SEC opportunity, respect from OOC games (long)

#1
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MikeHamiltonFan

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#1
TN has very little opportunity to go anywhere significantly higher than where they are until the new year. Beating Purdue would be very nice, but then it is nothing anyone cares about nationally until we play Memphis which is followed closely by Kansas.

Kentucky already has a lot of national respect. They play North Carolina 12/5 and UConn 12/9 and winning both would be great for our conference.

Vanderbilt is the team I see with the greatest opportunity to go from sleeper to ranked in a short time period.

Here is their near term schedule:
11/20 @ SMC 11:30 PM
11/23 vs. CIN 5:30 PM
12/02 MIZZ 9:30 PM
12/05 DEP 4:00 PM
12/08 @ ILL 8:30 PM
12/11 WKU 9:30 PM
12/19 TNST 3:00 PM

Beating Saint Mary's, Cincinatti, Missouri, Depaul, Illinois and even following with two nice bigger victories against WKU and TN State would I think see them ranked around 20 or so at least. They could be ranked higher depending on what they do in the Maui Invitation in Hawaii. If they beat Cincy they are looking at a field that includes Arizona, Gonzaga, Maryland and Wisconsin. I also think Kevin O'Neill has the team to do very well this year. I want the SEC to beat OOC teams badly, and so far we have looked bad for various reasons but mainly unavailable players (Arkansas v. Louisville).

Ole Miss gets 11/19 vs. IND and then could beat Dayton, GT, or even Villanova in Puerto Rico at O'Reilly auto parts, and then another huge opportunity 12/23 @ WVU If Andy Kennedy beats Huggie and his trendy Final 4 pick team in Morgantown, someone should take his keys.

Florida, Billy D should have his team ranked by conference play. He has lots of stud recruits who should be ready to show something this year.
His OOC opportunities include:
11/24 FSU 7:00 PM
11/27 @ MSU 8:00 PM
12/10 SYR 9:00 PM
1/03 @ NCST
You beat FSU, Michigan State, Syracuse and NC State and avoid stumbles against the crap teams, and you are a ranked team. The Michigan State game is also part of a tournament, but Rutgers I think is who they would fact if they won...

LSU has the NIT season tip off that presents it with the greatest opportunity for them to get respect. They could beat UConn and Duke in the next 10 days.
11/25 @ CONN TBA
12/29 @ XAV 7:00 PM
1/02 UTAH 8:00 PM
other than that they are playing sisters of the poor it looks like until after Christmas.

South Carolina does not appear to have the opportunity for much respect OOC.
12/06 @ CLEM 1:00 PM
12/16 RICH 7:00 PM
12/30 @ BC 9:00 PM
1/02 BAY
None of this wows me. If they beat everyone who they are supposed to beat and then win 2-4 here, they will have a decent RPI heading into the SEC slate, but they stand no chance of being ranked IMO.

Alabama, Arkansas, Miss State, all have the opportunity to get some respect and get their seasons on the right track despite an early loss. Alabama has the Ole Spice classic to try to win. For UGA I think there is no hope of a decent season. They are awful. I am not sure how bad Auburn is, but I expect them to lose against NC State, UVA, and FSU and if they do not it is gravy for the conference.


Kentucky, TN, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and Florida all being ranked this year? Very possible. Could be wrong about one of those, but I would be surprised if at one point in the season 5 SEC teams are not ranked. That will be a dramatic improvement over last year. The time to go into conference play with National respect is now, and by December 15, we should know a great deal more about where the conference stands nationally this year.
 
#3
#3
SEC losses like? Arkansas to Louisville with half the team suspended?

If Florida gets drilled by 30 against FSU, if Vanderbilt loses by 25 to Saint Mary's I may feel that my optimism about the conference this year is wrong.

After a horrible year, I think the SEC is on the way back this year.
 
#4
#4
Can't say that I'll be rooting for KY. I just don't see how the Cats getting on a roll is good for us.
 
#5
#5
ukvols said:
Can't say that I'll be rooting for KY. I just don't see how the Cats getting on a roll is good for us.
Click to expand...

It all depends on if you beat us. If both teams roll through the season at a 27-30 game win spree, then come seeding time it looks great to have that win against a top 5/10 team. However, if either of us lose both games to each other, then perhaps it sucks to see them rolling. lol

I'm rooting like hell for UT to roll. (Although I do genuinely like them. )
 
#6
#6
MikeHamiltonFan said:
SEC losses like? Arkansas to Louisville with half the team suspended?

If Florida gets drilled by 30 against FSU, if Vanderbilt loses by 25 to Saint Mary's I may feel that my optimism about the conference this year is wrong.

After a horrible year, I think the SEC is on the way back this year.
Click to expand...

You should already feel that your optimism is wrong. UGA lost to Wofford at home. Alabama lost to Cornell at home. Rider beat MSU by 14 at home. UK beats Miami of Ohio at the buzzer. And finally, Auburn loses Missouri State by 11 at home.

What a stellar start to the season for the SEC.
 
#7
#7
I would never ever EVER root for Kentucky. I hope they lose every single game they play, regardless what it does for our RPI when we play them. I don't care. I know it's SEC and all but I live too close to the KY line and have too many friends that are cat fans. Speaking of Arkansas...man they let me down last night. They played the Cards good for awhile but couldn't stay in it. I know they had a lot suspended and only about 30 people showed up to watch the game, but either way.
 
#11
#11
SEC good returns.

Vanderbilt excellent...

TN pretty good, losing by 1 to #6 and beating a decent Depaul team.

UK has to be the largest disappointment thus far which is hard to say with no losses!

Florida is the best of the bunch in terms of raising their profile.

The entire SEC West is sucking as I said in another thread.

The east looks tons better.
 
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