SEC Question: Who's real - GA, Miss St, or Missouri?

[mudcat]

All of these teams are boasting gaudy records : Missouri 12-0, GA 11-1, Miss St. 11-1 (albeit based on rather weak scheduling). The question is how they will respond once they are playing some good teams (TX A&M, KY, SC, etc.)? And don't forget that South Florida plays Miss St soon. Right now I am really impressed by the new coach at GA: they only have one loss (Mich St) but have held everyone they played to below 40% from the field, even in their one loss. My guess is that Missouri will fall the furthest of the three, and I'm rooting for GA to beat out Miss ST. What's your take on what will happen in SEC land (other than SC winning the conference)?

 

[DaddyChoc]

 

[Wbbfan1]

I'd say Miss St is probably the most real team of the three, based on their last years record of 27-5. However even though it was a good record they did not beat any of the upper echelon teams in the SEC. Their 5 losses were in conference play. Suspect they'll have a similar record again this year.

 

[mudcat]

I'd say Miss St is probably the most real team of the three, based on their last years record of 27-5. However even though it was a good record they did not beat any of the upper echelon teams in the SEC. Their 5 losses were in conference play. Suspect they'll have a similar record again this year.

In terms of talent I rank them Miss St, GA, and Mizz. In terms of coaching I rank them GA, Miss St, and Mizz. Will be interesting to see where they all are by the SEC tournament.

 

[Bliss]

Wife and I will be attending the Missouri game Tuesday. They'll be fun to watch.

 

[Kmoney]

I would say Miss St. Simply due being in the dreadful SEC west (Tam being the exception). The other two have to compete against USC, Tenn, UK and Vandy.

 

[ocoandasoc]

Missouri (I admit I'm an alum) may have the biggest upside of the three. They have all their injured players back (last year's record would have been much better without all the injuries) and they have two great freshman in Cunningham and Porter that are both playing well. Pindgeton is a very solid coach and Mizzou was very smart to tie her up (hopefully) for the next five years.
Mizzou's goal is a top six finish in the SEC and a tourney bid. To do it they'll have to win some close games against the mid-level teams in the SEC and maybe pull an upset or two. (This is a team that over the past two years defeated Tenn and gave SC a bit of a scare.)
They have looked very good at home against admittedly lower competition. Still, if you check the box scores you'll see that 11 or 12 players go significant minutes in all of those games. A so-so game against Colorado on the road is the only time they have disappointed this year. They had a great road win against St. Mary's, a team that went on to beat Cal. They also handed Wichita State a much worse beating than Tenn did.
When Mizzou is able to get off and hit their threes they can give almost anyone a game. Pindgeton is trying to develop an inside-out game that can help them win against good defensive teams (SC, Ky and Tenn all fall into that category!) when the threes don't fall. She's stressing passing and team play and it seems to be working.
Critical to Mizzou's success will be breaking the press and staying out of foul trouble. The team starts no seniors and may not peak until the 2016-17 season. And, like nearly all the teams in the SEC, a key injury or two could be disaster. I expect an up-and-down conference season -- but I'm hoping for more ups than downs. the schedule does them no favors -- they've got Miss St. and GA twice this year! Starting on Jan 4 they have Tenn, SC, Ga and Miss St all in a 10-day period... we'll see how they hold up.
Miss State's schedule has been weak -- their best showing was actually their close loss to Texas. They looked only so-so in their close wins against Florida Gulf Coast and SMU. I'll be interested to see how USF does with them at home this week and how they play at Mizzou on the 14th. They are well-coached and have a lot of talent. They just need to be consistent.
Georgia has talent and coaching but had drastic differences in the level of play against the two ranked teams they have played. They looked awful against MSU but then awesome against Seton Hall. This is another team that could show a lot of improvement during the season and maybe score an upset or two.
I'm thinking that all three of these teams get 1 to 8 seedings in the NCAA tourney along with Tenn, Ky, SC and Texas A&M.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

With all due respect - the down side of playing the "little sisters" diet is that it will be anyone's guess how they perform when they hit better competition.

Like the Mizzou fan above, I think they have solid coaching, as does Mississippi State. Georgia appears to be heading in the right direction. Unfortunately, there is a long history of SEC teams running OOC and flopping in-conference - teams such as Arkansas, Auburn and even Florida historically have faced that problem.

 

[Carnac]

One would think it would be plausible and logical to schedule teams in the pre-conference portion of your schedule that are similar in talent and competitiveness as those teams you'll see during conference play.

It doesn't hurt to include a "twinkie", or "creampuff" opponent in for 2-3 games, as these games can be used to give bench players more playing time, and used as a test to see how well bench players have learned the offensive and defensive plays against another team. Coaches schedule soft teams for different reasons.

Very few coaches (there are some, the ones with the stones to play UConn) will schedule OOC opponents that they don't think they can beat. They want to finish their OOC with a winning record. An overall record of 6+ games over 500, may be impressive to the tournament selection members. Some coaches like Kevin McGuff (Ohio State) are not afraid to play top 10 teams in their OOC. Those coaches get a tip o the turban. He's not afraid to play the best teams available.

A record of 1-2 games over or under 500 may suggest that you are not one of the better teams in the country. In most cases that will make you a prime candidate for the WNIT. Lest I remind you of those immortal words of Bill Parcells: "You are what you record says you are".

 

[ocoandasoc]

As of today's rankings, Missouri is scheduled to play 9 games against Top 35 teams this season. That's more than any team I know of... including UConn. And, as of today, they would only be favored in one or two of them. A schedule that's this back-ended has both advantages and disadvantages... for the team, its coaches, and its fans. I would love to see conferences like the SEC allow for each team to have one or two in-conference games in Nov.-Dec. I think the fans would enjoy it and it would give everyone a better idea of the true competitiveness of their teams.

The majority of college coaches (excluding the very top schools where they're ready to hang the coach if the team doesn't make the Elite 8 in the tourney!) keep their jobs based on their won/loss records, not the level of competition the wins came against. (Mizzou's coach -- who I think is a good one -- just got a five year contract extension and she has NEVER taken the team to the NCAA Tourney!)

Missouri is setting new attendance records and building a lot more interest in the program. That happens when you win a lot.... no matter who you are beating. They are an entertaining team to watch... they even remind me of Geno's teams of '89 and '90. They signed their FIRST HS All American this year and their first nationally-ranked recruiting class. (Ms. Collier even had Mizzou on her short list until UConn came calling!) Their fans -- including me -- will be thrilled with a 19 or 20 win season and a spot in the Tourney along with maybe a couple of upset wins. A 13-0 out of conference record would certainly be a good start!

Let's be honest... there are three levels of teams in WCBB.... the elites, the wanna-be's and former elites, and the ones stuggling to be wanna-be's. Georgia and Mississippi State are in the second group, and Missouri is moving from the third group to the second. I started going to UConn women's games in 1988 and watched them move up the ladder, so I know it can be done.

To be honest, the majority of Mizzou's conference games this year should be close and entertaining contests. I love watching UConn games because of the talent, how hard they play, and how well they execute. But, hey, there won't be many of their conference games that will have me on the edge of my seat.

 

[mudcat]

As of today's rankings, Missouri is scheduled to play 9 games against Top 35 teams this season. That's more than any team I know of... including UConn. And, as of today, they would only be favored in one or two of them. A schedule that's this back-ended has both advantages and disadvantages... for the team, its coaches, and its fans. I would love to see conferences like the SEC allow for each team to have one or two in-conference games in Nov.-Dec. I think the fans would enjoy it and it would give everyone a better idea of the true competitiveness of their teams.

The majority of college coaches (excluding the very top schools where they're ready to hang the coach if the team doesn't make the Elite 8 in the tourney!) keep their jobs based on their won/loss records, not the level of competition the wins came against. (Mizzou's coach -- who I think is a good one -- just got a five year contract extension and she has NEVER taken the team to the NCAA Tourney!)

Missouri is setting new attendance records and building a lot more interest in the program. That happens when you win a lot.... no matter who you are beating. They are an entertaining team to watch... they even remind me of Geno's teams of '89 and '90. They signed their FIRST HS All American this year and their first nationally-ranked recruiting class. (Ms. Collier even had Mizzou on her short list until UConn came calling!) Their fans -- including me -- will be thrilled with a 19 or 20 win season and a spot in the Tourney along with maybe a couple of upset wins. A 13-0 out of conference record would certainly be a good start!

Let's be honest... there are three levels of teams in WCBB.... the elites, the wanna-be's and former elites, and the ones stuggling to be wanna-be's. Georgia and Mississippi State are in the second group, and Missouri is moving from the third group to the second. I started going to UConn women's games in 1988 and watched them move up the ladder, so I know it can be done.

To be honest, the majority of Mizzou's conference games this year should be close and entertaining contests. I love watching UConn games because of the talent, how hard they play, and how well they execute. But, hey, there won't be many of their conference games that will have me on the edge of my seat.

If you count the two (likely three given the conference tournament) that UCONN will play against USF they will play more than 9 games against top 25 opponents. I do agree that Pingeton (sp?) is a better than average coach, but how much better is the question. I would be happy to see all three finish ahead of TN, however. We'll have to revisit this after the SEC regular season.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Let's be honest... there are three levels of teams in WCBB.... the elites, the wanna-be's and former elites, and the ones stuggling to be wanna-be's. Georgia and Mississippi State are in the second group, and Missouri is moving from the third group to the second. I started going to UConn women's games in 1988 and watched them move up the ladder, so I know it can be done.

I really like this sort of division, although I would add "super elite" which would be the true elites, including UConn (of course), Notre Dame, South Carolina for example), then the "elites" would be the teams that in the rest of the top 15-20, then your 2nd and 3rd categories, and finally, a last category, the vast majority of teams that are hoping to be wanna-be's only in their dreams.

 

[Sonny44]

All of these teams are boasting gaudy records : Missouri 12-0, GA 11-1, Miss St. 11-1 (albeit based on rather weak scheduling). The question is how they will respond once they are playing some good teams (TX A&M, KY, SC, etc.)? And don't forget that South Florida plays Miss St soon. Right now I am really impressed by the new coach at GA: they only have one loss (Mich St) but have held everyone they played to below 40% from the field, even in their one loss. My guess is that Missouri will fall the furthest of the three, and I'm rooting for GA to beat out Miss ST. What's your take on what will happen in SEC land (other than SC winning the conference)?

I'd say your avatar is much too pretty for your name.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?...6c04463903df27d578d1fea9b2b4f2a3H0&ajaxhist=0

 

[mudcat]

I'd say your avatar is much too pretty for your name.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?...6c04463903df27d578d1fea9b2b4f2a3H0&ajaxhist=0

My wife is Chinese and this is my stepdaughter Zheng who's living with us in S. Korea right now.

 

[SCGamecock]

Out of those three I'd say Missouri is the one to keep an eye on.. I've watched a few of their games and Cunningham is probably one of if not the most talented freshmen in the SEC, and probably the country. Admittedly, they've played nobody great but still they've executed well offensively.