SEC 21-22

[SECbbfan24]

Just saw where Kim Mulky told Coach Doug Novak he was her choice for Coach of the Year, I realize I am biased but I agree!

I am pretty sure she told Florida's coach the same thing after their game as well but you have to hand it to Coach Novak and Coach Finley. Both interim coaches have been put into tough spots, losing their best player and have done the best they could have done given the circumstances. Florida has depth though, Miss St not so much.

 

[SECbbfan24]

With 3 games left, here is another look at the preseason poll. A&M really disappointed and Florida and LSU ended up performing way better than most anticipated. Vandy also has been much improved.

 

[militarydog]

I agree but I no longer take this team for granted, they have shown me they can be competitive with any team, however we suffer from lack of depth and size that makes it difficult to win. I too think it will be difficult to win 2 of our last 3 games. Question “do we make to big dance” without at least 4 more wins including wins in the SEC tournament.

The latest projections have 9 SEC teams making the NCAA Tournament. I think that is high. That aside MSU is currently in eighth place. Winning two more most likely puts them in the top six or seven with seventeen wins overall. They are currently second in the last four in. Going 2-1 may be enough regardless of the SEC Tournament.

 

[Jmsdawg]

I am pretty sure she told Florida's coach the same thing after their game as well but you have to hand it to Coach Novak and Coach Finley. Both interim coaches have been put into tough spots, losing their best player and have done the best they could have done given the circumstances. Florida has depth though, Miss St not so much.

Yes, both those coaches deserve praise, I would have no gripe with either being honored with COY but the year has surprises still to come. Need to see what unfolds, ND Coach has brought that team back, even Geno could be COY if UConn overcomes all the obstacles they have faced and they wind up as NC. Much excitement still to come but I am proud that Novak has done such a great job with MSST! HOLD ON!

 

[GCKSFN4L]

Yes, both those coaches deserve praise, I would have no gripe with either being honored with COY but the year has surprises still to come. Need to see what unfolds, ND Coach has brought that team back, even Geno could be COY if UConn overcomes all the obstacles they have faced and they wind up as NC. Much excitement still to come but I am proud that Novak has done such a great job with MSST! HOLD ON!

No way Geno gets coach of the year this season. Finley is by and far the favorite in the SEC. 5 top 25 wins and currently won the last 9 of 10 games, with the line loss being to South Carolina. Florida is currently 2nd in the conference and this all occured after losing their "best player". Novak is doing his thing under similar circumstances as well but Finley has had an unreal run so far.

 

[GoCardinal]

Kim took over a team that won 9 games and was really among the worst teams in D1 offensively and has them 22-4 and 10-3 in SEC play.

The only competent players offensively are Pointer and Morris so they carry us. Don't think its fair to say they aren't top 15 when they have won as much as they have this year, we go as far as Morris and Pointer can take us but don't discredit what this LSU team has done in spite of its terrible roster situation when Kim took over. They have more than earned the respect for what they have done so far this year.

That’s all great, but it’s also okay to be realistic when comparing to other teams across the country. A lot of those wins are coming from a bunch of mid majors and underperforming SEC teams. I haven’t seen much to be convinced most of the SEC hasn't taken a step back this year. Which is pretty alarming considering the really poor NCAA tournament the conference had overall (minus SC) despite all the hype the conference had.

 

[GoCardinal]

Kim took over a team that won 9 games and was really among the worst teams in D1 offensively and has them 22-4 and 10-3 in SEC play.

The only competent players offensively are Pointer and Morris so they carry us. Don't think its fair to say they aren't top 15 when they have won as much as they have this year, we go as far as Morris and Pointer can take us but don't discredit what this LSU team has done in spite of its terrible roster situation when Kim took over. They have more than earned the respect for what they have done so far this year.

And for the record, I love what Kim has done to bring energy into the program. But again, let’s be reasonable when we are looking at where they fall when compared to the programs sitting above them in not only the rankings but tournament projections.

At this point, their best wins are who? Iowa State and UGA? Iowa State is a team that’s lost by an average of 23 points in their meetings against Texas and Baylor. If I’m not mistaken, only 1 of those games were played without both Joens sisters. Iowa State is a solid team, but should they be right outside the top 5? Highly debatable.

Pointer and Morris are terrific and LSU is currently 11th in the polls. They’re having a great year, but I think you could legitimately make an argument that when everyone is fully (or reasonably) healthy, LSU is much closer to teams that are currently in the late teens/early 20 range (Florida, Ohio State, Notre Dame) than teams they are slightly ranked behind at the moment (Baylor, Michigan, UConn). And LSU is a team that’s been fortunate enough to not be down a star or two (or three) like several other programs, which is a huge advantage considering how much that’s impacted other programs this year.

As of today, Creme currently has them slotted at a 4-seed, which would be a job well done by Kim considering the overall makeup of the roster.

Still….to me, you just can’t have inconsistent post play, flat out bad 3-point defense, and questionable depth and reasonably think you’re a Top 15 team. That’s just way too many deficiencies. But that’s why I’m not a voter or part of the seeding committee. Maybe LSU will prove me wrong come March Madness and I would love if they do. It’s all about matchups.

 

[Jmsdawg]

No way Geno gets coach of the year this season. Finley is by and far the favorite in the SEC. 5 top 25 wins and currently won the last 9 of 10 games, with the line loss being to South Carolina. Florida is currently 2nd in the conference and this all occured after losing their "best player". Novak is doing his thing under similar circumstances as well but Finley has had an unreal run so far.

Major difference in the two situations is Florida does not have the size and depth problem Novak has, not only are we lacking in depth but we are under sized to every other team in the SEC. As for Geno, I believe he has done a great job this year given the injuries to key personnel and the team chemistry problem caused by a constantly changing lineup. Guess I have a Geno bias, he will always be a COY in my opinion.

 

[SECbbfan24]

And for the record, I love what Kim has done to bring energy into the program. But again, let’s be reasonable when we are looking at where they fall when compared to the programs sitting above them in not only the rankings but tournament projections.

At this point, their best wins are who? Iowa State and UGA? Iowa State is a team that’s lost by an average of 23 points in their meetings against Texas and Baylor. If I’m not mistaken, only 1 of those games were played without both Joens sisters. Iowa State is a solid team, but should they be right outside the top 5? Highly debatable.

Pointer and Morris are terrific and LSU is currently 11th in the polls. They’re having a great year, but I think you could legitimately make an argument that when everyone is fully (or reasonably) healthy, LSU is much closer to teams that are currently in the late teens/early 20 range (Florida, Ohio State, Notre Dame) than teams they are slightly ranked behind at the moment (Baylor, Michigan, UConn). And LSU is a team that’s been fortunate enough to not be down a star or two (or three) like several other programs, which is a huge advantage considering how much that’s impacted other programs this year.

As of today, Creme currently has them slotted at a 4-seed, which would be a job well done by Kim considering the overall makeup of the roster.

Still….to me, you just can’t have inconsistent post play, flat out bad 3-point defense, and questionable depth and reasonably think you’re a Top 15 team. That’s just way too many deficiencies. But that’s why I’m not a voter or part of the seeding committee. Maybe LSU will prove me wrong come March Madness and I would love if they do. It’s all about matchups.

I dont think sincerely LSU is a top 10 team, when you compare the team talent wise to most of the top 25, its honestly behind pretty much all of them almost. All I have said all they have done is win with what they have which has been impressive for the most part. 9 wins to 22 wins is a remarkable coaching job. Pointer and Morris are honestly one of the top guard combos in the country but when you go beyond them, there is a lot of questions. Post play is very erratic, defense struggles at times because most of this roster played in a zone under Nikki Fargas the last 4 years. I think they have gotten the most out of what they have.

Again, success in the post season comes down to matchups. They are capable of beating a lot of very good teams when they are on (all 5 players actually playing well) but they are also capable of losing to a lot of teams as well.

All LSU can do is win the games they have in front of them, even if its ugly, just find a way to win. They have done so with the exception of a few games. The Florida game tomorrow is pretty big for SEC and NCAA seeding purposes.

 

[Plebe]

I hesitate to jinx it for Saturday, but the Vols have collapsed. Hate it for Horston though.

Even with Horston, it was destined to be a blowout. Look at their performance in the last several road games. Lost to Auburn. Blown out at Florida. Blown out at UConn. Was losing by double digits with less than 2 minutes to play at Alabama. TN would've been fortunate to keep it within 25 at SC even with Horston playing.

Having said, losing or gaining a player is not a question of arithmetic. Who knows, maybe it will clear the way for Burrell to finally shine, after she'd struggled to find her role since returning. Maybe other players will step up amid the sense of urgency. Maybe this will take the pressure off the team as a whole.

But yeah, it's still not gonna be close tomorrow.

 

[TC22]

Even with Horston, it was destined to be a blowout. Look at their performance in the last several road games. Lost to Auburn. Blown out at Florida. Blown out at UConn. Was losing by double digits with less than 2 minutes to play at Alabama. TN would've been fortunate to keep it within 25 at SC even with Horston playing.

Having said, losing or gaining a player is not a question of arithmetic. Who knows, maybe it will clear the way for Burrell to finally shine, after she'd struggled to find her role since returning. Maybe other players will step up amid the sense of urgency. Maybe this will take the pressure off the team as a whole.

But yeah, it's still not gonna be close tomorrow.

I agree with the Burrell statement. There’s really been no place for her since she returned. Maybe she just slides in and takes the minutes that Horston had, although she’s not a PG.

 

[bballnut90]

Auburn knocks off Georgia....for being dead last in the SEC, they have a slew of very strong wins over Georgia Tech, Tennessee and Georgia. Lots of new(ish) SEC coaches who could shake up the power structure with Finley, Harris, Ralph, Coach Yo, and Harper all showing promise.

 

[Plebe]

Auburn knocks off Georgia....for being dead last in the SEC, they have a slew of very strong wins over Georgia Tech, Tennessee and Georgia. Lots of new(ish) SEC coaches who could shake up the power structure with Finley, Harris, Ralph, Coach Yo, and Harper all showing promise.

As I said in chat, unbelievable that Auburn is now 2-12 in conference with the wins being over TN and GA!

TBH Georgia has disappointed since their big win over NC State.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Kentucky has now won their last 4 SEC games will be 13-11, still got work to do to make it to the dance....

 

[JellyBean]

I was so focused on the South Carolina/Tennessee game that I totally did not see the Auburn/Georgia score. Auburn is a scary team. If they can put everything together, they could be a dangerous team in the SEC tournament.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Pointer went 1-17 and somehow LSU beat Florida.

 

[SCspur]

Pointer went 1-17 and somehow LSU beat Florida.

The Tournament will be a movie!!

 

[GamecockFam]

So what teams are in the running for the top 4 seeds of the SEC tournament?

USC has locked in the 1-seed. From want it seems, LSU is also guaranteed one of the top four seeds, probably the 2-seed. Will a loss to UT move them to the 3-seed? There seems to be a 3 team race for the 3-4 seeds between UT, UF, and Ole Miss. No other team is in contention for those spots.

Games to watch this Sunday:
1 USC @ Ole Miss 2 pm SECN
8 LSU @ 16 UT 2 pm ESPN2
Missouri @ 15 UF 12 pm SECN

Tenn is guaranteed a top 4 seeds if they beat LSU or if either Ole Miss or UF lose. I'm not sure if they are top 4 if they lose to LSU and Ole Miss / UF win their games because that will cause a 3-way tie. But, I don't foresee that happening, so I think we can pretty confidently say that UT will be top 4 in the SEC.

My prediction when the dust settles this Sunday:
1: South Carolina
2: LSU
3: Florida
4: Tennessee

My guess is that LSU/USC/UF win their games. Ole Miss is the odd woman out. If Florida wins and Tenn loses, then they will both have 5 SEC losses and Florida won the head-to-head.

 

[SECbbfan24]

I hate to sound like a Debbie downer but I have a difficult time seeing LSU beat Tennessee potentially without Morris on the road. Tennessee usually is solid defensively and we don't exactly have consistent scorers once you get past Pointer and Morris. Unless Cherry somehow gets hot but she has been shooting poorly lately.

 

[JDuro]

So what teams are in the running for the top 4 seeds of the SEC tournament?

USC has locked in the 1-seed. From want it seems, LSU is also guaranteed one of the top four seeds, probably the 2-seed. Will a loss to UT move them to the 3-seed? There seems to be a 3 team race for the 3-4 seeds between UT, UF, and Ole Miss. No other team is in contention for those spots.

Games to watch this Sunday:
1 USC @ Ole Miss 2 pm SECN
8 LSU @ 16 UT 2 pm ESPN2
Missouri @ 15 UF 12 pm SECN

Tenn is guaranteed a top 4 seeds if they beat LSU or if either Ole Miss or UF lose. I'm not sure if they are top 4 if they lose to LSU and Ole Miss / UF win their games because that will cause a 3-way tie. But, I don't foresee that happening, so I think we can pretty confidently say that UT will be top 4 in the SEC.

My prediction when the dust settles this Sunday:
1: South Carolina
2: LSU
3: Florida
4: Tennessee

My guess is that LSU/USC/UF win their games. Ole Miss is the odd woman out. If Florida wins and Tenn loses, then they will both have 5 SEC losses and Florida won the head-to-head.

You can play around with Sunday’s possible results here to see the SECT seeding scenarios.

mred's SEC WBB Tournament Seeding Tiebreaker

Southeastern Conference Women's Basketball Tournament Seeding and Tiebreakers

bball.notnothing.net

 

[TC22]

If LSU wins it will move Tennessee to #4. If LSU wins it will move Fla to #4, Tenn to #2 and LSU #3, assuming FLA beats Mizzu. If Missouri beats FLA, Ole Miss moves to #4 and it doesn't matter who wins between Tenn/LSU because they will remain 2/3.

 

[donalddoowop]

The local St. Louis newspaper had an article today that said Mizzou held four players out of last night's game against Kentucky, two freshmen, one junior, and one redshirt senior. The junior was Aijha Blackwell and it was her second missed game in the last three games Mizzou has played. LaDazhia Williams. Williams was on the bench last night, but Blackwell sat next to the Mizzou athletics director behind the team's bench. All situations were not the same. Mizzou's coach said she did not know if the four players would return. In high school, Blackwell played for Whitfield High for three years but transferred to Cardinal Ritter her senior year. She was not allowed to play that last year because of transfer rules. I wonder what is next for her.

 

[SECbbfan24]

LSU will be without Morris tomorrow and the entire SEC Tournament.

 

[bballnut90]

Win or loss, LSU is nowhere near a top 15 team imo. You can’t have a team filled with this many players that are this all over the place offensively.

Genuine question--what 15 teams are better than LSU?

 

[bballnut90]

Major difference in the two situations is Florida does not have the size and depth problem Novak has, not only are we lacking in depth but we are under sized to every other team in the SEC. As for Geno, I believe he has done a great job this year given the injuries to key personnel and the team chemistry problem caused by a constantly changing lineup. Guess I have a Geno bias, he will always be a COY in my opinion.

No way is Geno even a candidate this year IMO. He's had a lot of injuries which the team has had to overcome but I don't think that warrants COY consideration. You have to have a season of exceeding expectations to get COY and UCONN hasn't had that, even considering injuries.

My top 5 candidates would be:
Jenny Baranczyk
Kelly Rae Finley
Kim Mulkey
Jeff Walz
Dawn Staley

Finley's my top pick right now.

 

[GoCardinal]

Genuine question--what 15 teams are better than LSU?

Lol when fully healthy? South Carolina, Stanford, UConn, NC State, Michigan, Baylor, Louisville, Maryland, Indiana for sure and probably Tennessee, Notre Dame, Texas, Florida, Georgia Tech and Iowa State.

Really wasn’t that difficult to do. On a neural floor, LSU would probably be the underdog in a majority of those matchups. For the ones where they are favored, it likely wouldn’t be by much.

LSU, like a majority of these teams have already, is going to be missing a key contributor for an extended period. I mentioned in a previous post how LSU has been fortunate to not have to be without a starter or two, or three like most of these other teams have been.

I’m not sure why people do this with the SEC every year. There’s great teams, sure. But for all the “hype” the conference gets as a whole, the overall postseason performance has been pretty underwhelming if we are going by the last two NCAA tournaments. Last year’s was particularly embarrassing.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Georgia Tech

um....

I don't sincerely think LSU is a legit top 8 team but all they are doing is win the games they have in front of them. LSU is not very talented but its pushing it to say Florida/Iowa St, who LSU has a combined record of 2-1 against are better. You can say they are about even but I think its a stretch to say they are better. Thats grasping for straws

LSU is where it is right now because Kim is a good coach and they have added Morris. It is what it is this year until they can recruit better players top to bottom. But rankings are not about who has better players, its about on the court results and coaching matters.

 

[GoCardinal]

um....

I don't sincerely think LSU is a legit top 8 team but all they are doing is win the games they have in front of them. LSU is not very talented but its pushing it to say Florida/Iowa St, who LSU has a combined record of 2-1 against are better. You can say they are about even but I think its a stretch to say they are better. Thats grasping for straws

LSU is where it is right now because Kim is a good coach and they have added Morris. It is what it is this year until they can recruit better players top to bottom. But rankings are not about who has better players, its about on the court results and coaching matters.

Iowa State was missing two key reserves that game, one of which is a 49% 3-point shooter on the season. This is why the “fully healthy” disclaimer was added.

The original question was are there 15 better teams than LSU? I gave a realistic list of 15. GT is probably the most questionable, but you could still argue UNC, OU, Ohio State and maybe even Virginia Tech are roughly in that same tier as LSU.

LSU has done a great job this year, but they have had a lot of things go their way up to this point. Health being the main one. LSU can only play who is in front of them. However, it’s a little obtuse to not examine all that’s gone their way when it comes to reviewing what they’ve done and where they stand against everyone else.

Yes, what they’ve done is impressive. But again, if we take a deeper dive, some of their best wins were against teams that didn’t have their full rotations. LSU can’t help that, but it’s still an interesting argument to make. Even though it resulted in a loss, I’m pretty sure South Carolina was still missing Amihere and Cardoso. It’s always fun to play “what-if’s”, but like I said before, I think LSU is much closer to teams ranked in those late teens/early twenties than a majority of what’s in the top 10. We can only look at and examine what’s given to us in the rankings each week.

 

[TC22]

Lol when fully healthy? South Carolina, Stanford, UConn, NC State, Michigan, Baylor, Louisville, Maryland, Indiana for sure and probably Tennessee, Notre Dame, Texas, Florida, Georgia Tech and Iowa State.

Really wasn’t that difficult to do. On a neural floor, LSU would probably be the underdog in a majority of those matchups. For the ones where they are favored, it likely wouldn’t be by much.

LSU, like a majority of these teams have already, is going to be missing a key contributor for an extended period. I mentioned in a previous post how LSU has been fortunate to not have to be without a starter or two, or three like most of these other teams have been.

I’m not sure why people do this with the SEC every year. There’s great teams, sure. But for all the “hype” the conference gets as a whole, the overall postseason performance has been pretty underwhelming if we are going by the last two NCAA tournaments. Last year’s was particularly embarrassing.

One of the problems is that the SEC/ACC gets so many teams in the tournament that it does seem Like the conference as a whole is overrated. Realistically there aren’t but 1 or 2 teams from a conference that have a chance to advance past a couple of rounds in the tournament. If you get 1 team to the Elite 8 or FF that’s great. Every once in a while 2 teams from the same conference will advance to the FF, but that’s pretty rare. SC/Miss State did in 2017 and Arizona/Stanford did last year but I don’t remember it happening very often. The only “hype” in getting so many teams in is just The fact that a conference has 8 of the top 68 teams in the country in their conference. Right now I would think SC is the only team from the SEC that has a GOOD chance of getting there. The fact that there’s No clear cut #2 team tells me that. I think NC State has a chance and maybe Louisville could make it From the ACC. Doesn’t mean those conferences are overrated - they just don’t have more teams in the top 10 or 12 in the country, which are the teams most likely to make it to the FF.

 

[GoCardinal]

One of the problems is that the SEC/ACC gets so many teams in the tournament that it does seem Like the conference as a whole is overrated. Realistically there aren’t but 1 or 2 teams from a conference that have a chance to advance past a couple of rounds in the tournament. If you get 1 team to the Elite 8 or FF that’s great. Every once in a while 2 teams from the same conference will advance to the FF, but that’s pretty rare. SC/Miss State did in 2017 and Arizona/Stanford did last year but I don’t remember it happening very often. The only “hype” in getting so many teams in is just The fact that a conference has 8 of the top 68 teams in the country in their conference. Right now I would think SC is the only team from the SEC that has a GOOD chance of getting there. The fact that there’s No clear cut #2 team tells me that. I think NC State has a chance and maybe Louisville could make it From the ACC. Doesn’t mean those conferences are overrated - they just don’t have more teams in the top 10 or 12 in the country, which are the teams most likely to make it to the FF.

Fair, but that’s part of the point. For quite a few seasons now, people have been proclaiming the SEC and to a lesser extent the ACC as the “best women’s basketball conferences”, when the postseason results don’t necessarily support that. When you’re consistently leading the way in bids, you’d at least expect more.

It could be me being a homer, but the Pac-12 has been getting multiple teams in Sweet 16s and Elite 8s for years now. Last year, I believe the Pac only got 3 in the Sweet 16 which is the fewest teams to reach that point in the last 5 played tournaments. That’s where the hype I’m referring to comes in. Those conferences undoubtedly get benefit of the doubt when it comes to hosting and bubble teams. I’m sure the SEC will lead the way in bids again this year, but I’m interested to see how many of those teams actually get to the later rounds.