Bracketology With A Tennessee Flavor

The college basketball season is already past the midway point, and March Madness is creeping up on us.

Teams are battling it out in the midst of their respective conferences, and the smaller conferences are bidding for that automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

It's been somewhat of a down year for school from Tennessee, but there are some mid-majors that people should be keeping an eye on.

Here's a look at the current standing of the schools fighting for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Tennessee (14-7, 4-2 SEC): Meet your jekyll and hyde of the college basketball season. The same team that knocked out Villanova and Pittsburgh also has losses to the likes of Charlotte, Oakland, and College of Charleston. Take out those mysterious losses and you've got yourself a top ten ranking right now. Bruce Pearl is almost through his suspension and it looks like the Vols will make the NCAA Tournament with a respectable seed.
Big Wins: Villanova, Pitt. Big Losses: Charlotte, Charleston, Oakland

Projected Seed: 7


Vanderbilt (15-5, 3-3 SEC): The Achilles heel for the Commodores has been protecting leads, blowing late leads to the likes of South Carolina and Tennessee. What really helps Vandy right now is the fact that they really don't have an ugly loss outside of Arkansas this past weekend. They also are 3-1 against the AP Top 25 this season. Vandy really needs to get Andre Walker back to finish this season out strong, but they should be in the mix come March.
Big Wins: Marquette, St. Mary's. Big Losses: Arkansas, South Carolina

Projected Seed: 6


Memphis (16-5, 5-2 CUSA): The Tigers might have been the biggest frauds to start the season ranked. Their overall record might look solid, but they lack a quality win on their schedule. They've also struggled to beat the likes of Tennessee State, Austin Peay, and Arkansas State. This team is flirting with the possibility of missing the tournament all together if they don't start winning games in an impressive fashion. A big date with Gonzaga looms in the near future.
Big Wins: UAB. Big Losses: SMU, Marshall

Projected Seed: 12


Belmont (20-4, 12-1 A-Sun): If there's going to be a 2010 Butler team in this year's tournament, Belmont has to at least be mentioned in the conversation. To put it into perspective, Belmost beat Arkansas State by 33 points, the same Arkansas State team that had single-digit losses to Ole Miss and Memphis. There's no reason that Belmont couldn't run the table the rest of the way. They're four losses are to Tennessee twice, Vanderbilt, and arch-rival Lipscomb in a tough environment on the road. This team is dangerous.
Big Wins: None. Big Losses: Lipscomb

Projected seed: 14


Middle Tennessee (10-12, 5-4 Sun Belt): The Blue Raiders have to pretty much win their conference tournament to have any chance. Their overall record is abysmal, and they have too many bad losses to count on one hand. This team has potential, but they're still a few steps away from making the NCAA Tournament for the first team in 22 years.
Big Wins: North Texas. Big Losses: Evansville, Campbell, South Alabama

Projected Seed: None


Austin Peay (14-9, 8-3 OVC): Winning the OVC tournament is the only way the Governors will make the NCAA Tourney, but the probability of that happening is very high. The Governors don't really have any quality wins, but they took Memphis and Oakland to overtime. Remember, Oakland took down Tennessee in the early part of the season. I see the Governors winning their conference tournament only to get the honor of playing a team like Ohio State or Pittsburgh in the first round.
Big Wins: None. Big Losses: Tenn. State, Tenn. Tech

Projected Seed: 16




Take a minute to digest my take on the state of the Tennessee schools. There's still a lot of basketball to be played, and all of this could obviously change.

Out of all of these schools I see Vanderbilt having the potential to go the farthest. The reason I say this is because they've played everyone tough, and only have one ugly loss all season. I'm not counting out Tennessee from making some noise. They're pesky and have the ability to beat anyone in the country, but at the same time lose to almost anyone in the country.

Odds Are You Won't Recognize The 2010-11 Wildcats

Everyone expected John Wall and Demarcus Cousins to enter the NBA draft after last season.

Some speculated that Eric Bledsoe would join them, but that wasn't for sure.

Very few probably predicted that the block specialist Daniel Orton would join them.

Well they all ended up declaring for the NBA draft, including senior Patrick Patterson who definitely did his time as a Wildcat and did it well.

In all only five players will return next year for the Wildcats, leaving Calipari with a huge rebuilding project. However, Calipari does already have some great prospects lined up to make up yet another stellar recruiting class.

All of these players have about a month to change their minds and pull out of the draft, but that's highly unlikely.

This is the compromise you make as a coach when you recruit these top tier players. Calipari should be use to this by now. It happened to him at Memphis with Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans, and both of those players are flourishing in the NBA right now.

It really goes back to the recent rule that was passed down by the NBA that forces players to attend at least one year of college before being eligible for the NBA.

This just teaches bad work ethic and wastes the time of these college professors. It also makes somewhat of a mockery to the institution of higher learning.

You know John Wall could've cared less about what he was learning in the classroom or what kind of grades he was receiving. He was just thinking about how many points and assists he was going to dish out next game, and can you really blame him? It's not his fault that he was forced to attend college to chase his dream.

These guys are adults and deserve to make whatever decision that want to make to chase their dream. If that means skipping college to do that then so be it. And if you are going to force them to attend college then requiring just one year is pointless.

With all of that aside, it will be interesting to see how next year's Wildcats will look as compared to last year's richly talented team that came up just a few steps short.

They'll probably make another run next season, but youth will be something Calipari will be dealing with for the rest of his time at Kentucky until this stupid rule of "one and done" is uplifted.

Returning Wildcats

1. DeAndre Liggins: 3.8 ppg, 15 min/game
2. Darnell Dodson: 6 ppg, 14.5 min/game
3. Darius Miller: 6.5 ppg, 21.1 min/game
4. Jon Hood: 1.2 ppg, 4.4 min/game
5. Josh Harrellson: 1.3 ppg, 4 min/game
   

Shield Your Eyes, Some Bubbles Are About to Burst

It's that time of year where things get a little emotional in college basketball. Some teams' hard work is going to pay off and send them to the field of 65 while others are going to settle for something less.

There's no way to avoid it. Every year there are at least a few really good teams who don't make the tournament. It's still the best playoff system in all of sports. Virtually every deserving team gets a fair shot at the national championship. Even your George Mason's of the world.

One bubble is going to burst in a big way tonight between Connecticut and Notre Dame. Both teams have impressive wins coupled with disappointing losses.

Another bubble team to keep your eye on at this point is Florida. This team has been up and down all season long but has mainly been going down since entering the conference schedule.

Their conference record doesn't look that bad at first glance, but then you have to remember how mediocre the SEC is this year.

The Gators have some work to do but if they have an impressive showing in the SEC tournament then you have to put them somewhere around a 10-seed.

Another game with implications on the bubble watch is Oklahoma St. and Texas A&M. They're both in at the moment but they can easily play their way out. They've got a little bit more slack thanks to the Big 12 being a pretty solid conference overall.

Finally you got your mid-majors who are fighting for either an automatic bid through their conference championship or an at-large bid.

As of right now here's your at-large bids to keep an eye on: St. Mary's, San Diego State, and Richmond. All of these mid-majors are capable of making some noise in the tournament if they get in.

This is the best time of the year if you're a die-hard college basketball fan like myself. There's so much to keep up with that it's almost like studying for a class to get all of the information.

Selection Sunday is just ten days away so get your goggles ready because there's still plenty of bubbles to be burst.

Teams Currently on the Bubble

• Notre Dame (19-10)
• Connecticut (17-12)
• Ole Miss (19-9)
• Oklahoma St. (20-8)
• Illinois (18-12)
• St. Mary's (24-5)
• Louisville (19-11)
• San Diego St. (20-8)
• Florida (20-10)
• Florida St. (20-8)
• Georgia Tech (19-10)
  

( I'm sure I left out a few, but this should give you an idea of how many bubbles are about to burst!!!!!)

Top Two Teams Go Down, But Does It Really Matter?

Two more huge upsets have left college basketball analysts and fans alike scratching their heads at who could possibly be the best team in college basketball right now.

No.1 Kansas went down to unranked Oklahoma State and No.2 Kentucky suffered their second loss of the season to No.19 Tennessee.

Both of these losses should be taken with a grain of salt in all honesty. Both came on the road and both teams have their reasons to look at the glass half-full here.

First of all Kansas (27-2) didn't have that bad of a game. They shot 46 percent from the field and 40 percent from behind the arc against a 20-win team.

Apparently Oklahoma State was poised for this huge victory that most certainly puts them in the field of 65. They had to have the best shooting day from field in over three years to win by only eight points. Their field goal percentage was 60 percent.

As for Kentucky (27-2) once again their youth got them into a little trouble. They kept firing blanks from behind the arc instead of pounding it inside to Cousins and Patterson.

Once again, however, their talent got them back into the game. They actually had the game tied a 65-65 with a little over two minutes remaining and it looked like Kentucky had all the momentum to win another close SEC game.

To steal a cliche from Lee Corso, not so fast my friend.

Tennessee went on a 9-0 run to close the game out. For everyone who isn't keeping score at home, that means Tennessee has defeated the No.1 and No.2 team this season which hasn't happened in college basketball since 2002.

To get back to the question of who is exactly the best team, I believe it's down to four teams: Kansas, Villanova, Syracuse, or Duke.

Sorry, that's the best I can do at this point.

The number one ranking is very overrated in college basketball and in all reality these two losses by Kentucky and Kansas really mean nothing. If Kentucky loses another game then they might fall back to a No.2 seed. Kansas is just good no matter how you look at it.

It should be a great March Madness and good luck filling out your brackets.

With this year's parody in college basketball you should hope for the best with your brackets, but expect the worst!



My Current Top Five

1. Kansas (27-2) Last week: Lost to Okla. St, Def. Oklahoma, Def. Colorado
2. Syracuse (26-2) Last week: Def. Providence
3. Villanova (23-4) Last week: Def. South Florida, Lost to Pitt
4. Duke (24-4) Last week: Def. Tulsa, Def. V. Tech
5. Purdue (24-3) Last week: Def. Minnesota
   

Almost In: Kentucky (27-2), Kansas State (22-4)

The Tar Heels Are Stuck in a Tailspin

For over a half of basketball last night it looked like the Tar Heels were going to pull themselves out of this tailspin and beat their arch-rivals.

That quickly changed when Duke showed just how much better they really are than the Tar Heels and put them away for good.

On the surface this shouldn't be such a surprise as the media in making it. Every great program goes through rebuilding phases and that time has finally approached for the Tar Heels. The shocking part about it is that the Tar Heels are one of those college basketball products that no one can really recall ever being a bad team.

To add insult to injury, Roy Williams is saying ill-advised things to the media that digs this program even deeper by drawing comparisons between a bad basketball season to the disaster in Haiti.

How was the topic of Haiti even brought up? I'm sure the future Hall of Fame coach will regret saying that really soon. It's comparing apples to oranges and is a slap in the face to all of the people affected by the horrible disaster in Haiti.

Now back to basketball. The Tar Heels can kiss their NCAA Tournament hopes goodbye unless they plan on running the table for the rest of the season, including the ACC Tournament. Yeah, I don't think so.

Well there's always the NIT, or the "Not In the Tournament" tournament. As bad as the Tar Heels look right now, they could probably still make a run for the NIT championship. That's how good this program is. Even with the one of the worst teams this program has ever had they can still compete for a postseason tournament championship.

If you're a Tar Heel fan then at this point you just have to be ready to put this season to rest and look forward to next season. Expect this to be a one-season slump. The Tar Heels will return to competing for the ACC championship again next season.

The talent-loaded roster will have a year more of experience along with another great recruiting class.

In other words, look at this season as a fluke.

Biggest 2010 Drop-Offs

1. North Carolina (13-11) Last season: 34-4 (Nat'l Champ)
2. Connecticut (14-10) Last season: 31-5 (Final Four)
3. Oklahoma (13-10) Last season: 30-6 (Elite Eight)
4. Western Kentucky (13-12) Last season: 25-9 (2nd Round)
   

John Wall Hits His First Wall to His Young Career

It didn't take long for freshman John Wall to end up in the media for something bad. The weird part is that this whole incident occurred after a huge win against Vanderbilt for sole possession of first place in the SEC East.

Wall said to the media Saturday that "I just try not to listen to him (Calipari) and go out and play basketball and try and help my team win".

Those are pretty tough words coming from a freshman who is coached by one of the best in the game. He eventually ate his own word a couple days later and now everything seems to be put in the past. Calipari handled it in the best way possible and is ready to move on.

Apparently what started this whole fiasco was the fact that Calipari criticized Wall for his play in their loss to South Carolina earlier in the week. Wall thought that he didn't play that bad and being criticized upset him.

Wall can't let all of this media hype about him being one of the best players in the country get to his head. He's not a LeBron James and he still has a lot to prove before he can ever think about having the right to question his coach publicly like that.

This might be a window into the future of how Wall may conduct himself for the rest of his basketball career. Could he just end up being another drama queen to join the sports world? Let's hope not because we have plenty of those already.

It's definitely not a good sign considering the circumstances it came out of. It's not like Kentucky is in last place and under media scrutiny. We're talking about a team that is widely recognized as a National Championship contender.

A fluke loss to South Carolina is the only thing keeping this team from being undefeated. They didn't even lose to the Gamecocks. They lost to Devon Downey and his freakish athletic talent.

Wall will still be snatched up in a heart beat whenever he enters the draft but I'm sure some NBA scouts will think twice about adding him to their roster after this little tantrum he just threw.

SEC Men's Basketball Season Preview

College basketball is upon us again. A few teams, like the defending champion Tar Heels, tipped off the season tonight. It's still a few more days until most of the nation gets the season underway.

The SEC had a very down year last season but 2009-2010 season looks to be a better year for the SEC as a whole. A good majority of SEC teams have improved from last season. Here's what you should expect:

SEC East

1. Kentucky Wildcats: By UK standard this program has not been successful in a few years. New head coach John Calipari brought in a ton of talent and it looks like Kentucky is poised to return back to the top. Look for junior Patrick Patterson to lead the way for the Wildcats this season.
   
2. Tennessee Volunteers: Basketball season use to be something that Tennessee was not known for, but that has slowly changed ever since Bruce Pearl became head coach. This squad has a virtually their entire starting lineup returning from last season's campaign that ended in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Seniors Tyler Smith, Wayne Chism, and J.P. Prince will be the main weapons for the Vols.
3. Vanderbilt Commodores: The Commodores have to be happy basketball season has returned. Vandy got somewhat robbed last season from going to the big dance despite having a solid 19-win season. Like much of the rest of the conference, Vandy has a ton of starters returning. Vanderbilt has a very experienced team and the only thing they really like is toughness in the paint. If A.J. Ogilvy can become a duel threat of both defense and offense then watch out for the Dores in March.
   
4. Florida Gators: Florida use to be the toast of the SEC but times have gradually changed. I still think Florida will notch a few big wins and sneak into the tournament. However, they're not going to be as powerful as they were just two seasons ago. The Gators have only one senior on the team and many of the players are unproven. The non-conference schedule isn't very forgiving either so look for this to be somewhat of a rebuilding year.
5. South Carolina Gamecocks: Don't look for anything special for the Gamcocks this season. They'll playing average basketball and make a respectable NIT berth. The reasoning behind that prediction is their lack of a real playmaker and the fact that the SEC won't be as easy as it was last year. Besides Georgia, every team in the SEC seems to be more improved than the Gamecocks.
6. Georgia Bulldogs: This team is still a season or two away from making a run at the big dance. The Bulldogs have a pretty tough non-conference schedule that included Georgia Tech, Illinois, Missouri, and St. John's. Then it's on to the loaded SEC East. Looks like the Dawgs are going to stay in the doghouse for a little longer.

SEC West

1. Miss. State Bulldogs: The Bulldogs fought hard last seaosn despite being a sub-par team. They made a strong push at the end of the season and came up just short. This year should be more successful for the Bulldogs. The SEC west is a little bit weaker than the SEC east so that should leave more room for success for teams like Mississippi State. The Bulldogs could easily have only one loss going into conference play. Just look at their schedule and you'll know what I mean.
2. Arkansas Razorbacks: This team probably has the most talent in the entire SEC West. The question is can they finally execute? They'll definitely improve on last season's mark of 14-16. It's not going to be a championship season, but a NCAA tournament berth is very probable.
3. Ole Miss Rebels: Unless the injury bug plagues the Rebels again, then this season will be a lot better than last season. Look for them to make a strong push for the SEC west title. There's not a player on this roster that is good enough to carry this team alone so the Rebels have to play as a solid unit and use their talent collectively. If they do that, then they'll be playing in March.
   
4. Auburn Tigers: The Tigers had a surprisingly good 2008 season, but they won't be catching anyone off guard this season. They do have a very favorable non-conference schedule before getting into SEC play. One major problem with the Tigers is they are relatively inexperienced and they'll need a fair share of production from freshmen and sophomores.
   
5. LSU Tigers: Don't hold your expectations too high for LSU this season. They lost more players than any other team in the SEC. Guys like Marcus Thornton aren't around anymore and a few newcomers are going to have to step up. It's not a good year to be rebuilding in the SEC and the Tigers will find that out quickly.
   
6. Alabama Crimson Tide: The Tide are going to wish football season was still going on when February gets here. They've got a new coach who has had some success in his career, but the challenge of teaching a whole new system to a team that's already average at best will be a tough task. Alabama will compete and they won't necessarily be a doormat. However, I see this team going nowhere fast. Maybe the NIT if they're lucky.
   

There's a New Face in the Sun Belt Conference, And You Probably Know Him

Perhaps one of the biggest coaching hires in the history of the Sun Belt Conference in any sport was made as NBA legend Isiah Thomas was hired at Florida International.

What a random coaching acquisition this is. This is by no means a knock on the Florida International basketball program, but Thomas has just went farther and farther down the ladder since his playing days ended.

Thomas has went from coaching in the NBA, to coaching a Sun Belt program. This is great for a Florida International squad that is coming off a 13-20 year, but not so sure it's great for Isiah.

Let's look at the possible scenarios: Thomas signed a five-year contract, so if Thomas turns Florida International into a Sun Belt champion over that time, then odds are FIU will work as a bridge to a better coach job.

However, anything short of a Sun Belt Championship will do nothing for Thomas because the Sun Belt Conference has little to no respect in the NCAA. Especially it's basketball programs outside of Western Kentucky.

As a student at a Sun Belt school (MTSU), I am very excited about this deal because I'll get a chance to see Isiah Thomas when he takes his team to play the Blue Raiders in Murfreesboro.

My best wishes go out to Isiah Thomas, but if Florida International continues to be just an average team in a mediocre basketball conference, then mark this chapter of his coaching career as another failure.

FIU's Season by Season Record Since 2005

2008-2009 13-20
2007-2008 9-20
2006-2007 12-17
2005-2006 8-20