College Basketball - Part 3

Ok, so today is part 3 of the college basketball preview which means its the conference I have ranked at number 5.

I know I am a little late today with this post but to be honest the GM's post about football was good so you should read his too. I worked at 3 a.m. this morning and have been busy and sleeping and what not until now.

I know its no excuse. I promise this will be the latest that any of these posts go up.

Anyway, back to the preview. The conference I have ranked at number 5 this year is the SEC.

The overall summary of this league is that there are no real standout teams. The highest ranking of any team in the preseason was Tennessee at 12. The reason I have this conference ahead of the Big Ten is that the middle group in this conference is pretty solid in comparison to the Big Ten. They are really interchangeable here so you take your pick. I pick the SEC as being a little bit better.

The SEC has two divisions so I have decided to rank each division and I will give my pick as the conference champion once I have summarized each division. Here we go!

SEC East

6. Georgia Bulldogs - I know the dawgs went on a crazy run in the SEC tournament to make it to the dance but really, no one saw it coming and its only going to happen again if they come out of nowhere. This team finished last in the regular season and I expect they will do the same again.

5. South Carolina Gamecocks - Devan Downey is pretty darn good but that's about all I have for the Gamecocks. They lost more then they won last year overall and that may improve to around .500 this year but I can't see this team doing much better then that. Downey will win a few for them but overall this team isn't very good. They have a bunch of juniors and seniors so a run could happen but I highly doubt it.

4. Vanderbilt Commordores - 26-8 overall and 10-6 in the conference was darn good. What wasn't, however, was the 21 point lost to Siena in the first round. I would say the real Vandy team was the solid team during the regular season this is one of the teams I talked about above when I said the middle of the SEC is much better then the middle of the Big Ten. A.J. Ogilvy is a big man out of Australia and was a very good player for this team last year. Expect more of the same and with one season under his belt look for bigger and better things from the Aussie.

3. Kentucky Wildcats - Patrick Patterson is a force on the inside. He plays big and grabs tons of rebounds. This team played better in conference then out of conference last year. Remember the loss to Gardner-Webb last year? It happened again already this year when they lost to VMI. Billy Gillespie has the talent to be a solid force in the SEC this year he just needs to keep the troops focused. If they stay focused this team may contend for the SEC East crown.

2. Florida Gators - 24 wins after back to back National Championships with all the players he lost might have been Billy Donovan's best coaching job. It will be a little easier this year with all the talent having another year under their belts but this team is still incredibly young. Only 3 players on the entire roster are in their third or fourth year. That's crazy which means this team could either be really great or also could turn out very badly. I say its closer to great with a NCAA bid at the end of this season.

1. Tennessee Volunteers - I know Chris Lofton is gone but I think this makes this team better. They still have Wayne Chism and Tyler Smith from last year. Both of these guys are really good and with not having Lofton all the other guys will know they have to step up their game. Bruce Pearl is a good coach but sometimes I think he is better at creating hype then actually coaching. This will be one of his best coaching jobs ever and I think he will get this team into the top 5 at some point this season and will end up as a 2 or 3 seed when it comes tourney time.

SEC West

6. Arkansas Razorbacks - This team went 23-12 overall last year and made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament. That was with 6 seniors. Guess how many seniors are on this years team? That's right. ZERO! I obviously have no confidence that the Razorbacks will be anywhere near where they were last year!

5. Auburn Tigers - Korvotney Barber is the key to this team. Well, kind of anyway. He will be the difference between a .500 record and something less then that. He is a solid player and could play for all the other teams in the SEC. He is a big health concern however. As I said, I can't see this team get more then 17 or so wins even if Barber is healthy.

4. Mississippi Rebels - This team has had 2 20 win seasons in a row. Coach Andy Kennedy believes this team is special and can't make a real run at the NCAA tournament. I have to disagree with him however. The backcourt for this team is deep and talented but the top returning started in the frontcourt average 2.2 points per game. That's not very good. A good backcourt can go a long way in the college game but that's nothing inside and that hurts a lot!

3. Alabama Crimson Tide - Ronald Steele and Alonzo Gee are very good players. This team has the talent to be the 20 win team it was 2 years ago. It could also turn into the 17-16 team it was last year. Injuries or the lack there of will be a huge difference maker here. If they can stay healthy look out for this team.

2. Mississippi State Bulldogs - This team went 23-11 and almost beat Memphis in the tournament last year. Jarvis Varnado is a stud inside and will dominate some games in this league. The reason I can't pick them to win the West this year is that they lost the top 3 scorers from last years championship team. That's a lot to lose and still expect to repeat. I still think this team is good enough to make it to the tourney again.

1. LSU Tigers - This team wen to the final four in 2006 but have gone down in wins both seasons since then. The good news is that they have 8 players that are seniors or juniors and most of them are solid players in the rotation. This team definitely has the talent to make a good run in this league and in the tournament.

When it comes down to it, the East is much better then the West this year and as a result I really think the Tennessee Volunteers will be the best team in the SEC all season and will win the SEC championship.