second half and won 62-53 at the Maravich Assembly Center.


Ah, the league will have better nights.

We hope.