SEC Puts 3 Teams in Omaha

It's the College World Series, but it almost resembles and SEC East baseball tourney with half the division meeting in Omaha to try and bring a 3rd straight baseball title to the SEC following LSU and South Carolina wins in 2009 and 2010. Vanderbilt has been very impressive in it's run to Omaha, but the Gamecocks and Gators have the experience of last year on their side. Virginia is #1 seed and probable favorite, but I'm expecting  Florida and South Carolina to win their brackets and make an it an all SEC affair for the title.

Other News...

Auburn now has highest paid coaching staff
Big reward for last years work. Seems like a big risk to me. It'll be interesting to see what happens in 2011.

LSU To Look at possible expansion of Tiger Stadium
More seats=even more pressure for Les if that's even possible.

SEC Basketball Review Jan 15-16

Games of the Day:
South Carolina went on the road to the O'Connell Center and got a very nice win against a good Florida team. The Gators mounted a rally after being down 10 but South Carolina and Bruce Ellington held on for a great victory.

Tennessee was down 17 and staring at an 0-3 conference record before they gathered themselves up and fought back for a much needed win. Scotty Hopson led 4 Vols in double figures and Vandy once again let a double digit lead slip away as the Vols score 47 2nd half points for the victory.

Stat I may only find interesting: 
8 teams are 2-1 through the first 3 games of SEC play.

Team who is better than I thought:
Mississippi State Bulldogs...After the embarrassing themselves in the crowd on ESPN, they have now won 2 straight and are my favorite to win the West.

Back to reality:
LSU...After struggling to a 8-7 record prior to conference play, LSU won their first 2 SEC games. They went to Rupp Saturday and were given a dose of reality getting hammered 82-44.

Player of the Weekend:
Bruce Ellington, South Carolina... 23 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assist and a steal to help South Carolina win on the road.

Midweek Games to Watch:
Tennessee vs. Georgia....Can the Vols build on it's 2nd half performance and get a win on the road against the Bulldogs?
South Carolina vs. Arkansas...Both teams battle to stay in the lead in their respective divisions. A win on the road would be huge for Arkansas, but the Gamecocks will prevail.

SEC Basketball Jan. 11-14

The Good: 
Dee Bost, MSU...Dee had 25 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals in the Bulldogs victory over Ole Miss.
Festus Ezeli, Vandy... In only 26 minutes, Festus scored 18 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had 4 blocks as Vandy knocked off Georgia.
LSU Defense.. In 2 SEC games, the Tigers have allowed 23 first half points. Their opponents are shooting 18% from the 3 point line and 37% overall.
Florida Gators..The best starting 5, best coach, and right now best team in the SEC.

The Bad:
Tennessee Vols..0-2 and facing the very real possibility of starting 0-4 in SEC play. They are making things very difficult on themselves as far as the NCAA tourney is concerned.
Auburn Tigers Backcourt.. Trio combined to go 2-21 from the field, scored 7 points with 7 assists and had 6 turnovers against Kentucky.

The Ugly:
Arkansas vs. LSU 3 pt shooting... The teams combined to go 3 for 33 from behind the arc...that's 9% for those counting at home. I didn't think that was possible in college basketball.

Games to watch this weekend:
Is LSU for real? On the road against Kentucky will go a long way toward answering the question.
Can Tennessee get a needed win? Dropping 2 in a row at home and falling to 0-3 could spell doom for tourney hopes.

5 and Counting

Congratulations to the Auburn Tigers for continuing "The Streak". That's now 5 of the 12 SEC Teams that own BCS National Championships and half of the Western Division. Who will be the teams that will have the best opportunity to continue the streak in 2011?

LSU- Had a strong 2010 and will get an opportunity to make an early statement next year against Oregon in game 1. The Tigers do have a daunting schedule and uncertainty with their coaching position, however they have a ton of returning talent and if the Jordan Jefferson that played the Cotton Bowl shows up all year, they will be in the mix all year long.

Arkansas- Despite losing Mallett, the Hogs return 10 starters on defense and 7 on offense. Tyler Wilson showed alot in his performance against Auburn and should only get better under Petrino's guidance. Petrino has the Hogs on a big upswing and the Battle for the Boot could well decide the Western Division champion.

Auburn- If Newton comes back, they are the early leader to repeat. We've seen how difficult that is with UF and Bama both returning a lot of players but unable to make it back to defend their respective titles. Malzahn coming back helps their cause as well.

Bama- They are losing a lot, but obviously Saban has recruited very well so you can never can them out. How well AJ McCarron does at starter will determine the Tide success.