NCAA CONTENDERS AND PRETENDERS

We’re only a few weeks away from the best time of the year for college basketball fans everywhere. MARCH MADNESS!! So as we complete the second half of the season and the time approaches, I wanted to look at just a few of the true contenders who I believe will be making a final four run and a few of the teams ranked high who I think are just pretenders!

Contenders

KENTUCKY – Kentucky is obviously a top contender for the National Championship. Undefeated and rarely tested, you can make an argument that this is Calipari’s most dominant team. Those teams with Demarcus Cousins, or Anthony Davis, didn’t dominate their opponents this way.  You can also make an argument that the SEC was a stronger conference at those times as well. Either way, Kentucky is 23-0 and counting and with that dominating defense they are NOT who you want to see come March.

VIRGINIA – Similar to Kentucky, Virginia has been able to  overwhelm their opponents with incredible defense. Except for a loss to Duke at home, every time Virginia has walked onto the court this year they have left victorious. Easy to do when you have multiple opponents under 50  as they have this year. They will be tested with the recent loss of Justin Anderson but they play balanced basketball and I expect it to continue.

DUKE – Led by Senior Quinn Cook and some important freshman Duke looks poised for another NCAA run. Not only do they have the best player and projected Number 1 NBA draft pick in Jahlil Okafor, but he’s surrounded by guys that can really shoot the ball. Not to mention that they have possibly the best coach ever in Coach K, who recently became the first men’s coach to win 1,000 games in his career. What better way to close out the year than by getting Duke a 5^th National Title?!

Iowa State – After losing their 2 biggest impact players from last year, many didn’t know what to expect from Iowa State this year. They’ve rebounded and are off to a 16-5 start this year and will likely be back in the top 10 when the rankings come out this week. Adding another impact transfer in Bryce Dejean-Jones, and the many talents of George Niang, the Cyclones look like a team that can go far this year. Offense is definitely not a problem they will have, but they will need to cut down on those defensive lapses.

Pretenders

Wisconsin – Now I know this sounds crazy to think that a final 4 team from last year isn’t a true contender to get back but from what I’ve seen, they don’t look as good as last year’s team. Now the starting point guard Jackson has been out with injury and that could be the cause, but they go through several stretches where they don’t look THAT team. Now there still ranked highly, but they play in a TERRIBLE conference.  Duke controlled them when they matched up early on this year and I just think if they get matched up with some athletic, quick teams they could have some trouble.

Louisville- Louisville is ranked in the top 10 again, and has looked good in several games including an improbable comeback against North Carolina a week ago.  That being said, they just don’t look like a team that will be in that Final Four mix. Harrell is a beast but he’s not the take his team to the final four by himself type of player. Guard play has been up and down for the Cardinals and maybe they improve that even further come tournament time. Great coaching can only take you so far.

Gonzaga – Ranked #2 in the country and they have a lot of people picking them to make a run this year.  And while I agree that this may be the best team Mark Few has had, I’m not sure it’s enough. Gonzaga every year is tough to judge due to their conference and though they have played a couple of good teams in the nonconference, they haven’t impressed me to the point where I feel they will contend. We see it every year, not having those weekly test and game pressures can come back to haunt you in March.

Arizona  - Now I could be dead wrong about this (and I probably will be). They have a good coach and a solid mix of youth and experience on their roster.   Over the several games I’ve watched of them, despite their talent they don’t appear to be a final four team this year.  It just appears  they are missing something needed to get to  that point. Whether it be defensive inefficiencies at times, or the inability to make shots Arizona has not shown me yet that they will be their end. I can definitely see them getting upset early.

So there’s my OPINIONS on who’s really going for it all this year and who just appears to be. Now I know there may be a few more contenders and pretenders but I wanted to keep this blog to a minimum to not bore you to death! But let’s all look forward to the rest of the year to see how the lists changes!

Arkansas Basketball Outlook 2014-2015

I’ll be honest. I’m not an Arkansas Razorbacks fan. Though I love the state, and have spent my entire life living in Arkansas I have never followed nor been a fan of the program. I’ve definitely made not so flattering remarks about the Razorbacks that some people didn’t take too kindly too. But I’m being honest and that’s all I can do! Despite all that, I will do my best to give my unbiased thoughts on the Razorbacks men’s basketball team as conference play begins.

I want to focus on a couple of different things here. First, the talent on the roster. I think we can all agree that Arkansas has an NBA 1^st round talent in Bobby Portis. I don’t love that he shoots so many jump shots or that he’s not always aggressive on the boards but he can change games with his versatility and single handedly keep the Hogs in games that they otherwise would lose. I like the calmness that Durham has brought to the point guard position. Growing up in Northeast Arkansas, I remember watching Ky Madden and he was THAT DEAL! Not sure why but it seems like he never brought that confidence with him to college. He’s made mistakes this year that a senior just cannot make! I love the toughness that Watkins has brought to the team this year, he competes on both ends as hard as any player on the team. You probably expect me to say something about Qualls right? Sorry, I just don’t love his game. It’s not very efficient, but I won’t lie, it’s been effective. He just plays a little too wild and out of control for me, but hey he makes Sportscenter!!

Another thing I want to look at is the competition in the SEC and how many teams get into the dance. I’ll go on a limb and say Kentucky gets in. But unlike a lot of the national media, I don’t see them going into the tournament unbeaten. It’s a long year and conference play is tough. They have road games @Alabama, @LSU, and @Florida that could trip them up. It’s tough to judge SEC play so early in the year but I think Arkansas can be a top 4 team in the league. I don’t have a ton of confidence in that prediction though. I think the gap between teams 2-7 in the league is slim based off of what I’ve seen so far. If Florida gets healthy I think they could make a run and get to that 2 spot. Billy Donovan is just that good of a coach.

Finals thoughts..As much as I knock Arkansas basketball, I really do want Mike Anderson to do well. He just signed an extension this week. Now I’m not sure it’s deserved or not, or if it’s one of those you’re signed until 2018 but we can fire you tomorrow if we want type of extensions, but we’ll see how it plays out. As far as Arkansas getting back to the tournament for the first time in several years, I think they have a great shot at getting in. After looking at the schedule I predict them to go 11-7 in conference, and finish the year at 23-9. They finish the year @Kentucky, @South Carolina, and home v.s. LSU. If they can avoid going 0-3 in that stretch I can see them being anywhere from an 7-10 seed in the NCAA’s. Now for once I finally give the Hogs a good prediction, hope they don’t let me down!

 -Derrick

IS THE SEC...OVERRATED??

In the wake of the New Year’s 6 bowl games we saw the SEC go 5-5 with the elite teams in the conference suffering from losses. This has started some rumblings around the College Football world that the SEC might be overrated.  While it is easy to jump to this conclusion, I assure you that it absolutely is NOT.

What makes the SEC so great isn’t the gap at the top, but the depth of the conference as a whole.  We see it every year, the top 2 teams of just about any power conference can compete and even beat the top teams in the SEC. But in every other conference (except recently the Pac-12), after those first 2 or 3 top teams, there is a DRASTIC drop in talent level. Again, it’s not the 1, 2, 3 of the SEC that makes it an elite conference; it’s the 4-8 teams that separate them from the rest.  

We can just look at this bowl season. Alabama and Miss. St. are probably considered to be the cream of the crop this year in the SEC, followed by Ole Miss and Auburn. All of these teams lost. However, the middle of the pack teams (South Carolina, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Georgia etc.) had very strong showings. It is easier for elite teams to look consistent and avoid slip-ups when their conference has 8-9 teams that are completely outmatched when they line up to play week in and week out than it is for the elite teams in the SEC to play their “mediocre” teams who are VERY CAPABLE of beating anyone in the country.  I would bet that coaches around the country would be more likely to take 7-6 Arkansas a little more seriously than they would a 7-6 Penn State or even an 8-5 Washington team.

Also, take this into consideration…

·         The Big 10 had 6 teams with 8 wins or more, the SEC and the Pac-12 both had 8 teams.

·         The Big 10 had 5 teams with a losing record, the Pac-12 had 4…the SEC had 2.

So what makes the SEC the best conference in the country? Are their top teams any better than any other conference’s top teams? No. Say it with me…

                                                                                D-E-P-T-H

-Jalynn

 

“We beat ourselves up every week” “We wanted to play in the bigger bowl games”  “ The refs just wanted to see the SEC finally lose” “SEC players are two busy thinking about the NFL”

Those are just a few of the #SECEXCUSES I’ve been hearing, seeing, and listening to the last 48 hours as the “unbeatable” SEC became very..beatable. LSU lost to an unimpressive Notre Dame team, Auburn fell short, the state of Mississippi collapsed, and the Tide didn’t appear to roll. Now I will give credit to the SEC East. They have actually looked alright in their bowl games, but I want to focus on the “vaunted”  SEC West. I actually heard people say this was the best division in the history of college football. WHAT A JOKE. Could it be that this was the most even, average division this year? What great teams are in the SEC? You can make an argument that the SEC has the 5^th best team in the nation this year at best. I would personally have Oregon, Ohio State, TCU, and Florida State (assuming they don’t have 50 fumbles) ahead of Alabama. Heck, Michigan State has 2 losses this year, both to the two teams playing for the title. Maybe that pushes the SEC to number 6. SEC fans LOVE to say “ O, well we beat each other up every week” Can the other conferences not use that same argument or is it reserved for the SEC??

To address Jalynn’s points though…

He says the ELITE SEC teams had losses. I ask, who are those ELITE teams? I see some solid teams, an entertaining team, and maybe 1 good one. But no, I see no ELITE teams in the SEC. Mississippi State? Really? He says the 4-8 teams are “what makes the conference”.  Makes them into what? Ole Miss who lost 4 of their last 6 games, and 6 regular season win South Carolina is who you’re banking on? And that’s not all!! He had the AUDACITY to mention TWO win Arkansas!! So 2 conference wins is what it takes to be “middle of the pack” in the vaunted SEC? If only other conferences were awarded that luxury! Let’s face it. The best quarterbacks are in the PAC 12, the best running backs are in the BIG 10, and the best receivers are in the BIG 12. Now the SEC still has the big boys up front but that’s neutralized when you play teams who speed up the game and tires those guys out.

Sometime we don’t get these great inter-conference matchups until the end of the year so these bowls may be all we have to judge. And if the big bad SEC doesn’t show up, then that’s on them! They can take these L’s as well as a backseat to these leagues that want to be great! With all that said, the SEC isn’t terrible and they are probably still one of the top 2 conferences (PAC 12) in the land. But they’ve done ONE thing very well…made it debatable.

-Derrick