The tailback who South Carolina coaches and fans believe will change the direction of the Gamecocks’ running game was at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday for the first spring scrimmage. So was the tailback who arrived with similar expectations last year.

And with incoming freshman Marcus Lattimore looking on, Jarvis Giles showed he plans to be more of a factor in his second SEC season.

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COLUMBIA — Stephen Garcia didn’t have to look over his shoulder last year. The job as South Carolina quarterback was all his. Now, though, it’s as if the coaching staff is putting a mirror in front of him, just so Garcia knows where freshman Connor Shaw is in relation to his heels.
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Anybody out there still think the NCAA Tournament field should be expanded to 96?

Hello? Anybody?

(more)

With four SEC East schools in action yesterday, there will be a lot more East Division headlines than West Division headlines.

That said, here goes…

1.  Double-overtime meant double the pain for Florida, which lost to BYU 99-92 in yesterday’s first round.

2.  Senior Dan Werner said, “We left it all out there, and that’s all you can ask.”

3.  Ultimately the Gators didn’t have the depth they needed to advance.

4.  Billy Donovan said his team had its chances.

5.  Urban Meyer seems to love freshman receiver Solomon Patton.

6.  Speaking of Meyer, this writer says he can’t get upset when reporters ask about his health… he was the one who scared “his players and UF fans.”  She’s right, too.

7.  Tim Tebow hasn’t decided whether to attend the NFL draft or not.  (Don’t do it, Tim.  You don’t want to be Aaron Rodger-ed.)

8.  Josh Davis — returning from offseason surgeries to both shoulders — will be the key to Georgia’s O-line success.

9.  New secondary coach Scott Lakatos is embracing the southern lifestyle.  (I’m tempted to ask if he’s moved into a double-wide, but as a southerner, I’d find that offensive.  D’oh.)

10.  Here’s a practice report from yesterday’s work in Athens.

11.  Richard Samuel has changed positions again… this time going from outside linebacker to inside.

12.  Defensive line coach Rodney Garner is having to make a lot of adjustments as the system and coaches around him have changed.

13.  Thanks to some really stupid/careless Georgia fans who trashed their own campus last year, UGA is putting in some tough tailgating rules for everyone.

14.  The Junkyard Blawg says Mark Richt disagreed with him on a point he didn’t make.  (Which, given my dealings with the Junkyard Blawg, I find pretty ironic.)

15.  Mark Fox says that Travis Leslie has told him he’ll be back at Georgia next year.

16.  Kentucky’s 100-71 win over ETSU was such a yawner that fans were seen sleeping in the stands.

17.  UK used a barrage of three-pointers to sink the Buccaneers.

18.  Eric Bledsoe drained 9-of-11 shots and if he keeps shooting like that, the Cats have just added “a dangerous new dimension.”

19.  DeMarcus Cousins got a marriage proposal from a fan during yesterday’s game.

20.  It had been a long time coming, but Patrick Patterson’s first NCAA tournament game was worth the wait.

21.  South Carolina’s running back corps is ready to welcome in hotshot tailback prospect Marcus Lattimore.

22.  Carolina’s offense has been all no-huddle through three spring practices.

23.  USC’s is looking for deeper kickoffs — and possibly a new kicker — in 2010.

24.  Bruce Pearl was proud of his team’s effort in a gritty, ugly 62-59 win over San Diego State yesterday.

25.  The Vols got an unexpected boost from backup point guard Melvin Goins who sank four of five treys… including the game-winner.

26.  UT’s players were glad to give Pearl a nice present on his 50th birthday.

27.  It was yet another scrappy win for Tennessee.

28.  Derek Dooley said his quarterbacks have a “long way to go” but yesterday was a good first day of practice.

29.  A day after saying former tight end/receiver Brandon Warren hadn’t approached him about returning, Dooley said the he “forgot” that he had indeed had a conversation with Warren.

30.  Dooley also said that running back Bryce Brown isn’t necessarily done at Tennessee just yet…

31.  But it doesn’t sound likely that he’ll return.

32.  Jeffery Taylor said that Vanderbilt’s 66-65 last-second loss to Murray State was “just heartbreaking.”

33.  To make matters worse, the SEC’s best foul-shooting squad hit just 17 of 29 free throw attempts yesterday.

34.  Murray State’s buzzer-beating shot was “a miracle play” according to coach Billy Kennedy.

35.  President Barack Obama might have lost some votes in Nashville by picking Murray State, but he did help his bracket.

With Tennessee’s 62-59 win over San Diego State last night, the Southeastern Conference wrapped up the day at 2-2.  It wasn’t the kind of performance the league was looking for, but it could have been worse.

As we showed you all week leading up to the tournament, many national analysts believed Kentucky would be the only SEC club standing at the end of yesterday’s action.  They were almost right.

Florida fell to Brigham Young to get things started.  Next Vanderbilt was upset on a buzzer-beater by Murray State of the OVC.  After an expected UK win, Tennessee had to hold off #11 seed San Diego State which had a chance to tie on a last-second three-pointer.

Had the Aztecs pulled the shocker — and that was THE vogue pick for a first-round upset — the SEC would have really had some egg on its face.

As it stands, the league actually has a pretty good shot at having two teams reach the Sweet Sixteen.

Kentucky will face Wake Forest at 8:15pm ET on Saturday.  Wake (a #9 seed) came from behind to slip past Texas in overtime last night.  Having played in a power conference and been on the NCAA stage many times before, it’s doubtful that the Demon Deacons will be intimidated by the name on UK’s jerseys.  Still, it would be a major, major upset for the Wildcats to lose.

Tennessee will play at 3:35pm ET against Ohio.  The #14 seed Bobcats whipped up on Georgetown yesterday.  If Ohio can repeat their 13-of-23 shooting performance from three-point range they might just take down Tennessee, too.  But if you look at their full body of work, Ohio is a much more desirable opponent for the Vols than the Hoyas would have been.  Ohio was just 20-14 coming into the tourney and had to win the MAC tournament to get a bid.

If the SEC can land two teams in the Sweet Sixteen it would constitute a respectable performance for a league that just had four teams invited. 

But if the SEC wants to impress folks around the country, it needs Kentucky and Tennessee to not only reach the next round… but the one after that.  If two league schools can reach the Elite Eight THEN the SEC might start to regain some national respect.

After Day One, at least that remains a possibility.



(It was a first day that some are calling the best ever thanks to seven upsets by seed out of the 16 games played.)

1.  This writer has had some success picking tourney winners… and he’s tabbing Kentucky this time around.

2.  DeMarcus Cousins admits that his mental approach has been a bigger issue than his basketball skills.

3.  Every game is big now for the Cats.

4.  UK still has two areas of concern.

5.  Patrick Patterson has been hiding out for fear of a freak non-basketball injury costing him a shot at the NCAA tournament.

6.  Kentucky’s players know that some of them won’t be back around for another NCAA shot next year.

7.  John Calipari is a finalist for national coach of the year honors.

8.  Calipari’s tournament theme is “Land the plane.”

9.  The NFL draft stock is rising for former Wildcats Corey Peters and Alfonso Smith.

10.  Florida tips off the NCAA tourney against BYU shortly after noon ET today.

11.  Dan Werner’s career has come full circle.

12.  To advance, the Gators have to shut down BYU guard Jimmer Fredette.

13.  UF’s players want to make some noise in the tourney.

14.  It’s going to take time for Florida’s new defensive assistants to get on the same page.

15.  Quarterback John Brantley said Urban Meyer was “his same old self” at practice yesterday.

16.  Tim Tebow drew some rave reviews at Florida’s Pro Day.

17.  Georgia’s offensive players are having to adjust to going against a 3-4 defense in practice.

18.  Tiny back Carlton Thomas (5-7) is trying to earn some carries in Athens.

19.  Quarterback Aaron Murray is trying to learn from Zach Mettenberger’s mistake.

20.  Derek Dooley is focused on his team, not the media and the fans.

21.  Dooley is only worried about Tennessee’s roster issues in the short term.

22.  All scrimmages and practices will be closed in Knoxville this year.

23.  Here are five questions facing UT football.

24.  The Vols’ quarterback battle is on.

25.  An injured toe cut Eric Berry’s Pro Day short.

26.  Tennessee is playing the disrespect card leading up to tonight’s game with San Diego State.

27.  Wayne Chism is the last man standing from UT’s “fab five” signing class in 2006.

28.  Bruce Pearl wants Tennessee to finally make a long tourney run.

29.  If Vanderbilt is to advance past Murray State today, the Commodores will need AJ Ogilvy to be at his best.

30.  The Racers have been off for 12 days… does that help them or hurt them?

31.  Vandy will have to overcome some tournament inexperience.

32.  Bobby Johnson likes his football team’s energy and attitude as spring practice starts in Nashville.

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1.  When you watch the NCAA tournament you’ll see a lot of players from Alabama… who got away from the Tide and Tigers.

2.  Former Auburn tailback Ben Tate won’t be changing his lifestyle until the NFL cash starts pouring in.

3.  Have you seen Auburn football’s flashy new website?

4.  Bobby Petrino is looking forward to seeing his four running backs compete during spring practice.  (Arkansas will do some running from the “pistol” formation this year, too.)

5.  Ryan Mallett says he feels great.  Despite his healing left foot.

6.  Les Miles is hoping Stevan Ridley and Richard Murphy can carry the load at running back for LSU.

7.  With Ole Miss students on Spring Break, there wasn’t much enthusiasm surrounding last night’s NIT win over Troy.

8.  Terrico White’s 27-point night was a pleasant surprise.  “Certainly he has the ability to do that, and we’d like to see it every night,” Andy Kennedy said.  “Maybe he’s just not ready to do it every night.”

9.  The Rebels looked “looser” last night than they did in the SEC tournament.

10.  Dexter McCluster is ready to improve on the 40 time he ran at the NFL combine.

11.  Mississippi State fans — many of whom believe MSU gets no respect — love the fact that Rick Stansbury is complaining about the missed lane violation call.

12.  As expected, tickets for State’s NIT contest with North Carolina are going fast.  “Those teams don’t come to Starkville, that’s just the way it is.”

13.  In case you missed it, here’s the crotch punch that Dee Bost took in Tuesday’s Jackson State game.

1.  Mark Richt says Zach Mettenberger needs to regain the trust of his teammates, coaches and fans.

2.  Fellow QB competitor Aaron Murray is experimenting with a glove on his throwing hand this spring.

3.  Here are some notes from yesterday’s practice in Athens yesterday.

4.  UGA held their Pro Day yesterday, too.

5.  ETSU has overcome a lot for the right to face #1 seed Kentucky in the NCAA tournament.

6.  The President has picked UK into his Final Four… along with Kansas, Kansas State and Villanova.

7.  It doesn’t appear that Kentucky fans will take command of New Orleans this week they way they did Nashville last week.  (Probably because many fans are saving their cash for a potential trip to Indianapolis in a couple of weeks.)

8.  Carolina’s quarterbacks have been working on drills to help them avoid sacks this fall.

9.  This writer says Stephen Garcia is becoming more of a leader in Columbia.

10.  USC’s coaches will be keeping an eye on these five offensive players this spring.

11.  Here’s an early look at what the Cocks’ 2010-11 basketball lineup might look like.

12.  Some West Coast Vols are familiar with the players on San Diego State’s team.

13.  Vol guard Scotty Hopson is working on his footwork trying to correct a flaw in his shooting motion.

14.  This writer thinks Tennessee will bounce back in the NCAA tourney.

15.  Vanderbilt could cause problems in the NCAA tournament for teams unfamiliar with their offensive system.

16.  John Jenkins knows the Murray State player whose mother was killed in a car accident on Monday.

17.  While many experts are picking the Racers to upset the ‘Dores, Murray State coach Billy Kennedy says, “They’re the biggest and most physical team we’ve faced.”

18.  As Vandy opens spring practice, Bobby Johnson wants his team to use last year’s terrible record as motivation.

19.  You can get live updates from Florida’s Pro Day right here.

20.  Needless to say, Tim Tebow will be the focus of the media.

21.  Urban Meyer did indeed show up for Pro Day… and Day One of Florida’s spring practice.

Zach Mettenberger isn’t the only SEC quarterback dealing with a recent arrest.  South Carolina backup Aramis Hillary was back at practice yesterday, reinstated to the Gamecock squad.

Hillary was arrested last week on charges of underage drinking and drunkeness.  Interestingly, even on something so seemingly small, Hillary has requested a trial by jury.

As for his return to the practice field, Steve Spurrier said, “He got cleared through the athletic director.”

When Monday morning rolled around, I never dreamed that I would type the words “lane violation” so often this week.  But the end of the Kentucky/Mississippi State game on Sunday has folks on both sides of the battle shouting to the heavens.

First came the emails from MSU fans regarding John Wall stepping over the three-point arc on Eric Bledsoe’s “I’m gonna miss this on purpose” free throw attempt.

Then came more MSU emails pointing out that Darnell Dodson was also over the line.  And Eric Bledsoe had jumped the gun and stepped over the free throw line, too.

Yesterday, after posting our follow-up to the story — because Rick Stansbury was talking about it — UK fans got in on the action.  I received four different emails from folks saying that it was a good “no call” because State’s players on the lane itself all jumped into the paint before the ball hit the rim.

And that’s why I think it’s time for some more clarification.  Here’s the deal on lane violations:



1.  Players lined up outside the three-point arc (and the extended lanes) cannot cross inside the three-point area (or the extended lanes) until after a free throw attempt has hit the rim.  Both Wall and Dodson appear to have done just that.  MSU’s Dee Bost might also have jumped the gun on this area.  In Stansbury’s view, the whistle should have been blown when Wall crossed the line, so it would not have mattered what Bost did after that point.

If this violation had been called against either UK player, Mississippi State would have been given the basketball with a two-point lead and 4.9 seconds remaining on the clock. 

2.  The shooter can not step across the foul line until his attempt hits the rim.  Bledsoe did.  In this case, however, he fired up a lollipop of a shot in order to force a big rebound.  He stood his ground for a second before moving forward.  I’m guessing the official watched his feet, saw that he didn’t come immediately across the line, and then eyed the ball… thus missing Bledsoe’s violation.  Still, this WAS a violation of the rule.

3.  Players along the lanes (be they Kentucky or MSU players) can’t go into the paint until the shot has been released from the shooter’s hands.  On replay, it looks like the players for both teams waited until after Bledsoe released his shot before they jumped into the paint.  So there was no violation.  Meaning that this was NOT a good “no call.”

Here’s the video one… more… time.



Hopefully that puts an end to this discussion until the SEC comments on the play… or fines Stansbury for doing so.

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ESPN’s Joe Lunardi is considered to be THE bracket expert when it comes to the NCAA tournament.  Now, he does do a good job of predicting the 65-team field, but I’ve never gone back to check his accuracy on predicting seeds.  In other words, “field” expert might be a better term than “bracket” expert, but that’s neither here nor there.

For those of you who do view Mr. Lunardi as a tourney guru, he’s now posted his tourney picks for you.  And SEC fans won’t be real happy about them.

In the Midwest, he has Tennessee losing to San Diego State in the first round.

In the West, he has Vanderbilt losing to Murray State in the first round.

Still in the West, he has Florida losing to BYU in the first round.

In the East, he does have Kentucky reaching the Sweet 16… before falling to #4 seed Wisconsin. 

That’s right, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the SEC out of the tourney before the round of eight.  And that includes UK.

Looking around the nation at other experts’ picks, it’s obvious that the SEC is fighting a pretty big perception problem.  Very few analysts expect Florida to win a game.  Several see Vandy as an early upset victim.  And Tennessee is perhaps the trendiest pick in the field to fail in its opener.

There’s only one way to change what folks think about SEC basketball — win. 

But if the SEC’s teams go belly-up as Mr. Lunardi and so many others expect, those of us down south shouldn’t complain about a lack of respect.  The SEC’s schools will have earned it.

It’s Wednesday and I just found yet another note in my email box from a Tennessee fan upset that I defended the NCAA (sort of) in their seeding of the Vols.

Apparently 48 hours isn’t enough time to move on from the fact that Bruce Pearl’s team was seeded sixth instead of fifth.

Well, in response to the cries of “We wuz robbed!” I thought I’d take a look at this year’s NCAA tournament seeds and see if Tennessee truly was singled out for a spanking.

A quick comparison of the selection committee’s seeds to the national rankings and RPI rankings shows that the “eyeball test” of human voters is a more accurate predictor of seeding.

Below you’ll see the Top 25 going into Sunday’s selection process.  At right, you’ll see three columns.  The first shows where each team should have been seeded IF seeding were based strictly on national rank.  The second shows their actual seed.  The third shows how much up or down they moved.

So what do we see?  First, it’s pretty obvious that the committee gave extra credit to teams from the Big East and Big 12, the perceived two best conferences all season.  Villanova, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Baylor and Texas A&M were all seeded a bit higher than their national ranking would have indicated.

We also see that no team fell or rose more than a couple of spots from where they were expected to land.  Overall, eight teams moved up and nine teams moved down.

Tennessee dropped two slots along with Butler (who has been a fixture in the Top 12 all year), Temple, BYU and Gonzaga.  Hard to say, then, that UT was singled out.

One of the biggest risers was Vanderbilt.  The Commodores — ranked 21st — would have been expected to be a #6 seed, but instead they received a #4 seed.  That might give some Vol fans something to complain about, but Vanderbilt beat Tennessee handily in both of their contests this year, finished ahead of them in the SEC standings and went 4-2 against Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida.  As Pearl himself noted, the Vols went just 2-5 against Kentucky, Vandy and the Gators.



Now, on to the RPI comparison…

Clearly, RPI is used only as a “guide,” just as various committee members say each year.  There was much more variation in this chart than in our first one.  Temple, Northern Iowa, San Diego State, California and Ohio State all moved up or down by three or more slots.

Again we see that Tennessee moved down two lines while Vandy climbed two.

As for the school that got “most hosed” in both charts, that would be Temple.

But knowing that this is a fluid process that seems to change a bit from year to year, it’s hard for me to say, “Yes, this team’s fans should be crying.”  We’re talking about a seed line or two… not a tourney snub.

If the teams who feel snubbed are upset, they’ll have every opportunity to prove the experts wrong starting tomorrow.  And if Tennessee isn’t good enough to get by San Diego State, how much farther would they have gone as a #4 or a #5?

And for the record, I’d have had Kentucky a #1, Vandy a #4 and Tennessee a #5.  But that’s just me.  And judging from my inbox, many of you disagree.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Mr. SEC.com!

Nothing like Irish Serbs to kick off your morning.  Enjoy this — and an early morning black and tan — as we put together your morning news.



And as our photo clearly shows… be smart today and don’t have TOO many black and tans.

1.  Billy Donovan enjoyed seeing his team celebrate an NCAA tourney berth again.

2.  Billy D compares BYU point guard Jimmer Fredette to John Wall and Devan Downey.

3.  There are five big storylines for the Gators’ spring practice this year.

4.  Georgia’s Trey Thompkins made the AP’s first-team All-SEC squad.

5.  UGA AD Damon Evans says it’s time for the Bulldogs to schedule a season-opener in the Georgia Dome.

6.  This writer/Dawg fan says a Clemson-Georgia game would be perfect for the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic.

7.  It’s Pro Day in Athens today.

8.  Bruce Pearl says San Diego State is a patient team that takes after its coach, Steve Fisher.

9.  A lot of national analysts expect Tennessee to get bounced by the Aztecs in Round One.

10.  Derek Dooley apparently didn’t realize that he was tossing some former Vols when he cleared UT’s indoor practice facility of visitors.

11.  UT’s Wayne Chism and Vandy’s Jermaine Beal were named to the AP’s All-SEC team.

12.  Vandy’s players — booted as a #4 seed in 2008 — know better than to underestimate #13 seed Murray State on Thursday.

13.  One Murray State player will be with his team despite the death of his mother in a car accident yesterday.

14.  The SEC tournament brought in 12 million bucks to Nashville last week.

15.  John Calipari gave his players the day off yesterday to help combat fatigue.

16.  Are Kentucky’s fantastic freshmen better than Michigan’s Fab Five?  We’re about to find out.

17.  No team in the NCAA tournament field is more inexperienced than UK.  (But inexperience hasn’t hurt the Cats yet, has it?)

18.  There’ll be no crying in Lexington this week — the AP honored John Wall as the SEC’s Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson made the All-SEC team, and John Calipari was named Coach of the Year.

19.  Here are five questions facing South Carolina’s basketball team in the year ahead.

20.  Devan Downey was a unanimous pick for the AP’s All-SEC team.

21.  Backup quarterback Aramis Hillary — arrested on alcohol-related charges last week – has requested a jury trial.

22.  The spotlight will shine on five defensive players during spring practice in Columbia.

In football, Alabama and Florida supposedly got all the calls this past fall.

In basketball, it’s Kentucky that’s been “taken care of.”

At least that’s the way many SEC fans saw things this year at least.

I don’t know who thought Kentucky was getting all the calls when Billy Gillispie was missing the NCAA tournament last year.

And I don’t remember anyone talking about Bama getting help from officials during Nick Saban’s first 7-6 season in Tuscaloosa.

But, hey, the perception is that good teams really aren’t that good… they’re just being aided by the refs.  Or so a lot of people seem to think.

So I’ve gone back through every Southeastern Conference basketball game this season (that’s 96 regular season games) and tallied up all of the fouls called in each game.  Below you’ll see which teams were whistled for the most fouls, which teams saw their opponents most often called for fouls, and which teams got the biggest boost in foul differential per game.

Keep in mind, this is purely a numbers exercise.  There’s no way to know how numbers are skewed by the fact that good teams usually lead and therefore their opponents are forced to foul more at the ends of games.

In other words, are fouls called because a team is good or is a team good because fouls are called?  Depending on your belief in conspiracy theories, that can go either way.

Also, it would stand to reason that more talented teams would force their opponents to foul more in an attempt to even the playing field.  In other words, not everyone has a guard as fast as John Wall, so it would figure that Wall might draw more slaps on the arms as he blows down the lane.

In addition, more physical teams — like Vanderbilt — probably get a foul advantage because other teams have to use multiple players to bang around inside with them.

Personally, I’m not a believer in conspiracy theories.  I believe home teams get more calls because officials get caught up in crowd noise just as players do (and we’ll show you those numbers, too).  I believe more talented teams get “benefit of the doubt” calls.  And I believe teams that have a reputation for being physical get more calls in their favor as well.

But I don’t believe officials take care of certain teams in order to protect their rankings, seedings, etc.  You might, but I don’t.

All that said, here are the numbers:

MOST FOULS CALLED AGAINST OPPONENT PER GAME

It seems that Auburn and Arkansas tend to spoil the conspiracy theory on this one.

FEWEST FOULS CALLED AGAINST PER GAME

Again, I’m not seeing any evidence of conspiracies here.  Vanderbilt saw it’s opponents whistled for more fouls than any other school.  Yet the Commodores also led the league in the number of fouls that were called against them.  That seems to suggest that style of play is a pretty big factor.

As for Kentucky, the Wildcats were actually whistled for more fouls than Florida, Mississippi State, Georgia and LSU.  That would be 2-14 LSU, by the way.

FOUL DIFFERENTIAL PER GAME

Finally.  Something for the folks in the tin foil hats.

No school sees a bigger difference between their own number of fouls and their opponents’ fouls than Kentucky.  Of course, the SEC refs are having to be awfully sneaky about this if it’s planned out… because UK doesn’t lead either of the two individual categories (above) that are used to determine this number.

But what about homecourt advantage?  Is it real?

Oh, yes.  There’s a reason 76% of BCS league games have been won by the home team in recent years.  A loud crowd influences players AND officials.

All 12 teams in the SEC this past year saw more fouls called against their opponents at home than on the road.  All 12.

And all 12 SEC teams saw fewer fouls called on themselves when playing at home, too.  Again, all 12.

But of all the official-affecting home gyms in the SEC, here are the ones that provide the best advantage for their occupants:

FOUL DIFFERENTIAL AT HOME

As you can see, only two SEC teams (Ole Miss and South Carolina) averaged more fouls called against them than their opponents at home.  Every other team had a positive foul differential in their own gym.

Of all the gyms in the SEC in 2010, the O’Connell Center in Gainesville was the most inhospitable to visitors looking to get a call or two.

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1.  It’s been a while, but Florida is going dancing again.

2.  With a #10 seed in the tourney, the Gators apparently weren’t even on the bubble.

3.  Chandler Parsons said “it was a stressful 48 hours” waiting to learn their NCAA fate.

4.  Florida’s upgrade in non-conference scheduling clearly helped UF land a bid.

5.  Still, this writer says the Gators are stumbling into the tourney.

6.  On the football front, meet the men expected to be the Gators’ new leaders in 2010.

7.  Jimmy Johnson believes drafting Tim Tebow high would be a risky move.

8.  Despite a losing record, Mark Fox’s first season at Georgia got the attention of Dawg fans.

9.  Turns out yesterday’s SEC tournament championship meant plenty to Kentucky’s players after all.

10.  After the win over Mississippi State, DeMarcus Cousins said the Bulldogs deserved to be in the NCAA tourney “hands down, no questions asked.”

11.  No surprise here, this Lexington writer believes UK’s talent will lead to a national title.

12.  That same writer says the Cats will face some tough tests in the NCAA tourney.

13.  John Calipari — bless his heart — isn’t complaining about UK’s bracket draw.

14.  UK’s coach also said that his team has already played every style of basketball that might be thrown at them in the tourney.

15.  Are the Wildcats tourney ready?

16.  Bruce Pearl seemed to grasp why his team might have gotten a #6 seed, but his players didn’t.

17.  The Vols — including Pearl — were really ticked that CBS’ Seth Davis said they’d be upset by San Diego State in Round One.

18.  Scotty Hopson — who was 6 of 29 shooting in the SEC tournament — said, “Seth Davis has me a little upset right now.  I think he just gave us enough attitude to go out there and take this whole tourney.”

19.  Did UT deserve a better seed?  This writer says yes and no.

20.  While the Vols were stunned by a #6 seed, Vanderbilt was happy to land a #4.

21.  Kevin Stallings finds it “ironic” that Vandy will have to travel “2,500 or 3,000 miles” to play nearby Murray State.

Quick note… we’ve added Ole Miss and Mississippi State to our “Who’s got a right to cry?” post from earlier today.

As you’ll find, I don’t think any of the SEC teams have many reasons to be whining today. 

Scroll down or click here to see the updated post.

Congratulations to Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Florida for making this year’s NCAA tournament. 

And condolences to Ole Miss and Mississippi State for missing out.

Now that the brackets have been announced, a quick check of the messageboards for each school reveals a lot of upset feelings, a lot of complaints about seeding, respect, travel, etc. 

Johnny Cash summed up the mood nicely…




So which schools/teams/fans really do have reason to cry?  We’ll tell you below:



Kentucky — RPI of 2, SOS of 31, 5-1 vs RPI Top 50
#1 seed
East Regional vs #16 ETSU
Thursday at 7:15pm ET in New Orleans

The Cats got their #1 seed but they didn’t get the #1 overall.  UK fans shouldn’t cry too much about that one.  Kansas was 12-2 against Top 50 RPI teams while Kentucky was just 5-1.

But the selection committee didn’t do the Wildcats any favors.  In the second round, they will face the winner of Texas and Wake Forest.  Those are two power programs from power conferences who won’t be intimidated to stand on the same court with the Wildcats.  They’ve been on the big stage before.  (Kansas’ 8-9 teams are UNLV and Northern Iowa, for comparison.)

Path to the Final Four (by highest seed):
16  ETSU  (121)
8  Texas  (29)
4  Wisconsin  (21)
2  West Virginia  (4)

That’s not a real easy path to Indianapolis.  You could argue pretty easily that West Virginia is the best of the #2 seeds.

VERDICT:  No crying.  You can’t cry when you get a #1 seed.  You just can’t.



Vanderbilt — RPI of 26, SOS of 25, 4-2 vs RPI Top 50
#4 seed
West Regional vs #13 Murray State
Thursday at 2:30pm ET in San Jose

Vanderbilt fans won’t be happy with being shipped so far away from Nashville.  Some are saying that that amounts to a punishment for a team that was clearly the second-strongest SEC squad all year long.  But those ‘Dore fans don’t have much of an argument to make.

The other #4 seeds were shipped off as well — Purdue to Spokane, Wisconsin to Jacksonville, and Maryland to Spokane.

Vandy’s first-round game is a good one.  Murray State’s RPI is #57, but the Racers played only one Top 50 club all year (losing to Cal in their season opener).  Of the #13 seeds, Wofford (which beat Georgia and South Carolina) and Houston would have both been more dangerous (on paper) than Murray State.  And Vandy fans would have wanted no part of another first-round battle with Siena, either.  The Saints toppled Vandy in the 2008 first round.

Path to the Final Four (by highest seed):
13  Murray State (57)
5  Butler (12)
1  Syracuse (5)
2  Kansas State (6)

Overall, that’s a mighty steep hill to climb for the Commodores.  A second-round game with Butler could be one of the best games in the tourney.  Two smart, patient, well-coached teams.  It’ll be a throwback to 1955.

VERDICT:  Maybe some grumbling about the path, but no real reason to cry.  If VU wanted a better seed, they shouldn’t have dropped two of their last three games.



Tennessee — RPI of 14, SOS of 19, 2-5 vs RPI Top 50
#6 seed
Midwest Regional vs #11 San Diego State
Friday at 9:45pm ET in Providence

Oh, boy.  The weeping/anger in East Tennessee is pretty loud this morning.  After becoming the first team since 2002 to knock off a #1 and a #2 in the same season, Vol fans expected no worse than a five seed.  Most projections listed UT as a #4 seed prior to the selection show.

Instead, they get a long trip.  A late game.  And a matchup with one of the tournament’s true sleeper teams.  In fact, San Diego State plays the deliberate, patient (ie: they won’t turn the ball over again and again) ball that has given UT trouble all season.

The SEC was not viewed as a power conference, and UT’s record against the other SEC teams to make the field (2-5) had to have worked against them.

Path to the Final Four (by highest seed):
#11  San Diego State (18)
#3  Georgetown (7)
#2  Ohio State (22)
#1  Kansas (1)

Baaaa-rutal.  That’s a real murderer’s row for the Vols.  Especially considering how limited UT is offensively.  Without turnovers and transition baskets, the Vols can’t seem to score.  For proof of that, just consider Tennessee’s 21-point first half against LSU and their 19-point first half against Kentucky in the SEC tourney.  It looks like the committee did.

VERDICT:  UT’s path is tough, but fellow #6 seed Notre Dame got a rough one, too.  No room for crying.  Aside from the Kansas and Kentucky wins, Tennessee doesn’t have a whole lot to hang its hat on.



Florida — RPI of 56, SOS of 36, 3-8 vs RPI Top 50
#10 seed
West Regional vs #7 BYU
Thursday at 12:20pm ET in Oklahoma City

I’m shocked that the Gators got in in the first place.  They were just 3-8 against top 50 opponents, they had two losses to teams outside the RPI Top 100, and they finished the season by losing four of their last five games.  Rhode Island, Memphis, Virginia Tech and Seton Hall all have to be wondering about this one.

The first-round matchup with BYU isn’t a bad one, either.  The Cougars were just 4-5 vs Top 50 squads.  However, Brigham Young does have the highest RPI (23) of all the #7 seeds.

Path to the Final Four (by highest seed):
7  BYU (23)
2  Kansas State (6)
3  Pittsburgh (15)
1  Syracuse (5)

The Gators got one of the toughest paths for a #10 seed, but seeing as how they barely got in, there’s no room for whining.  With their resume, UF could have easily landed an #11 or #12 seed.  Or not gotten in at all.

VERDICT:  Are you kidding me?  Count your blessings, Gator fans.  The NCAA drought is over.  Just enjoy being back in the Big Dance.  No tears allowed.



Mississippi State — RPI of 54, SOS of 74, 2-5 vs RPI Top 50
No NCAA bad… NIT bid instead

The Bulldogs showed a lot of heart in Nashville.  They came within a tick of the clock — and a possible John Wall lane violation — of earning a bid via the conference tourney for the second consecutive year.

(By the way, at tournament time, I’ll take Rick Stansbury over every other SEC coach.  The guy knows how to prepare his team for tournaments.)

But for those who feel bad for the Dogs, remember, this is a team that played a soft non-conference schedule, blew two chances late in the season to lock up an NCAA bid (at Auburn and at home against Tennessee), and it’s also a squad that dropped five games to teams ranked outside the RPI Top 100.

VERDICT:  No crying, State fans.  Your team had its chances long before the closing seconds of the SEC tournament.  They just couldn’t capitalize.



Ole Miss — RPI of 61, SOS of 71, 2-6 vs RPI Top 50
No NCAA bid… NIT bid instead

The Rebels were done-in by two things: an injury to Reggie Buckner midway through the SEC season and two costly losses to Mississippi State.

UM’s fortunes began to fade without Buckner in the middle and they only started to rise again once he returned to 100% late in the year.  But the two losses to State that were the nails in the coffin.  Had the Rebels won one of those games, their resume would have looked better than MSU’s (pre-conference tourney).  Had they swept State, the Rebs might be dancing today.

VERDICT:  The only thing UM fans should be crying about is a season of missed opportunities.  The Rebels didn’t earn a bid this year.

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When Kentucky’s freshman act like, well, freshmen, John Calipari is usually willing to cut them some slack.
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NASHVILLE — Having Kentucky, Tennessee and hometown team Vanderbilt among the SEC tournament’s four semifinal teams created the perfect storm on the ticket-buying market. The face value for Saturday’s two-game session was $55. Scalpers on the street said they are selling the ticket for $450-$650.
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Yesterday we posted our picks for the entire SEC tournament… and thanks to a blistering 4-for-4 start, we can simply link you to that post for our second round picks (and beyond).

Of course, the fact that we went 4-0 yesterday almost guarantees that we’ll plummet to 0-4 today. 

Nevertheless, for our take on Kentucky/Alabama, Ole Miss/Tennessee, Mississippi State/Florida and Vanderbilt/Georgia, just click right here.

1.  I keep getting emails from Florida folks telling me that I blew it when I said Tim Tebow didn’t do too well on his Wonderlic test.  Well, the national headline at every other site — including this one in The Gainesville Sun — is: “Tebow posts below average Wonderlic score.”  Why care?  It’s not an IQ test and it has very little to do with where QBs have been drafted or how they’ve played in the NFL.

2.  Tailback Boo Malcome will be wearing Knowshon Moreno’s old #24 when he suits up for Georgia.

3.  Matt Lentz will move from safety to linebacker and Moncell Allen will be spending more time at fullback for Kentucky this fall.

4.  Tennessee’s Brian Williams came back from his suspension “a guy more humble,” according to teammate Bobby Maze.  Williams had 14 rebounds for the Vols yesterday.

5.  There are more details coming out regarding the arrest of South Carolina backup quarterback Aramis Hillary.

6.  It was a stunning collapse as Carolina blew an 18-point lead to Alabama yesterday.

7.  Bradis Raley-Ross summed up the game succinctly, “It sucks to end it this way.”

8.  Devan Downey doesn’t want his college career to be over.

9.  It sounds like Downey would like for Darrin Horn to change his mind about not playing in the CIT or CBI.

10.  This writer says the opening round of the SEC tournament was painful to watch.

11.  The legacy of Kentucky’s stellar freshmen will be written almost entirely in the NCAA tournament.  Seems unfair, but it’s probably true.

12.  Did you know that SEC fans are eating too many fatty foods at the tournament?  And I thought the Bridgestone Arena would be serving tofu.

Wanted to update you on a few NCAA tournament projections from some of the media big boys today.  Here’s what’s out there:



The Sporting News — 5 teams in

Kentucky:  #1 seed

Tennessee:  #5 seed

Vanderbilt:  #5 seed

Florida:  #10 seed

Ole Miss:  #11 seed



ESPN — 5 teams in

Joe Lunardi still says that only three SEC teams are “locks” to make the tournament.  After yesterday’s action, Florida and Ole Miss are “in” from his bubble watch area.  Mississippi State is not.

In his opinion, those three SEC schools are competing with Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, San Diego State, Illinois, Washington, Arizona State, Memphis, Rhode Island, Seton Hall, Dayton and Minnesota for at-large bids. 



Bracketography.com — 5 teams in

Kentucky:  #1 seed in East (Syracuse) Region vs play-in game winner

Vanderbilt:  #4 seed in South (Houston) Region vs #13 Akron

Tennessee:  #5 seed in West (Salt Lake City) Region vs #12 Siena

Florida:  #10 seed in East (Syracuse) Region vs #7 Notre Dame

Ole Miss:  #12 seed in Midwest (St. Louis) Region vs #5 Maryland



CBS Sports — 5 teams in

Kentucky:  #1 seed in East (Syracuse) Region vs play-in game winner

Tennessee:  #5 seed in Midwest (St. Louis) Region vs #12 Utah State

Vanderbilt:  #5 seed in South (Houston) Region vs #12 California

Florida:  #10 seed in West (Salt Lake City) Region vs #7 Clemson

Ole Miss:  #11 seed in East (Syracuse) Region vs #6 Xavier



Keep in mind that some of these links will be updated throughout the day… so in a few hours, my comments may no longer hold true.

Also, some of the above links may require free or paid registration.

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If you’re an SEC fan and you’ve already bought tickets (and/or hotels, flights, etc) to see your favorite team play a conference football game this season… you might want to pay attention to this:

The SEC still hasn’t officially released the league’s in-conference schedule (even though most schools have listed their tentative slates) because it is working to give Alabama some relief from a schedule quirk.

In the initial layout, the Tide was scheduled to face six teams coming off byes during their eight-game league schedule.  That is a bit excessive.  From time to time teams have faced multiple teams coming off bye weeks, but I can’t remember a school having six such games.

“This is something that’s important to the entire league,” said SEC associate commissioner Charles Bloom.  “Because nobody wants to be in that same position a year or two from now.  So we’re looking at a way to balance it out this year and for years to come.  The different is that it might be a little tweak this year with more widespread changes coming in future years.”

Alabama is currently scheduled to face South Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn after those teams’ open dates.

I know that this will set off screams of favoritism and cheating, but it’s a senseable move by the conference.  The trick will be to see how many games are moved to accommodate Alabama.  Because that will be used as a guideline — by fans at least — when eyeing future schedules.

For most of the game, it looked like I had missed on my Game One prediction.  I was prepared to fall on my sword and say, “See, that’s why picking tourney games is foolish.”

But then Alabama jetted back to clip South Carolina 68-63 in tip-off to the SEC’s 2010 tournament.  The Tide’s pressure defense took a toll on the Gamecocks in the second half… limiting USC to just one made field goal in the final 12 minutes of the game.

Carolina had led by as many as 15 points in the second half.

With Darrin Horn saying he would not accept an invitation to the CBI or CIT, the Cocks’ season ends at 15-16.  Devan Downey finished career with yet another 20-point performance.

Alabama (17-14) advances to face Kentucky tomorrow afternoon.

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