SEC Conference season thread

[Gamecockfan77]

Here are the resumes (rankings per Massey) heading into opening night:

​

South Carolina 12-0 (1)
Wins: Notre Dame (12); Maryland (21); UNC (33); Duke (25); Utah (16);
Losses: None

LSU 13-1 (11)
Wins: VPI (20) UVA (72)
Losses: Colorado (10)

Alabama 13-2 (34)
Wins: Louisville (13)
Losses: Gonzaga (23) Syracuse (25)

Texas A&M 12-1 (36)
Win: Kansas (46) Cal (64)
Losses: Purdue (60)

Tennessee 7-5 (38)
Wins: Oklahoma (45)
Losses: FSU (27); Indiana (9); Notre Dame (12); Ohio State (19); MTSU (57)

Miss State 13-2 (40)
Wins: Belmont (67); Clemson (83)
Losses: Miami (37); Chattanooga (127)

Ole Miss 10-3 (42)
Wins: Arizona (30) Michigan (39)
Losses: Oklahoma (45); Louisville (14); Southern Miss (147)

Vanderbilt 13-1 (46)
Wins: Iowa State (31)
Loss: NC State (5)

Arkansas 12-3 (49)
Wins: FSU (27)
Losses: Marquette (32) UCLA (3) Ark-Pine Bluff (206)

Georgia 9-4 (52)
Wins: Purdue (61) Columbia (66)
Losses: Belmont (67); Duke (25); Georgia Tech (56); Ball State (68)

Florida 9-3 (54)
Wins: Purdue (61); Columbia (66); Georgia Tech (56); Michigan (30)
Losses: FSU (27); Marshall (144); Tulsa (89)

Auburn 12-2 (58)
Wins: Clemson (83); Washington State (28)
Losses: Cal (65); UCF (85);

Missouri 9-4 (71)
Wins: Belmont (67)
Losses: St Louis (170); Kent (120); Virginia (72); Kansas St (13)

Kentucky 7-7 (96)
Wins: Boston College (79)
Loss: Austin Peay (204); FGCU (64); NC State (5); Colorado (10); Cincy (110); Minnesota (51); Louisville (14)

 

[visitingcock]

And on to conference play. We have a Quad One ( for now) road game at Florida tonight.

 

[DefenseBB]

Wow, other than the top 2, that is a pretty pathetic list (please note it is not as pathetic as the Big East list but this is the mighty SEC we are talking about). Usually the top 42-47 rating teams qualify for the NCAAT (given the 32 Automatic qualifiers) so that means the 14 team league may get 6-8 bids with only two hosting.

 

[12au]

The middle class looks a little like the Big 12 last year. Not a lot of walkovers (unless you're SC or LSU)

 

[Hester42]

Kentucky and Missouri gonna be shopping for a new coach soon I think.

 

[visitingcock]

Kentucky and Missouri gonna be shopping for a new coach soon I think.

And then, there’s Rocky Top.

 

[Hester42]

And then, there’s Rocky Top.

Didn’t Harper just get an extension? She isn’t going to get fired this year though if they do make changes down the road. Next year will be more telling for Harper, they lose Rickea, their incoming lone freshmen is coming off knee injury, last couple Hs classes have been a bust so how well she does in the portal will dictate a lot in the next couple years

 

[visitingcock]

Didn’t Harper just get an extension? She isn’t going to get fired this year though if they do make changes down the road. Next year will be more telling for Harper, they lose Rickea, their incoming lone freshmen is coming off knee injury, last couple Hs classes have been a bust so how well she does in the portal will dictate a lot in the next couple years

The Vol “faithful” are screaming for her to be fired. I don’t think that fanatical dissatisfaction reaches the school’s administration. If she can get them to the NCAA, she’ll be safe. If not, she will be on extremely thin ice the next year and warned to turn it around immediately by the admins.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Big win for Vandy over Miss State. Definitely the surprise story of the year so far in SEC.

Hideous loss for Arkansas at Kentucky.

Tennessee looks like they may survive an ugly start vs Auburn that would have been bad.

Mizzou giving LSU a fight in first half.

 

[Vowelguy]

With almost 2 games played, here's my wild guess:

1. SC (W MsSt, W @Fl)
2. LSU (W @Ms, W Mo)
3. Ole Miss (L LSU, W @Al)
4. Tenn (W Ky, W @Aub)
5. Bama (? @Mo, L Ms)
6. Vandy (W Fl, W @MsSt)
7. Miss St (L @SC, L Van)
8. Mizzou (? Al, L @LSU)
9. TAMU (W Aub, L @Ga)
10. Ark (W Ga, L @Ky)
11. Georgia (L @Ark, W TAMU)
12. Kentucky (L @Tn, W Ark)
13. Auburn (L @TAMU, L Tn)
14. Florida (L @Van, L SC)

 

[Hester42]

Def didn't have Miss St starting 0-2 on my bingo card

 

[Geew1992]

 

[bballnut90]

Below is the update based on preseason media poll.
Red = underachieving
Green = overachieving
Blue = doing as well as most thought they'd do

Preseason Medial Poll:
1. LSU-preseason #1 overall, now is #10 (and probably should be lower after losing to Auburn)
2. South Carolina-blowing away expectations thus far
3. Tennessee-preseason #11/12, not currently projected as a tournament team
4. Ole Miss-preseason #12/16, not in top 25. Projected as an 8/9 seed.
5. Mississippi State-preseason #25/#26, borderline tournament team at the moment.
6. Arkansas-projected to be first team out of the NCAA tournament field. Lost to Kentucky
7. Georgia-unlikely to make tournament (10-7 overall, 1-3 in conference)
8. Texas A&M-projected as a 7 seed
9. Alabama-projected as a 9 seed
10. Florida-unlikely to make tournament (10-6 overall, 1-3 in conference)
11. Missouri-unlikely to make tournament (10-7 overall, 1-3 in conference)
12. Auburn-last 4 in the tournament, but 1-3 in conference play
13. Kentucky-we knew they'd be bad but not this bad, (8-10 overall, 1-3 in conference, just lost by 62 to SC)
14. Vanderbilt-2nd place in conference right now, projected as an 8 seed.

SEC is having a rough season outside of SC/Vandy. Pretty much all of the teams expected to be strong have really underperformed thus far. We are still early in the season though. Last year we had the same sentiment of the SEC being down, but they went on to outplay everyone in the tournament.

 

[JellyBean]

The Vol “faithful” are screaming for her to be fired. I don’t think that fanatical dissatisfaction reaches the school’s administration. If she can get them to the NCAA, she’ll be safe. If not, she will be on extremely thin ice the next year and warned to turn it around immediately by the admins.

I don't get the Vol "faithful". They had Coach Warlick who did a decent job of keeping the Lady Vols respectable. Seven seasons and they made the Dance every year. They ran her out of coaching. Now they want to run Coach Harper out of town.

 

[Darwin]

1/25 in Baton Rouge is going to be ESPN gameday and a wild environment. SC seems like the better team but that is going to be a charged up PMC and will be a tough test for SC. Gonna be must watch TV.

aTm and MSU are better than their records so far imo and will be tourney teams, OM is really good on defense but horrendous on offense, they should be a tourney team as well though and are tough at home. I could see Vandy slipping a bit from here but they should make the tournament also. Bama is Jeckel and Hyde but looks the part of a tourney team on most nights. After that I don’t see any other SEC team making it, maybe Aub if they get on a run.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

I would say South Carolina already has the SEC conference championship locked up. The game against LSU is just a formality.

 

[visitingcock]

I would say South Carolina already has the SEC conference championship locked up. The game against LSU is just a formality.

Shut up! Quit with the jinx talk!

 

[SCGamecock]

I would say South Carolina already has the SEC conference championship locked up. The game against LSU is just a formality.

You’re literally the only person in this forum that thinks SC already has the SEC locked up.

Nice try. Nobody here is underestimating LSU or Kim. They’re the defending national champions, the same team that everybody was hailing as world beaters 5 months ago.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

You’re literally the only person in this forum that thinks SC already has the SEC locked up.

Nice try. Nobody here is underestimating LSU or Kim. They’re the defending national champions, the same team that everybody was hailing as world beaters 5 months ago.

I was never hailing them as world beaters, nor were a lot of people on this board that saw how ill fitting the pieces they added were. In fact they are about what I expected, a little worse with the loss of Williams to the ACL tear. I personally don't care if no one else thinks South Carolina has the SEC locked up, I don't see LSU winning out their schedule nor do I see South Carolina losing more than one game, if they lose at all.

That loss to Auburn killed any chance LSU had of winning the regular season because the only team South Carolina has even a small chance of losing to is LSU (but that doesn't even seem realistic to me based on where both teams are) AND THEN they'd have to win out the rest of their conference games which, again, not happening. I don't think any non-biased observer truly believes anyone besides South Carolina can win the SEC championship at this point.

 

[Vowelguy]

You’re literally the only person in this forum that thinks SC already has the SEC locked up.

Locked up, no. But a strong favorite, yes. @LSU will be a challenge. But even if SC loses, they still win the conference if the Tigers lose another conference game, which hardly seems a stretch.

 

[SCGamecock]

Locked up, no. But a strong favorite, yes. @LSU will be a challenge. But even if SC loses, they still win the conference if the Tigers lose another conference game, which hardly seems a stretch.

I agree with this. On paper and via eye test, I like SC to beat LSU.. but that’s easier said than done when the game will be in Baton Rouge in front of a ginned up fanbase, with College Gameday on hand, Kim Mulkey revving her team up with underdog talk, and the national spotlight on one game. To say SC has the league locked up is simply far from true all things considered.

Struggles or whatever, this is the same LSU team that was the talk of the summer. LSU is what a lot of us that actually watch basketball expected. A team of stars that will inevitably lose games they shouldn’t, but when they’re on they can beat anybody. They were the preseason favorite to cut down the net for a reason. The surprise here (arguably, and less so if you’re a Gamecock fan) is South Carolina.

 

[triaddukefan]

SCar is locked in as the #1 seed in the conference tourney... 16-0 mark it down. The race for 3rd and 4th place will be what will be interesting.

 

[JstVisiting]

... the same team that everybody was hailing as world beaters 5 months ago.

Was anyone actually hailing them as world beaters? No one will ever take our 2017 championship away from us, but I viewed LSU the same as we were that year - the team in the right spot to capitalize when somebody else took out the best team with a magic bullet.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

I thought South Carolina was overlooked in the offseason based on its personnel losses rather than what it returned and would likely win the SEC.

I'm not terribly surprised that the team is undefeated but I can't say that I expected to be the best three point percentage team in the country.

With that said, feels like this team can certainly be gotten and the schedule has played out to be softer than Dawn would have chosen it to be I think.

This team is not head and shoulders better rebounding than the other top teams and I'm not necessarily sold on the ability to hold down the big time guards they may face in tournament.

As far as LSU goes, they certainly can beat South Carolina in Baton Rouge, but it feels like 15-1 or 16-0 probably wins the league.

 

[SCGamecock]

Was anyone actually hailing them as world beaters? No one will ever take our 2017 championship away from us, but I viewed LSU the same as we were that year - the team in the right spot to capitalize when somebody else took out the best team with a magic bullet.

I'm speaking specifically on when LSU acquired Hailey Van Lith and Morrow. Sure, they had a favorable path to the title. But when they got Hailey Van Lith and Morrow they went from a team that caught lightening in a bottle to a team that was expected to go back-to-back. They had hype. We knew they would have growing pains so it's kind of weird to me that the expectations for them are suddenly changing since they lost 2 games.

Look, I'm not here to parse words on my use of the term 'world beaters'... my only point was that it's strange for me to see posters say that SC has the conference locked up already and that the game in BR is a formality when that game is versus a team that was preseason #1, predicted to win the SEC, and was the talk of the summer because of the talent they accumulated - and reiterate that the game is at LSU. SC is for sure no slouch, but LSU is still LSU.. they just lost a few games like many smart people on the Boneyard assumed they would.