Tennessee

I'll admit it - I'm biased toward the SEC. I grew up rooting for Florida, thanks to my Dad, who is a Gator alum. I myself went to UK, and I have friends who attended Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee, Alabama, Vanderbilt and South Carolina. It's been embedded into me my entire life that the SEC is simply the greatest conference in the country, and no one else measures up.

That's why it's so painful for me to admit that maybe, just maybe, if I take a step back and look objectively, if I just allow myself to say it, if I want to be truthful....

Finally, a weekend where college hoops won't have to share the spotlight with college football...outside of the Heisman ceremony Saturday night anyways. Football is still on everyone's minds, but in between your BCS bashing (I hear you Texas fans) this weekend, here's a few hoops games that deserve your attention.

 

Saturday, Dec. 13

12 p.m. ESPN #8 Tennessee at Temple

Nick Calathes (Florida)

Devan Downey (South Carolina)

Jodie Meeks (Kentucky)

AJ Ogilvy (Vanderbilt)

Patrick Patterson (Kentucky)

Tyler Smith (Tennessee)

Other (Marcus Thornton, Chris Warren, etc)

Unless you've had absolutely no access to any form of media (TV, radio, internet, newspaper, etc.), you know that yesterday's installment of the BCS standings placed Oklahoma ahead of Texas. With those two being tied along with Texas Tech atop the Big 12 South with 7-1 records that was the determining factor in sending the Sooners to take on Missouri in the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday. But wait: didn't Texas beat Oklahoma 45-35 back on Ocotber 11th? Yes they did, so when you take that into consideration you may wonder what's up with the BCS and the Big 12's tiebreaker system.

Georgetown

Gonzaga

Michigan State

Tennessee

Other (Maryland, Oklahoma St, Siena, Wichita St)

With a plethora of talented players no longer in the league (Marreese Speights, Joe Crawford, Chris Lofton, Shan Foster, Richard Hendrix, Anthony Randolph), some new talented players to get excited about (Scotty Hopson, JaMychal Green, Darius Miller), some familiar faces returning to action (Ronald Steele, Tasmin Mitchell) and two fresh faces on the sidelines (Trent Johnson and Darrin Horn), the SEC is going to be mighty interesting this season.

SEC Player Grades

 

The Story: Tennessee freshman point guard Daniel West has been ruled academically ineligible for this season. He had not practiced with the team since workouts began on October 17 due to his eligibility clearance issue. Coach Bruce Pearl insisted that West had done well in summer courses and that he did not expect this problem to arise. "The frustration is he passed many checks and balances and was in summer school and did very well," Pearl said.