Friday Tournament Preview: SEC Teams

Today, the other four SEC teams in the NCAA tournament will play their first round games. Here’s a quick preview on each of their games.

1:45PM Tennessee(5) vs. Long Beach State(12)

This game is one of today’s upset picks by the CBS analysts. And, as everyone knows, that means the upset will not happen! Just look at yesterday, when Vandy was the upset special, and summarily dismissed George Washington by the largest margin of victory for the day. Long Beach State just doesn’t have any experience playing top teams, except for a 30 point defeat to UCLA at the begining of the season. UT should be too much for the 49ers, and Chris Lofton loves the big stage. 66-55 UT.

Update:  Tennessee has scored 57 points in the first half, so my score may be off slightly… 

8:40PM Kentucky(8) vs. Villanova(9)

Although Kentucky is my second-favorite team, they just haven’t been taking care of business this year. They have shown the ability to consistently lose close games, so unless Tubby has turned around the mental toughness of this team in the past week, they don’t have what is needed down the stretch. UK has lost 6 of its last 10 games. Conversely, ‘Nova has won 7 of 10, and two of their losses have come at the hands of 2 seed Georgetown (by a total of 8 points). Sadly, I think I will be saying goodbye to the Wildcats today, which could mean a goodbye to Tubby as their coach, also. 78-74 Villanova.

8:50PM Florida(1) vs. Jackson State(16)

What to say here, Florida is one of the nation’s elite; Jackson St. is not. In Jackson St.’s only game against an SEC opponent this season, they lost by 31 points to Alabama. For an upset here, it would really take a triple dose of March Magic. Florida has rebounded from their February slump, just like last year, and is storming into the tournament. Even the second and third string Gators should handle this Tiger team. 81-58 Florida.

8:55PM Arkansas(12) vs. USC(5)

This game should be an exciting matchup. Before losing to Florida in the SEC championship, Arkansas had won 5 in a row. USC has played the top members of their conference very close all season, but has also had some surprising losses, their last one being a blowout in the Pac-10 finals to Oregon. They seem similar to a Vanderbilt, who plays to the level of their competition so often. This game is being played in Spokane, so the Pac-10 crowd should give USC a loud group of supporters. One big question in this game is whether Charles Thomas will be available for the Razorbacks. He helped lead Arkansas into the SEC title game, but wasn’t available against Florida when they fell by 21. If he isn’t playing, I see about a 10 point victory for USC, but if he is healthy enough to contribute, this could become a tournament classic game. 74-71 USC.

SEC Tourney Recap

Well, it was a tale of two teams in the SEC Tournaments. The Vandy women took care of business and won their 3rd SEC tournament championship in the past 6 years. This time was sort of a sequel from 2004 (?), and Vandy again let LSU take care of UT before using a stifling defensive performance to pull out the championship.

The men’s team however, went one and done when a three-pointer before the buzzer wouldn’t fall, and Arkansas won by one point.

After these performances, the women’s team are heading into the Big Dance with a 2 seed, while the men were given a rather generous 6. Thursday is Madness!

The Stupidity of Rocky Top

ESPN’s Page 2 posted yesterday about the favorite song of day-glo orange fans everywhere, Rocky Top. It touches on many issues facing Knoxville residents, from the cost of phone service to a new frightening trend: “date mauling.”

In the overall feeling towards Rocky Top, I have to disagree with the author though. There are few things that make me angrier than listening to this chorus blaring across a football field. Which is sad, because once upon a time I liked the song itself….. but then I went to college. In the SEC. And not in Knoxville.

For my personal “worst sound ever,” it comes down to a close race between Rocky Top, the “Go Gator” intro played by the Florida band, and a slowly dying cat with a wad of bubble gum stuck in its throat clawing on a chalkboard.

Fulmer may play in Saturday’s Game

After impressing the other coaches in a recent practice (as shown above), Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer is currently deciding whether or not to play himself in this Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt. It has not been since the very early days of college football that the coaching staff was actually made up of players.

Said Fulmer, “I’m not too confident in my defense being able to keep up with (Chris) Nickson and (Earl) Bennett. I have contacted (Vanderbilt’s coach) Bobby Johnson to see if he would be opposed to my playing in this game, and also to ask if their players would be willing to rub fried chicken on their jerseys before the game. It helps me with my motivation.”

Thanks to EDSBS for posting this picture.