SB Nation - Alex Tyus

College Hoops Go-Round: December 20

Chris Dobbertean — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 14:57:35 -0000

2 days ago: Richmond's Kevin Anderson (14) drives as Florida's Dan Werner, right, looks on in the second half of the Orange Bowl Classic NCAA college basketball game in Sunrise, Fla., Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009. Richmond won 56-53. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

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I spent a good chunk of the day on the road yesterday, which looks to have been a bad decision, as yesterday was one of the craziest days I can remember.

If this was football, we'd talk about teams national championship hopes being dashed after big losses. But this is basketball and we do things the right way.

In the two games I saw yesterday, Miami topped Florida Atlantic in the opener of the Orange Bowl Classic, 87-69, in a game that was so exciting I headed to the concession stand to get dinner after the second half under 4 timeout.

The nightcap was far more exciting, as Richmond defeated their second SEC opponent of the season, knocking off no. 13 Florida, 56-53. Kevin Anderson made four free throws in the dying minutes to give the Spiders the win, but David Gonzalvez was named the game's MOP, thanks to a 16 point, 5 board performance. Alex Tyus led the way for the Gators. He was UF's only double figure scorer, managing 15 and 5 rebounds.

The Gators weren't the only ranked team to be upset, though.

In perhaps the most stunning score of the day, USC pounded no. 9 Tennessee , 77-55.
Old Dominion won at no. 11 Georgetown, 61-57.
Wichita State stunned no. 16 Texas Tech, 85-83.

Others had close calls.

No. 6 West Virginia barely survived a trip to Cleveland State, 80-78.
Creighton gave no. 19 New Mexico a battle, but the Lobos prevailed, 66-61.
No. 21 Butler beat Xavier, 69-68, after one of the most controversial replay reviews ever (more).

But it wasn't all struggles for the top 25.

Michigan fell at no. 1 Kansas in the Green Game, 75-64.
No. 2 Texas put on quite a show in their 103-90 win over 10th-ranked North Carolina.
No. 3 Kentucky pulled away from Austin Peay in the second half to earn a 90-69 win.
No. 4 Purdue beat Ball State, 69-49, in the Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis.
No. 5 Syracuse defeated St. Bonaventure, 85-72, thanks to a strong second half.
No. 7 Duke outclassed no. 15 Gonzaga in New York, 76-41.
No. 8 Villanova had no trouble with Fordham, winning 96-58.
IPFW was no match for no. 12 Michigan State. Sparty prevailed 80-58.
No. 17 Kansas State had no trouble with Alabama, winning 87-74 in Mobile.
No. 18 Ohio State struggled at times against Delaware State, but the Buckeyes still won 60-44.
No. 20 Mississippi got an easy win, slamming soon-to-be-Division III Centenary, 108-64.
No. 23 Texas A&M routed The Citadel, 71-50.
No. 24 Washington demolished Portland, 89-54.
No. 25 Cincinnati snapped their two-game losing streak with a 80-52 win over Lipscomb.

After the jump, I'll take a look at some of Saturday's non-top 25 scores and look ahead to Sunday's TV slate, which features an ACC doubleheader.

In Saturday's other action, there were four upsets of note outside the top 25.

Massachusetts stunned Memphis on a buzzer beater, 73-72.
Georgia beat Illinois in suburban Duluth, 70-67.
Temple knocked off their second straight Big East opponent. The Owls won at Seton Hall, 71-65.
South Carolina fell at Wofford, 68-61.

Elsewhere

The Gamecocks' archrivals, Clemson, had no problem with their in-state oppositon, pounding the College of Charleston, 94-55.
Denver picked up their second straight Sun Belt win, knocking off Louisiana-Monroe, 87-65.
Illinois State won at Utah in the MWC/MVC Challenge, 73-63.
Iowa knocked off in-state rival Drake, 71-67.
IUPUI picked up a good win, as they beat Duquesne, 74-69.
Louisville routed Western Kentucky, 102-75.
Mississippi State won at Houston, 70-64.
Notre Dame knocked off reeling UCLA, 84-73.
Northern Colorado threw the ball away when they had a chance to beat Oklahoma. The Sooners survived 80-79.
Northwestern sent the Pac 10 to another loss, beating Stanford, 70-62.
San Diego State couldn't pull off the Cactus State sweep. They fell at Arizona State, 55-52.
UAB blasted South Alabama, 72-54.
VCU survived their trip to Tulane, 78-77.
Ken Bone's Washington State squad had no trouble with his old team, Portland State, in Kennewick. The Cougars won 93-69.

If you don't see your team's score, click on any of the score links. You'll find a rundown of all of Saturday's action on the right side of the screen.

For more on Saturday's action, visit the main SB Nation site and Searching for Billy Edelin.

Sunday's action is highlighted by the Holiday Festival semifinals in New York and an evening ACC doubleheader. All times are p.m. Eastern.

Holiday Festival Semifinals: Cornell vs. Davidson (MSG/FCS Atlantic, 12) and Hofstra at St. John's (MSG/FCS Atlantic, 2:30)
UCF at No. 14 Connecticut (BIg East/Full Court, 1)
Sam Houston at Auburn (SEC on CSS/Full Court, 2)
Bradley at Iowa State (Full Court, 2)
Texas-Arlington at Baylor (FS Southwest/Full Court, 3)
Florida State at No. 22 Georgia Tech (FSN/Comcast SportsNet, 5:30): This will be the first chance for many to see Tech's star freshman Derrick Favors.
NC State at Wake Forest (FSN/Comcast SportsNet, 7:45): The Wolfpack are actually 8-1, but a trip to Winston-Salem will be a major test for them. They did win at Marquette last Saturday, however. They also just beat Elon by 3. Wake beat the Phoenix by 40 just four days earlier.

Preview: Michigan State Spartans vs. Florida Gators

KJ@theonlycolors — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:01:56 -0000

More photos » by Phil Sandlin - AP

So we meet again.

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Your MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS vs. the FLORIDA GATORS

THE LEGENDS CLASSIC

BOARDWALK HALL, ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY

8:00 P.M. (ET), FRIDAY

RADIO: SPARTAN SPORTS NETWORK (list of Michigan affiliates)

TV: HDNET

Gator bullets:

2009 record: 25-11, 9-7 in the SEC, lost to Penn State in NIT quarterfinals to end season.
2009 KenPom ranking: #42. Adjusted offensive efficiency: #24. Adjusted defensive efficiency: #87.
Three of five starters from 2009 return. Leading scorer Nick Calathes departed for Greece.
Undefeated through four games in new season. Defeated Florida State 68-52 at home on Tuesday.

Starter-plus-sixth-man (Parsons) capsule (more stats here):

Pos	Player	Year	Height	Pts/G	Reb/G	Ast/G	2pt%	3pt%	FT%
G	Erving Walker	Soph	5'8"	10.8	3.8	4.8	0.400	0.182	0.733
G	Kenny Boynton	Fresh	6'2"	17.5	4.0	2.3	0.667	0.174	0.759
F	Dan Werner	Senior	6'8"	5.5	3.3	1.5	0.222	0.545	--
F	Chandler Parsons	Junior	6'9"	13.0	8.0	1.8	0.579	0.357	0.714
F	Alex Tyus	Junior	6'8"	9.5	7.5	0.8	0.484	--	0.615
F/C	Vernon Macklin	RS Jun	6'10"	9.0	6.3	0.8	0.630	--	0.286

Boynton is a true freshman who entered the Florida program as a 5-star recruit. Macklin transferred in from Georgetown and is now eligible after sitting out a year. The other four guys in the table all return from last season's team--although Tyus had announced he was transferring out of the program before changing his mind.

Despite a decent amount of stability from last season to this one in terms of their core playing group--essentially swapping out one talented freshman scorer for another--the Gators' strength appears to have shifted from offense to defense, as noted by Mr. Gasaway:

Keep in mind this is a team that for the past two years has had an excellent offense but has been locked out of the NCAA tournament due to shoddy D. And now all the sudden they’re beating Florida State in Gainesville 68-52 in a 71-possession game? The times they are a-changing. No Florida opponent, including and especially the Seminoles, has been able to make any shots against a reconfigured front line that features Alex Tyus at the 4 and Georgetown transfer Vernon Macklin in the paint.
Good thing Billy Donovan’s defense has been so outstanding because this group hasn’t been able to make a three to save its life. Note for instance that highly anticipated freshman Kenny Boynton has been fairly efficient in his scoring even though the young man has made just four of the 23 threes he’s launched thus far. Effective exertions inside the arc and frequent trips to the line have enabled Boynton to help his team even amidst all the clangs from the perimeter.

The sub-20% three-point shooting percentages for Walker and Boynton are actually a little scary. If those two players can shoot just a decent percentage from beyond the arc, that'd go along way toward the Gator offense scoring at a clip closer to last season's team (Florida takes a full 37.6% of its FG attempts from beyond the arc). This year's team is shooting the ball pretty well from 2-point range (51.9%) and crashing the offensive glass (40.8% OffReb%).

The Lucas/Lucious/Summers/Allen group will need to play with a lot of energy on defense and keep the Gator guards, Boynton in particular, from getting into a comfortable shooting rhythm. Delvon Roe, Draymond Green, and Raymar Morgan, meanwhile, will need to keep the Gator big men off the offensive glass.

Defensively, Florida has indeed found a level of stinginess--through four games against generally subpar competition, at least--that didn't exist last season. The Gators ranked just 87th in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency in 2009, despite the fact their opponents did everything they could to help them out by shooting just 62.5% from the free throw line (lowest in the nation).

This season, Florida has thus far maintained relative strengths in the areas of creating turnovers (24.9% TO%) and avoiding fouls (25.7% FTR) and added tremendous perimeter defense. Opponents are matching Boynton/Walker by shooting under 20% (17.8%, to be exact) from three-point range.

Gator opponents are scoring 60.5% of their points on 2-point FG attempts and have been able to record an assist on only 41.3% of made field goals. MSU will need to beat the Florida pressure defense (they forced 16 turnovers in the first half against FSU) and find ways to score in the lane, kick the ball out to open perimeter shooters, or get fouled. Kalin Lucas, Durrell Summers, and Draymond Green are the best bets to make those things happen.

Florida deployed a 2-2-1 zone press against Florida State. I have a hard time seeing that working against MSU, with the speed-dribbling abilities of Lucas/Lucious and ball-handling skills of big men Green and Roe. More likely, Billy Donovan mixes up several man-to-man/zone defensive combinations to keep the MSU players off guard.

There's every indication that this Florida team has the talent, experience, and size to go toe to toe with the Spartans for 40 minutes. MSU will need to play intelligently and efficiently to win this game; it won't happen by brute force.

The Legends Classic bracket was set up to ensure this 2000 title game rematch. The winner of the game will be a strong favorite in Saturday's tournament final (8:00) against the Massachusetts-Rutgers winner.

Early Round Ball Season Round Up

Year2 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:25:53 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

Tennessee's Scotty Hopson.

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LAST NIGHT

As we mentioned in Sprints this morning, points were raining down in Knoxville as No. 11 Tennessee set a school scoring record in its 124-49 pummeling of UNC-Asheville. Scotty Hopson led the Vols with 25 points. Rocky Top Talk has a wrap up of the romp.

Meanwhile in Baton Rouge, a Tiger set a career high as Bo Spencer's 28 points led LSU to a 71-60 win over Western Kentucky. Storm Warren also had a great night with 20 points and 11 rebounds, his third straight double-double. And the Valley Shook has game coverage and a look ahead at LSU's upcoming games in Madison Square Garden.

Staying in the SEC West, Alabama picked up the first win of the Anthony Grant era with an 86-69 laugher over Jackson State. Four Tide ballers went into double figures, with freshman Tony Mitchell setting the standard with 23 and Mikhail Torrance distributing eight assists with his 13 points.

It was not as nice a night in Athens for new coach Mark Fox as Georgia fell to 1-1 on the season with a 60-57 loss to Wofford. Trey Thompkins registered a double-double for the Bulldogs with 14 points and a manly 16 rebounds, while Travis Leslie led the team with 17 points.

It was an even rougher night in Papa John City for John Pelphrey's Arkansas squad as they were overmatched and overpowered by No. 22 Louisville, 96-66. Marshawn Powell got a double-double with 15 points and 11 boards, and Rotnei Clarke paced the Hogs with 16 points. Arkansas Expats says it was about what they expected, but the goal of finding a way into the NIT is still on the table.

MONDAY

The No. 5 Kentucky Wildcats needed a last-second jumper from freshman John Wall to pull out a 72-70 squeaker over Miami University. Wall had 19 points on the game, and both Patrick Patterson (17 and 10) and DeMarcus Cousins (10 and 10) put up double-doubles for the Cats. A Sea of Blue of course has an excellent wrap up of the night's action.

Ole Miss had no such trouble in putting away Alabama State to the tune of 90-53. Four Rebels broke into double digits in scoring. Terrico White had the most points with 19, but Eniel Polynice had the best line of the night with 17 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Polynice was one of three Ole Miss players with eight or more boards. Red Cup Rebellion had some quick thoughts about the game.

Also hitting the 90 point mark was South Carolina, as the Gamecocks blew out Georgia Southern 90-66. Dominque Archie was the man of the night for Carolina, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, while stud Devan Downey chipped in 14 points and a team-high six assists. The Gamecocks put the game away by scoring the final five points of the first half and opening the second half with a 16-0 run, a combined 21 unanswered points.

Not to be outdone, the Vanderbilt Commodores went for 95 while holding Lipscomb to just 73 in their season opener. Star center A.J. Ogilvy came off the bench for the 'Dores thanks to a concussion sustained in practice last month, but that didn't stop him from scoring 13 points and leading the team with nine boards and three blocks. Jeffery Taylor led the way with 20 points.

On the other end of the spectrum, LSU eeked out a 55-45 win over Indiana State in the first round of the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Tipoff. Despite the low scoring output, three Tigers went into double digits. And the Valley Shook was impressed by the defense, but was decidedly underwhelmed by LSU's shooting.

Still in the West, Auburn ended up with a disappointing 73-62 loss to the MVC's Missouri State. You can't blame the Tigers' Lucas Hargrove, who put up 24 points and tied for the team lead with six rebounds. Unfortunately the effort was in vain as his only teammate to break into double digits was DeWayne Reed with 12. Auburn got a paltry five points off the bench in the game.

SUNDAY

The Florida Gators got off to a rousing start with a 74-46 start over in-state foe Stetson. The 46 that the Hatters scored is the lowest point total any opponent has scored in the Billy Donovan era. The Gators nearly snapped a streak though, waiting until the final minute of the game to make a three point shot to extend the school's record of 579 games with at least one trey made. Chandler Parsons, author of the one made three, led the team with 14 points, Alex Tyus put in 12 while snaring 13 rebounds, and hyped freshman Kenny Boynton scored 12 though only on 5-11 shooting. Alligator Army hopes for a return to toughness out of the team.

Gator Basketball: Return To Toughness?

mlmintampa — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:37:53 -0000

When you have two season like the Gators had in 2006 and 2007, the hangover can last a while. The Gators were fat and happy following the accomplishments of the Oh Fours, with guys like Nick Calathes and Jai Lucas thinking that the name on the front of the jersey guaranteed success for the name on the back. But two trips to the NIT have lead to a reinvention of the Gators, as dead weight like Calathes, Lucas and Eloy Vargas dropped the program.

In their place, Vernon Macklin, Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker are three guys who won't shrink back from pressure. The dark horse in this role would be Israeli Rod Tishman, since the only soft Israelis are supermodels. This isn't a team that needs two balls on the court to play happy. Macklin is still rough on offense, but he is a physical presence inside that has been lacking the past two seasons. Boynton and Walker will score and play off each other.

Alex Tyus needs to grow up and bit and run violence on the SEC with Macklin. Two big bodies inside, with Boynton and Walker, Florida can seriously challenge in the SEC. Maybe not get past Kentucky, but the way John Calipari is, maybe UK is under probation by March. As for Dan Werner, I just hope he doesn't get in the way and get hurt. And also stop chucking crappy threes.

Of course, it all starts and ends with Billy Donovan. He's had to reinvent himself every few years as he is trying to find the right chemistry to win again. The losses in personnel lately fit into Donovan's play to build a starting five, rather than finding individual stars and hoping they can spread the wealth. Donovan has had to do this before. The 2000 Final Four team, which included SEC regular season titles in 2000 and 2001, was built that way. Those teams, while talented, knew how to fight back after getting punched in the face. This team might be just as bad as the previous seasons, but on the surface, that does not appear to be the case this season. As of now, Bracketology puts the Gators as a 9th seed. In an improved SEC, Florida will get smacked around this season, but this team will be able to fight back.

BtB 2009-10 Southeastern Conference Preview

Chris Dobbertean — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:27:31 -0000

During the two weeks before Selection Sunday last March, I frequently heard these words (or something close) in conversation, "The SEC is going to get more than two or three bids to the Tourney. How can we not? We're the SEC." Of course, it took another surprising run through the SEC Tournament by a team nicknamed the Bulldogs to keep the Southeastern Conference from becoming (gasp) a two bid league. But Mississippi State became the league's second straight surprise auto bid winner. However, just like Georgia in 2008, the boys from Starkville also lost in the first round after getting a low seed.

But it's not like the two SEC teams who earned at-large bids did much better. Ninth seeded Tennessee fell to Oklahoma State in a tight first round contest, while eighth seeded LSU reached round two, where they were outclassed by North Carolina. Kentucky, Florida, Auburn, and South Carolina all ended up in the NIT, where none of the four managed to make it to New York. Vanderbilt won 19 games and didn't even get a postseason bid. All in all, it was a disappointing 2008-09 for a conference used to postseason success.

The good news for the SEC is that the league should be far better this year, thanks to a couple of major coaching hires (as explained in my Coaching Carousel column) and an infusion of new talent (some of whom are listed in my All-Transfer and All-Freshman team columns). But there's a lot more going on in the league than what happened in Lexington and Tuscaloosa this offseason, which I'll explain after the jump.

Let's first take a look at last season's SEC standings.

Southeastern Conference Standings

(updated 3.25.2009 at 10:42 PM EDT)

East	Conf		Overall
	W	L	W	L
South Carolina Gamecocks	10	6	21	10
Tennessee Volunteers	10	6	21	13
Florida Gators	9	7	25	11
Kentucky Wildcats	8	8	22	14
Vanderbilt Commodores	8	8	19	12
Georgia Bulldogs	3	13	12	20

West	Conf		Overall
	W	L	W	L
LSU Tigers	13	3	27	8
Auburn Tigers	10	6	24	12
Mississippi St. Bulldogs	9	7	23	13
Alabama Crimson Tide	7	9	18	14
Mississippi Rebels	7	9	16	15
Arkansas Razorbacks	2	14	14	16

Now, here are my picks for 2009-10, presented in reverse order. If a school's name appears in red, that's a link to its SBNation site. You can go there for more detailed analysis throughout the season.

West Division

Auburn (last NCAA: 2003) The Tigers fell to Baylor in the NIT quarterfinals last season, a disappointing end to a good season that could've ended in the NCAA Tournament with a marquee win or two. It's going to take a lot for Jeff Lebo's team to reach that level of success this season. Even with the graduation of Rasheem Barrett (9.9 ppg) and Quantez Robertson (6.0 ppg, 3.2 apg), DeWayne Reed (13.2 ppg, 3.7 apg) and Tay Waller (12.1 ppg) anchor a solid backcourt that will give the opposition fits. However, Korvotney Barber and his contributions of nearly 13 points and 10 rebounds a game will be severely missed in the frontcourt, even in Lebo's guard-oriented system. Seniors Brendan Knox and Johnnie Lett will have to step up to fill the void left by Barber's departure, and freshmen Rob Chubb and Ty Armstrong can expect to see playing time as well. Junior college transfer Kenny Gabriel should also see significant time, as he can be a true inside/outside threat for Auburn.

LSU (last NCAA: 2009) Expect the Tigers, last year's SEC regular season champs, to take a step back after the loss of three key starters. F Marcus Thornton and his 21 points per game are gone, so is C Chris Johnson, and the team's heart and soul, PG Garrett Temple. However, LSU still has Tasmin Mitchell, who averaged 16.3 points and 7.2 rebounds last season, while spending time at both small forward and power forward. Guard Bo Spencer is the other returning starter. He's a good shooter (averaging 11.4 ppg while shooting 40% from beyond the arc), but is coming off wrist surgery. Beyond those two, head coach Trent Johnson has his work cut out for him, as none of the other returnees averaged more than 2 points per contest. Expect the newcomers, like G Aaron Dotson (coming off a patellar tendon injury) and Fs Eddie Ludwig and Garrett Green (a medical redshirt last year), to see significant time during the rebuilding process.

Arkansas (last NCAA: 2008) It hasn't been the greatest of offseasons in Fayetteville, where head coach John Pelphrey will suspend at least one player after an offseason rape investigation that resulted in no charges. The possibility of suspensions will make the Razorbacks task of recovering from last season a bit more difficult. The Hogs were in full rebuilding mode last year, but managed to get off to a 12-1 start, featuring wins over regional rivals Oklahoma and Texas. It didn't last, and Arkansas finished bottom of the SEC West with a ghastly 2-14 record. This season, the Razorbacks will again roll out a three-guard lineup in their search for more consistency. That quest starts at point guard, where sophomore Courtney Fortson did a great job of distributing the ball (nearly 6 assists per game), while turning it over far too often (4.4 per game). Rotnei Clark led the nation's freshmen in three point shooting (39.3%), and Stefan Welsh contributed 11.5 oints per game. PF Michael Washington decided to stay in school, which means the Hogs keep their leading scorer (15.5) and conference-leading rebounder (9.8). The biggest reason Arkansas is this low is depth, with only six returning players from last season, Pelphrey will need a lot out of his newcomers to move up the SEC ladder.

Alabama (last NCAA: 2006) Bama alum Mark Gottfried resigned as head coach last January, when it was clear that the Tide would spend a third straight year outside of the NCAAs. Anthony Grant left a good gig at VCU to take the head job, and he's going to try to implement a more up-tempo style in Tuscaloosa. Alabama's biggest issue over the past few seasons has been inconsistent point guard play, especially with Ronald Steele's injuries and eventual departure from the program. Senior Mikhail Torrance (10 ppg, 2.3 apg) moved to the 1 slot after Steele left the program and performed well, though he's more of a natural shooting guard. As Grant implements his offense, watch for 5-9 Anthony Brock and Andrew Steele, Ronald's brother, to get time at the point, so Torrance can move over to his natural position. In the frontcourt, Grant has two 6-9 guys who will need to step it up. JaMychal Green had a decent freshman season, but will need to better his averages of 10.6 ppg and 7.6 rpg. Justin Knox, who averaged 5.7 ppg and 5.1 rpg, should be able to increase both those numbers with more time on the court.

Mississippi (last NCAA: 2002) Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy made headlines for all the wrong reasons last season, when he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a cab driver the night before the Rebels faced his former employer, Cincinnati, in the SEC/Big East Invitational. Things only got worse from there, as Miss lost All-SEC guard Chris Warren to a knee injury during that outing. Add in the fact that the Rebels had already lost Eniel Polynice and Trevor Gaskins to injuries, and it's amazing that they managed 16 wins last year. This season, all three guards are back, making the loss of Florida transfer David Huertas almost inconsequential. Zach Graham, the team's best three point shooter, is also back, giving the Rebels perhaps the best backcourt in the league. Kennedy's frontcourt isn't quite as strong. Sophomore Murphy Holloway will have to improve on his 8.4 points and 6.6 boards per game, while 6-8 freshman Reginald Bucker and 6-9 JC transfer DeAngelo Riley will have to contribute immediately. The fact the Rebels don't quite have the inside force to match Miss State's Varnado means they should finish behind their in-state rivals in the standings.

Mississippi State (last NCAA: 2009) Rick Stansbury recruited Renardo Sidney to provide some support for C Jarvis Varnado inside. However, it doesn't look like the NCAA is going to rule Sidney eligible. Stansbury also got a commitment from 7-2 Sudanese C John Riek, who was finally ruled eligible, but will have to sit out the first 9 games of the season. That means Varnado, who fell ill at one point this summer, will likely see some time as the lone big man on the court if Stansbury runs out a four-guard offense, as he did frequently last season. When you have guards like Dee Bost, Ravern Johnson, Barry Stewart, and Phil Turner who can shoot the three well, that offensive strategy isn't a bad idea. However, with the development of 6-8 Fs Kodi Augustus and Romero Osby (and Riek's eventual eligibility), you can expect to see Varnado get far more frontcourt help. Additionally, Varnado only needs 19 blocks to pass Shaquille O'Neal as the SEC's all-time leader in that category (though Shaq did it in fewer games).

East Division

Georgia (last NCAA: 2008) For some reason, Mark Fox decided to leave a Nevada program he (along with LSU head man Trent Johnson) made into a national name. Fox now replaces Dennis Felton at the helm of a Georgia program that has never fully recovered from the Jim Harrick era, which is now six years in the past. After the graduation of G/F Terrance Woodbury (14.0 ppg), Fox is left with only one double-digit scorer from last season. However, 6-9 F Howard Thompkins is a pretty good player to have on your roster. Thompkins averaged 12.6 points and 7.4 boards per game, and should be even better after an offseason spent on the USA's Under-19 World Championship-winning team. In the backcourt, Dustin Ware should start at point guard, as he averaged 7.2 points and 3.4 dimes per game in 2008-09. After that, Fox has a lot of decisions to make, and that means the Bulldogs will probably be rooted to the bottom of the SEC standings yet again.

South Carolina (last NCAA: 2004) In Darrin Horn's first year at the helm, the Gamecocks managed to tie Tennessee atop the SEC East. Even though they only lost guard Zam Fredrick and his 15.5 points per game, Carolina probably won't reach such heights this season. That's not to say that the Gamecocks won't manage to get back to the NCAAs, something they failed to do last year. Thanks to the return of G Devan Downey (19.8 ppg, 4.5 apg, SEC leading 89 steals) and F Dominique Archie (10.9 ppg, 6.4 rpg), the Gamecocks still have some real star power in the lineup. Returning starters Mike Holmes (10.8 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and Sam Muldrow (5.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg) should provide even more help to Archie in the frontcourt this season, while JC transfer Johndre Jefferson will be expected to spend time at both small and power forward. In the backcourt, Evaldas Baniulis, after averaging a bit more than 6 points a game while shooting 48 percent from behind the arc, is expected to take a more active role in the offense with the graduation of Fredrick, as is 6-5 swingman Lakeem Jackson, a heralded recruit from Charlotte.

Florida (last NCAA: 2007) Has it really been over two years since the Gators last featured in an NCAA Tournament game? While the days of back-to-back championships may be in the rear-view mirror, Billy Donovan's latest group has the chance to finally get off the bubble. Georgetown transfer Vernon Macklin will be eligible this season, and he'll slide into the center position. That will allow Alex Tyus to move back to his natural position, power forward, which will allow Dan Werner to move to small forward. Kenny Kadji should be better in his sophomore year as well, giving the Gators more of a presence inside. More consistency is expected out of swingman Chandler Parsons, whose performances alternate between brilliant and frustrating. In the backcourt, Erving Walker (10.1 ppg, 2.4 apg) will lead the offense after Nick Calathes' departure for Greece. Israeli newcomer Nimrod Tishman could also see time at the point if the NCAA rules him eligible. Impact freshman Kenny Boynton will start at shooting guard. He's expected to be the Gators new three-point threat, though he can also really drive to the hoop.

Vanderbilt (last NCAA: 2008) The Commodores sat at home last postseason, despite finishing the regular season with 7 wins in their last 10. Vandy shouldn't be so unlucky this season. Chemistry should be good, as head coach Kevin Stallings gave up a $100,000 raise so the team could take a scheduled trip to Australia, home country of star C A.J. Ogilvy. Ogilvy averaged 15.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, and those numbers should improve if he stays healthier this season. The 'Dores frontcourt boasts an international flavor beyond their Aussie star with Swede Jeffery Taylor (12.2 ppg. 6.2 rpg) a fixture at small forward, 6-9 Cameroonian PF Steve Tchiengang (3.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg) expected to spend more time in the 4 spot, and 6-11 Nigerian C Festus Ezeli (3.8 ppg. 2.6 rpg) expected to both backup and spend time on the floor with Ogilvy. 6-7 Andre Walker may also return to the starting lineup, after suffering an ACL tear early last season. The backcourt may be more US-centric, but it's still talented. Jermaine Beal (12.5 ppg, 3.2 apg) amd Brad Tinsley (11.0 ppg, 2.8 apg) will take turns running the offense, but 6-4 John Jenkins, the USA's highest scoring high school player last season, will get plenty of opportunities to showcase his inside/outside game. Even if he only manages 25 percent of his senior year average, Jenkins should provide plenty of scoring punch for the Commodores.

Tennessee (last NCAA: 2009) The Volunteers return all five starters in their quest to improve on last year's NCAA first round exit. The best news for the Vols this offseason was Tyler Smith's decision to skip the NBA Draft and return for his senior season. Bruce Pearl is glad he doesn't have to replace Smith's 17.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Wayne Chism (13.7 ppg, 8 rpg) will continue to be a force inside, while 6-10 C Brian Williams will need to improve his scoring (5 ppg) to match his rebounding (5.6 rpg). Bobby Maze (8.2 ppg, 3.2 apg) will run the offense, while J.P. Prince and Scotty Hopson, who were forces at both ends of the floor last year, are expected to continue their strong two-way play. Cameron Tatum (7.6 ppg) and Renaldo Woolridge, son of former NBA star Orlando, are going to be Bruce Pearl's key swingmen this season.. Woolridge, who only managed 2.6 points in a little more than 8 minutes a contest, should be improved in his sophomore season. The Vols only personnel loss is a sad story, as Nigerian F Emmanuel Negedu, as he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest last month.

Kentucky (last NCAA: 2008) During my Season Preview series, I've written a fair amount about John Calipari's arrival in Lexington and his stellar recruiting class. Patrick Patterson (17.9 ppg, 9.3 rpg) will lead a strong frontcourt that already features senior Perry Stevenson (7.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg), and will be bolstered by the arrival of the 6-11 DeMarcus Cousins and 6-10 Daniel Orton, two highly coveted recruits. And the backcourt will feature the most highly coveted recruit for this season, 6-4 point guard John Wall, who will be responsible for running Calipari's dribble drive offense. If the chemistry works, the Wildcats will quickly be on their way, and the blue half of the Commonwealth will quickly forget about the Gillispie period.

I'm picking Kentucky to win the overall SEC title, so they'll take the league's auto bid in my 2009-10 Final Preseason Bracket, which I will release on November 9. To wrap up this preview, here is my preseason All-SEC team, featuring the best returning players from last season.

Preseason All-SEC Team

Player of the Year: Tyler Smith, 6-7 F, Sr. (Tennessee)

Remainder of the Team
Devan Downey, 5-9 G, Sr. (South Carolina)
Tasmin Mitchell, 6-7 F, Sr. (LSU)
Patrick Patterson, 6-9 F, Jr. (Kentucky)
Jarvis Varnado, 6-9 F/C, Sr. (Mississippi State)

Poll

Who is your pick to win the SEC this season?

Alabama

9 votes

Arkansas

9 votes

Auburn

3 votes

Florida

14 votes

Georgia

2 votes

Kentucky

213 votes

LSU

3 votes

Ole Miss

7 votes

Mississippi State

57 votes

South Carolina

5 votes

Tennessee

68 votes

Vanderbilt

17 votes

407 votes | Poll has closed

Friday News and Notes

Gamecock Man — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:28:51 -0000

Football

Spurrier on Garcia. Despite Garcia's improvement over spring practice, Spurrier is still hesitating to give his young QB much credit. I don't necessarily have a problem with that; although I'm pretty optimistic about Garcia's prospects, I'm also sure he still has work to do. As Spurrier points out, he's certainly not where he should be as a RS sophomore.

Basketball

SEC Happenings. Big news is that Jarvis Varnado declared for the draft and that Alex Tyus is returning to Florida. The Tyus news is bad for Gamecocks fans.

Other NCAA News

Rivalry, Esq. Big 10-SEC Greatest Games. Check it out; this is a great series. I'm wondering if the 2001 Outback Bowl will make the cut. Maybe not, considering these guys seem to be focusing on Big 10 wins. A little biased, I guess, but the stories are still pretty interesting, so I'll let them have it.

Sprints // 04.29.09

cocknfire — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:27:03 -0000

More photos » by Ed Andrieski - AP

Nothing to see here. I know because a couple of other bloggers said so.

Browse more photos »

NCAA nears goal of making world's dumbest decision. A coach wants to attend the graduation of a commitment, exactly the kind of academic focus of which the NCAA speaks so highly. So what happens when the coach thinks about applying for a waiver so he can attend and stay within the rules?

Why, the NCAA indicates the request will likely be turned down, of course.

Granted, this isn't quite as bad as it first looked -- after all, Chris Burnette did miss being valedictorian, the original terms of Richt's promise. And a mere 5.12 GPA for a student whose made all As his entire academic career is clearly not worth waiving the rules if he's not officially, valedictorian, right?

Sadly, the sarcasm is all that comes to me. When it comes to mindless NCAA decisions, I ran out of outrage a long time ago.

The Mayor gets contrary about the NFL Draft. Everyone's wordiest Georgia blogger rebuts the argument that the NFL Draft doesn't show the SEC's greatness because it's not that great on a per capita basis.

It's really worth reading the whole post, but I'll pull out one and a half paragraphs to illustrate my problem with the Mayor's generally strong argument, which is based on the idea that colleges in the same conference generally draw from the same pool of recruits.

If Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee all keep scholarships available in the hope of snagging the same upper-echelon recruit, two of those schools are going to be disappointed when the kid dons the wrong cap on signing day. The two extra scholarships that leaves aren't going to be expended on equally upper-echelon recruits in the same recruiting cycle; they're either going to go to lower-tier players who are still available, or they're going to be held onto for next year's recruiting class.

Either way, they're not affecting the total number of top-shelf recruits entering a particular conference's member institutions in a given year. Absent early defections (which tend to even out over time), we're still talking about the same number of highly-touted athletes entering the N.F.L. draft from the ranks of a given league. On the individual level, recruiting always is a zero-sum game, but, at the highest level, this is especially so; one team's getting a five-star holdout on signing day means the other teams pursuing the same kid aren't getting any five-star holdouts on that signing day with that scholarship.

First off, I'm not sure I would have spent this much time dissecting points made by two bloggers whom I respect, but who both spend an inordinate amount of time trying knock down any notion that the SEC is the nation's best conference. (And one of whom takes a gratuitous slap at Southern intellect in his post.) "Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist that there is no God," Heywood Broun once said, and the same seems to be true of SEC superiority. But I digress.

The real problems I see with the Mayor's argument are:

(1) The scholarship of a lost five-star recruit isn't necessarily "going to lower-tier players who are still available." It might very well still end up going to a talented player, particularly if a five-star recruit commits early in the process or if a school (as some do) over-recruits. coughcoughOleMisscoughcough
(2) Even if the team does turn to a lower-tier player, it is not a given that this player is not going to turn into an NFL-caliber player. The odds are longer, no doubt; but not impossible.
(3) It is built heavily on the idea that colleges recruit regionally. But that's not always the case. Florida or LSU or Georgia is just as likely to be competing for the best players with Oklahoma or Southern Cal or Michigan as they are to be competing with Alabama or Tennessee or Auburn -- and perhaps more likely to be going up against the national titans as they are to be fighting Kentucky or Vanderbilt or Mississippi State.
(4) Even if we accept the idea that all schools recruit regionally, neither side of the argument is accounting for the fact that some regions are more populous and/or richer in four- and five-star talent than others.

I'm not saying the Mayor is wrong -- his argument seems at worst to take into account something that mgoblog and Dr. Saturday don't, and at best takes a bit of air out of their arguments.

But I've said before that I regard the NFL Draft as a decidedly bad way of measuring conference strength, whether per capita or in total. I see no reason to change that view -- whether it benefits the SEC or not.

Boy Wonder: Daddy is Superman; Coleman should have stayed. Monte Kiffin is still pretty tough for someone who's 97 years old.

[Lane] Kiffin said his father -- UT defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin -- underwent back surgery a few days ago and was back at work Monday despite being told by doctors to take a week off.

Pay attention, Tennessee defenders: Dogging it during practice because you have a "shoulder stinger" ain't going to cut it.

Perhaps more germane for our purposes, Boy Wonder commented on the B.J. Coleman controversy, such as it is.

Later in the evening, speaking to a sold-out crowd, Kiffin added: "We wanted (Coleman) to stay. He really had a slow spring at the beginning and had come around the last couple of weeks."

Are we sure that's Coleman that Boy Wonder is talking about? Because it really could have been any other Tennessee quarterback, if you lop off the "had come around the last couple of weeks" part.

When an Auburn fans accuses you of 'a misinformed cheap shot at Georgia fans,' you're probably wrong. And yet Terence Moore manages to draw that reaction from The Joe Cribbs Car Wash in response to his final column.

Yes, I know the last part of that sentence is a crushing blow to many of you. But he left a special, mind-boggling gift for you at the end of his last missive.

In football, the Bulldogs had a national championship in 1980, and the Yellow Jackets managed one 10 years later. Neither has come close since then.

Wha? Um, Terence? After the 1981 season, Georgia was ranked 5th in the UPI poll, 6th in AP. In 1982, postseason No. 4 was actually No. 1 before a 27-23 Sugar Bowl loss to eventual champion Penn State. The Dawgs ended the season No. 4 in 1983. There was a lull after that, but in 2002 they ended up No. 3 in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN polls. They were No. 2 in AP and No. 3 in USA Today after the 2007 season -- and many fans think (wrongly, but not without basis) that they robbed of the right to play for the crystal football that year.

So, yes, they have come close since then. Many, many times.

Anything I say here will get me in trouble. So let me just introduce, without further ado, TeeBows. (Borderline NSFW) That would be Tim Tebow-inspired ...

Panties?

Ladies, they're just $6 a pair. So what are you waiting for? (HT: Dr. Saturday)

Basketball moves. Mississippi State's Jarvis Varnado is headed for the NBA -- maybe. He's not hiring an agent. Meanwhile, Florida's Alex Tyus is untransferring.

It's tennis. Apparently, Mississippians take their college tennis very seriously. You have no idea how seriously until you consider the reaction of Ole Miss athletics director Pete Boone to the perceived snub of the Rebels in the seeding for the NCAA tennis tournament.

"There's no words that can express the boneheadedness of this decision. It's truly beyond comprehension. The NCAA wants to cut down on travel, and I understand that, but to do this to the No. 2 team in the country doesn't make any sense whatsoever. I'm sure the decision-makers got in some room and started dealing with theory and then convinced themselves that this made sense when it reality it makes absolutely no common sense. We're certainly going to be on the phone in the morning with the NCAA trying to find out what the hell happened."

Our friends at the Red Cup Rebellion have decided to declare war via e-mail and phone. Yikes. Does McEnroe even get that angry over tennis?

Wind Sprints. Jevan Snead will be your No. 1 NFL draft pick. Next year. After, you know, the season is actually played and everything ... The Kickin' Colquitts, now likely to play against each other ... Georgia seeks a "neutral game" in the Georgia Dome. Because everyone will fall for that one ... Steve Spurrier "starting to agree with" NFL types on the importance of a quarterback. Now?!?

Sprints // 04.20.09

cocknfire — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:55:16 -0000

More photos » AP

In this Oct. 13, 1945, file photo, Army halfback Felix Blanchard (35) weaves away as three Michigan men close in to tackle him after a 3-yard first-period gain in a college football game in New York. Michigan players are Stuart Wilkins (68), Dominic Tomasi (65), Harold Watts (58), and Walter Teninga (42). Army's Albert Nemetz (75) is in the background. Notice not only the vintage uniforms, but the official's outfit. Guys like Blanchard are about as common as those clothes now.

Browse more photos »

Doc Blanchard, RIP. Normally, Sprints keeps to SEC news or only the biggest college football news. But a moment at the passing of Doc Blanchard.

Blanchard wasn't just any college football player. He was the first junior to win the Heisman and helped lead Army to two consecutive national titles. Army. Two consecutive national titles.

Of course, if Blanchard were alive today, chances are he wouldn't have gone to Army. Future Heisman candidates don't tend to go to military academies any more, for the obvious career-related difficulties. Then again, they also don't tend to also play defense and special teams as well as their offensive duties.

Farwell, Doc. It might be a cliche, but they really don't make them like you any more.

As always, thoughts and prayers to the family.

Around the Bases comes along this evening, as usual. But one huge headline out of the weekend. No 1 LSU vs. lousy Tennessee = MASSIVE FAIL.

Bummed about the end of spring practice? Razorback Expats has some tips for you on how to fight those offseason blues.

Hungry for stadium food? Then just find the nearest vending machine and put money in for your items, collect them, then put in the same amount of money, but then just walk away without collecting.

Or, you could just start cheering for Kentucky, which has embarked on what has to be the latest and longest spring practice period in SEC history. The Wildcats are still about a week away from their spring game. But hey, the defense is going to be good -- no, really. They mean it this time.

Finally, you could just be a football player, and never really quit practicing.

Why aren't the Red Wolves good enough for ESPN? Auburn will pass on playing UCLA next year and opening the college football season for ABC because --

No, really what's the reason?

That's it?

Oh. Well, because they have a game against Arkansas State, of course. Wha? Cue outrage from Track Em Tigers, which might have just been looking for an opportunity to use a photo of UCLA cheerleaders, who are almost as good looking as South Carolina cheerleaders.

The ineptness of this athletic department becomes more mind-boggling by the minute. ...

Do you honestly believe that Arkansas State would have a problem rescheduling its game with Auburn for the following season if they were guaranteed nearly $1 million? Why not throw them a bone and offer to play them for two years if they agree to the change?

It hurts to say it, but simply put, Auburn officials wimped out.

That seems a fair read on it, but sadly this seems to be the way interconference scheduling in the SEC is going: Fewer marquee matchups, more cupcakes. Only Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Vanderbilt had the guts last year to have more than one BCS-league team on their interconference slate, and one team that will go unnamed (coughcoughlsucoughcough) failed to play a single BCS-league team not in the SEC during the regular season.

As good as it got. Fascinating "what might have been" story about the 2007-08 Gamecocks. Six players who were significant pieces of those two teams are expected to be drafted this weekend, but those two teams went 13-12. How does a team with at least seven draft-caliber players (Cory Boyd went late last year) -- and potentially more when additional players leave school in the next few years -- end up barely breaking .500?

For our Florida basketball fans: How bad is it for Billy D? I ask this because I was unaware of the late unpleasantness in Gainesville (HT: John Clay) until after F Alex Tyus decided to cut bait. Or is Dooley just drawing up a scarecrow for column fodder? At least now Donovan has Pitino on his staff -- no, not that Pitino. His son, though.

'I'm going to try to Twit.' Give Les Miles credit -- at least he wants to get in on the Web 2.0 fad. Sure he uses the wrong verb, but on the list of Les-isms, this one ranks pretty low.

The only time I will ever write about women's gymnastics. But here's to Suzanne Yoculan, who retires after winning her tenth national title, including five in a row. Anyone in any sport who displays that kind of dominance deserves a round of applause. Well played, ma'am. Well played.

Exodus Continues: Tyus To Transfer

mlmintampa — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:17:50 -0000

I know something is big when three of my friends contact me this morning about the same thing. From the Orlando Sentinel's Jeremy Fowler;

Florida forward Alex Tyus, Florida's second-leading scorer last season, is transferring from the Gators, Billy Donovan announced this morning. Tyus is Florida's third player to transfer this season and the 11th since the 2003-04 season. Nick Calathes could be the fourth player gone in the last six months if he opts to stay in the NBA draft, and 2009 signee DeShawn Painter already backed out of his letter of intent.

You can either believe the rather large number of guys leaving is a due to Donovan losing his touch, or he is cleaning house. He also sort of throws Tyus under the bus.

"For me as a coach, you know there's a certain vision and a certain path and a certain commitment for the team going forward that you want to have. For Alex, that's not really what he wanted to do."

Tyus leaving is the most surprising of the bunch, considering how much better he got last season. UF is now left with 10 scholarship players with Fowler saying Donovan is looking for another guard and possibly a big man to take Tyus' spot.

Friday News and Notes

Gamecock Man — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:59:48 -0000

Football

Empty Seats Looming at the WB? Very possible with the economy the way it is and general fan unrest over the YES plan.

Other NCAA News

Tennessee Self-Reports Lane Kiffin for Secondary Violations. Apparently that call Kiffin made to Alshon Jeffrey when he told Jeffrey he would be pumping gas the rest of his life if he came to South Carolina was in violation of NCAA rules because coaches aren't allowed to call recruits that sign with other schools after signing day. This is some funny stuff. After committing so many secondary violations during his first recruiting stint, what are the odds that everything really hits the fan within the next two or three years? I'd say they're pretty good.

Florida Tinkering with its Offense. Apparently the world is coming to an end: Tim Tebow is now lining up under center and the Gators are considering running out of I formations to take advantage of their talent at running back. I kindof wonder if Meyer is also trying to prep Tebow for the NFL.

Steve Spurrier and Sterling Sharpe to Represent Carolina in Golf Tournament. Now we know why Steve came to Columbia: to win golf championships with Sterling Sharpe.

UPDATE: Alex Tyus Tranferring from UF. With Nick Calathes already leaving, this will leave the Gators quite depleted in terms of game-time experience. There's still a lot of talent in Gainesville and there's more on the way, but I would look for Florida to continue to struggle a bit next year. If Devan Downey returns, we may have a good shot at finishing in the top half of the division.