MikeHamiltonFan
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Tonight we should see more in terms of how the SEC matches up. If Florida is a threat to win the conference, they should compete well against Ohio State. If they are soft inside, Sullinger should go off for a very big night. If they are hungry and ready to prove that they are not soft at all, Patric and Maclin should provide them with a strong inside presence. If Florida wins a game in which Boynton makes 10 3's, it will tell us less about them than if they win a game in which they outrebound Ohio State by 10.
In a very young season, while you cannot say that exhibition wins or losses are very meaningful, you can say that the regular season games have established a few things if you are paying close attention.
1. Auburn is as bad as everyone predicted. Not sure who the doubters on here were supposed to be regarding a team who only had 2 quality players who were both freshman that did not make it in, but the Tigers will bring up the rear in the SEC.
2. Wake Forest is not the Demon Deacons you think of. They have an established brand as a very strong team, but this year they are not that at all. They lost to Stetson and were in danger in the final minute of losing to Hampton.
3. Georgia Tech is also not a good team. At some point people will have to recognize that Ga Tech has a coach who is the king of talent wasters, but until then a few NBA players will head to Atlanta to be surrounded by crap and sleep through a painful season. Tech beat Charleston Southern while shooting less than 30% and scoring a Wisconsinesque 52 points, and now they have lost by double digits to Kennesaw State.
The combination of these two performances should make people wonder about the strength of the ACC. Clemson just had a huge 8 point win over Wofford, and now gets before the end of the month Michigan and shortly after South Carolina in games that should give us a better handle on those Tigers.
GP has Duke and UNC at the top of the conference and both should be awesome, he also projects Va Tech, Maryland, NC State (who Lowe has never taken better than 9th in the conference) and FSU to make the tournament. If Lowe can win on the road before Dec 5th at Wisconsin or at Syracuse it will herald a team that should take him to places he has never been.
Va Tech will be taking on Kansas State tonight. Their future OOC opponents include Miss State, Purdue and Penn State (who they should beat unless pundits are very wrong about both).
You have to give Miami a good loss for losing to Memphis in the manner they did. Hard to know at this point if they looked really good, or if Memphis is going to struggle more this season than their ranking suggests.
LSU has two more tune ups before they face the Tigers before Thanksgiving.
Virginia has to go on the road to play Stanford, Washington and Minnesota, a series in which they may go 0-3. They also have to play OOC foes Oregon and LSU at home. Virginia is a team not likely headed to the tournament. LSU-Virginia like Clemson-South Carolina will be an opportunity to prove my theory.
I submit that the SEC will have Auburn stinking out loud, but overall could be a deeper conference with less crap teams than the ACC. Imagine Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, Vanderbilt and Miss State against the top 6 in the ACC/SEC and it is hard to see clearly SEC superiority, but the SEC might go 5-1 with seeded matchups against the bottom 6.
Another fun game to watch but painful for me as a Big 10 hater will be Michigan State versus South Carolina...Kalin Lucas looked healthy in scoring 15 in the first half against Eastern Michigan, and even with a bigger and deeper team than last year, Horn should be run out of the building. Michigan State should have a great deal more trouble beating UK in the Maui coming up next week.
The Vols get started tonight against Belmont.
Rick Byrd has a dangerous shooter in Ian Clark, and some real size in the post, but we should put it to the Bruins. The field for the NIT looking to go to NYC is:
Arkansas State, Belmont, Boston U, George Washington, Hampton, Marist, Missouri State, Nevada, Pacific, Pepperdine, Tennessee, UCLA, VCU, Villanova, Wake Forest, Winthrop
As I said Wake Forest is not the team we thought they were, and if Pearl does not beat Belmont, Missouri State/Arkansas State winner, and Wake/VCU winner, we should be embarrassed. After that we get to take on a TOUGH top of the bracket team that will likely be Villanova but could be UCLA as well (here is the bracket) http://www.ncaa.com/graphics/2010-tip-off-bracket.pdf If TN won that championship in NYC with Tobias Harris as an NYC kid showing out, everyone would forget about the exhibition loss and TN would become a team with good buzz and an OOC schedule that leaves lots more spotlight games to come.
TN Villanova could also be an even more interesting game because it is an opportunity for NYC kids to watch Pinkston (provided he can get back in after his assault charge 'Nova's Pinkston charged with assault, harassment - NCAA Division I Mens Basketball - CBSSports.com) and Harris bang against each other again. If you ask most of those who write on this board, Pearl is several rungs below Jay Wright, and a victory here over a higher ranked coach would not be as meaningful as a tournament win, but because of recruiting it would be very very big in the NYC area, probably looming larger than our other Big East matchups.
Miss State and Kentucky have big chances to prove themselves before year end in tournaments, but I am most interested in Georgia. Lots of hype for this team. If they beat Notre Dame, Temple and Wisconsin in the Old Spice, they will have gone a VERY long way to living up to the hype. Old Spice Classic - CBSSports.com
If they lose twice in that tournament it will be an indication that they may finish behind Vanderbilt in the East in a 5th place that does not guarantee the tournament even in the expanded field.
In a very young season, while you cannot say that exhibition wins or losses are very meaningful, you can say that the regular season games have established a few things if you are paying close attention.
1. Auburn is as bad as everyone predicted. Not sure who the doubters on here were supposed to be regarding a team who only had 2 quality players who were both freshman that did not make it in, but the Tigers will bring up the rear in the SEC.
2. Wake Forest is not the Demon Deacons you think of. They have an established brand as a very strong team, but this year they are not that at all. They lost to Stetson and were in danger in the final minute of losing to Hampton.
3. Georgia Tech is also not a good team. At some point people will have to recognize that Ga Tech has a coach who is the king of talent wasters, but until then a few NBA players will head to Atlanta to be surrounded by crap and sleep through a painful season. Tech beat Charleston Southern while shooting less than 30% and scoring a Wisconsinesque 52 points, and now they have lost by double digits to Kennesaw State.
The combination of these two performances should make people wonder about the strength of the ACC. Clemson just had a huge 8 point win over Wofford, and now gets before the end of the month Michigan and shortly after South Carolina in games that should give us a better handle on those Tigers.
GP has Duke and UNC at the top of the conference and both should be awesome, he also projects Va Tech, Maryland, NC State (who Lowe has never taken better than 9th in the conference) and FSU to make the tournament. If Lowe can win on the road before Dec 5th at Wisconsin or at Syracuse it will herald a team that should take him to places he has never been.
Va Tech will be taking on Kansas State tonight. Their future OOC opponents include Miss State, Purdue and Penn State (who they should beat unless pundits are very wrong about both).
You have to give Miami a good loss for losing to Memphis in the manner they did. Hard to know at this point if they looked really good, or if Memphis is going to struggle more this season than their ranking suggests.
LSU has two more tune ups before they face the Tigers before Thanksgiving.
Virginia has to go on the road to play Stanford, Washington and Minnesota, a series in which they may go 0-3. They also have to play OOC foes Oregon and LSU at home. Virginia is a team not likely headed to the tournament. LSU-Virginia like Clemson-South Carolina will be an opportunity to prove my theory.
I submit that the SEC will have Auburn stinking out loud, but overall could be a deeper conference with less crap teams than the ACC. Imagine Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, Vanderbilt and Miss State against the top 6 in the ACC/SEC and it is hard to see clearly SEC superiority, but the SEC might go 5-1 with seeded matchups against the bottom 6.
Another fun game to watch but painful for me as a Big 10 hater will be Michigan State versus South Carolina...Kalin Lucas looked healthy in scoring 15 in the first half against Eastern Michigan, and even with a bigger and deeper team than last year, Horn should be run out of the building. Michigan State should have a great deal more trouble beating UK in the Maui coming up next week.
The Vols get started tonight against Belmont.
Rick Byrd has a dangerous shooter in Ian Clark, and some real size in the post, but we should put it to the Bruins. The field for the NIT looking to go to NYC is:
Arkansas State, Belmont, Boston U, George Washington, Hampton, Marist, Missouri State, Nevada, Pacific, Pepperdine, Tennessee, UCLA, VCU, Villanova, Wake Forest, Winthrop
As I said Wake Forest is not the team we thought they were, and if Pearl does not beat Belmont, Missouri State/Arkansas State winner, and Wake/VCU winner, we should be embarrassed. After that we get to take on a TOUGH top of the bracket team that will likely be Villanova but could be UCLA as well (here is the bracket) http://www.ncaa.com/graphics/2010-tip-off-bracket.pdf If TN won that championship in NYC with Tobias Harris as an NYC kid showing out, everyone would forget about the exhibition loss and TN would become a team with good buzz and an OOC schedule that leaves lots more spotlight games to come.
TN Villanova could also be an even more interesting game because it is an opportunity for NYC kids to watch Pinkston (provided he can get back in after his assault charge 'Nova's Pinkston charged with assault, harassment - NCAA Division I Mens Basketball - CBSSports.com) and Harris bang against each other again. If you ask most of those who write on this board, Pearl is several rungs below Jay Wright, and a victory here over a higher ranked coach would not be as meaningful as a tournament win, but because of recruiting it would be very very big in the NYC area, probably looming larger than our other Big East matchups.
Miss State and Kentucky have big chances to prove themselves before year end in tournaments, but I am most interested in Georgia. Lots of hype for this team. If they beat Notre Dame, Temple and Wisconsin in the Old Spice, they will have gone a VERY long way to living up to the hype. Old Spice Classic - CBSSports.com
If they lose twice in that tournament it will be an indication that they may finish behind Vanderbilt in the East in a 5th place that does not guarantee the tournament even in the expanded field.
