Charleston

Poll: Who Will Win the Southern Conference?

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:07:14 -0400

Charleston Basketball Preview: #97

Joel Welser — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:13:45 -0400

Overall Rank: #97

Conference Rank: #1 Southern Conference

2008-09: 27-9, 15-5

2008-09 postseason: CBI

Coach: Bobby Cremins (65-37 at College of Charleston, 519-344 overall)

College of Charleston’s impressive 2008-2009 campaign was often overshadowed by the success and hype that surrounded Davidson. But it was the Cougars who knocked Davidson out of the Southern Conference Tournament and ended up with an impressive 27 win total on the year. The Cougars ended up in the CBI, which may not be exactly where they wanted to be, but at least it prepared the team for bigger post season aspirations that could happen this season.

Key Losses: G Marcus Hammond, F Jermaine Johnson, F Dustin Scott

Key Newcomers:

The graduation of Jermaine Johnson and Dustin Scott will cause some problems in the frontcourt, but Coach Bobby Cremins has a few options coming in that can at least help fill the void. Most notable is Florida State transfer Casaan Breeden, who will be eligible to play at the end of the first semester. Breeden never found much playing time with the Seminoles, but he is a good athlete who could step right into a starting role once he is eligible. Incoming freshmen Willis Hall and Rashad Wright will also be given the opportunity to contribute in the paint. Depth at guard may become an issue as well and Andrew Lawrence is the lone newcomer on the perimeter.

Backcourt:

But the backcourt has plenty of returning weapons. Andrew Goudelock led the team with 16.7 points per game last year and the 6-1 junior will score in just about every way imaginable. Donavan Monroe was the team’s super sixth man last year, but he could move into the starting lineup if Coach Cremins wants to, or more likely has to, play small. Monroe averaged 8.7 points per game without making a single start during his sophomore campaign. Even if he does start, Monroe may not get the ball too much since the Cougars have a point guard who can score too. Tony White Jr. averaged 12.0 points per game last year and is a dynamic scorer and passer who can hit the long ball consistently and get to the basket.

Frontcourt:

Without Johnson and Scott, much of the production from the frontcourt will have to come from the newcomers and Jeremy Simmons. The 6-8 junior has been waiting behind Johnson and Scott for his opportunity to start, but even coming in off the bench he has been quite productive. Averaging just over 20 minutes per game last year, he managed to score 6.8 points and grab 5.1 rebounds per contest. If he emerges as the team’s scoring option under the basket, he should be able to average ten points and seven rebounds per game. Matt Sundberg was not needed much during his freshman season, but he had a few decent moments and will be asked to play a bigger role off the bench as a sophomore.

Who to Watch:

The versatility of Antwaine Wiggins will give Coach Cremins some options. The 6-7 forward played at the three spot last year and averaged 8.3 points and 3.9 rebounds. With his size he can play some minutes at power forward and he will likely be needed to do that during the 2009-2010 campaign, especially early in the year while Breeden is on the sidelines. In most situations the Cougars will want Wiggins playing small forward or they will get hurt on the glass, but Wiggins is not that bad of a rebounder. No matter where he plays Wiggins is a solid athlete who can hit the long ball or use his speed to beat the opposition to the basket.

Final Projection:

The presumed decline of Davidson is leaving the door wide open for other teams in the Southern Conference. Teams like Wofford and The Citadel are capable of winning the league, but the College of Charleston has an experienced team with an experienced coach and as long as they can find some production from the frontcourt, the Cougars will be difficult to stop.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NCAA

Projected Starting Five:

Tony White Jr., Senior, Guard, 12.0 points per game

Andrew Goudelock, Junior, Guard, 16.7 points per game

Donavan Monroe, Junior, Guard, 8.7 points per game

Antwaine Wiggins, Junior, Forward, 8.3 points per game

Jeremy Simmons, Junior, Forward, 6.8 points per game

College Basketball Preview - 144 Teams in 144 Days - Preview Interviews

Southern Conference Tournament: Preview

Evan Dorey — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:07:15 -0500

This is one in a series of conference tournament previews, in which I run down all the teams involved, give a brief statistical review and present the log5 projections, using in-conference offensive and defensive efficiency. The basic log5 methodology comes from Bill James, and this is an area Ken Pomeroy has looked at in the past as well. I claim nothing new in the application, but obviously with slightly different methodologies, these numbers may differ from others you find. I don’t claim to be an expert on any particular conference, and I’m sure there are some mis-characterizations on some players I’ve seen sparingly at best, so please add your thoughts in the comments. Anyway, with no further ado, the preview follows below:

Southern Conference

The SoCon Tournament is in Chattanooga, TN, and uses a divisional system, with the top 4 teams getting first round byes.

#	Team	QF	SF	F	W
N1	Chattanooga	100.00%	65.87%	29.27%	5.08%
S1	Davidson	100.00%	94.62%	85.70%	74.62%
N2	Western Carolina	100.00%	35.38%	2.77%	0.82%
S2	The Citadel	100.00%	72.60%	47.43%	11.19%
N3	Samford	87.80%	26.70%	12.18%	1.64%
S3	College of Charleston	88.06%	61.74%	9.30%	4.57%
N4	Appalachian St.	77.37%	4.94%	2.07%	0.68%
S4	Wofford	76.38%	30.16%	10.46%	1.34%
N5	Elon	23.62%	3.97%	0.58%	0.03%
S5	Georgia Southern	22.63%	0.44%	0.08%	0.01%
N6	NC Greensboro	11.94%	2.88%	0.09%	0.01%
S6	Furman	12.20%	0.70%	0.08%	0.00%

Between Davidson, Charleston and The Citadel, the South division should dominate the tournament, with the hosts Chattanooga a having a decent shot to make the final, but not looking good against the dominant favorites.

North #1 – Chattanooga Mocs (15-16, 11-9) ; Efficiency Margin: +0.028

Last NCAA Tournament bid: 2005 (1^st Round)

The Mocs may be North Division champions, but that’s more about the strength of the South than a ringing endorsement of their play, as Chattanooga has just barely been better than a .500 team. They put up a lot of threes, but make a fairly poor percentage, and are excellent at getting to the free throw line, where they shoot just 65%, adding up to a lot of wasted chances. Chattanooga has struggled to stop the three-point shot, allowing opponents to hit 38% of attempts, and their defensive style means more than 45% of opponents’ shots come from behind the arc, more than any other team in the country. It doesn’t take much statistics knowledge to realize how damaging that is. The saving grace for the Mocs’ defense is that they force turnovers and do well on the defensive glass, but they are still only an average team at best.

Players to watch:

5-11 SR Stephen McDowell, 18.3 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 58.9 eFG% - McDowell is the conference’s top scorer not named Curry, powered by his 42% three-point shooting on nearly 300 attempts. He doesn’t tend to do much else besides score, but when you’re this good a scorer, that’s more than enough.

6-7 SR Nicchaeus Doaks, 14.3 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 1.1 BPG, 53.6 eFG% - Doaks leads the conference in rebounds, and is a 57% shooter from inside the arc. He’s excellent at getting to the free throw line, but shoots just 63% there.

South #1 – Davidson Wildcats (25-6, 18-2) ; Efficiency Margin: +0.232

Last NCAA Tournament bid: 2008 (Elite Eight)

While the Wildcats’ hopes for an NCAA at-large bid basically disappeared with a two-week period that saw them drop three games, including both their conference losses, they are still heavy favorites to win the conference tournament, and clearly the SoCon’s dominant team. While the Davidson offense gets a lot of focus because of Stephen Curry, the team’s major asset is its defense, the best in the conference by a wide, wide margin. It holds opponents under 40% from the field, and forces a lot of turnovers, in the top 25 in the nation in both areas. If it has a defensive weakness, it’s a tendency to commit a few too many fouls. Offensively, the Wildcats’ shooting percentages aren’t particularly good, but their turnover rate is one of the country’s lowest.

Players to watch:

6-3 JR Stephen Curry, 28.4 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 5.8 APG, 2.6 SPG, 55.1 eFG% - You might have heard of this Curry fellow, as he only happens to be the nation’s leading scorer. He also leads the conference in both assists and steals, and is among the national elite in both of those categories. The amazing thing about Curry is how he manages to stay so efficient when he gets so many possessions; a lot of players have shot as well as he has, percentage-wise, but only Curry can maintain that level over nearly 40% of his team’s shots. He may not get enough credit as a ball distributor, as he has a great assist rate with very few turnovers.

6-8 SR Andrew Lovedale, 12.5 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 1.5 BPG, 51.4 eFG% - Lovedale is a quality defensive player, and important to Davidson’s strong play at that end of the floor; he leads the team in rebounding and shot-blocks, and is an important influence inside. He’s not a huge scorer, but he doesn’t need to be: he takes his chances pretty well when he gets them.

North #2 – Western Carolina Catamounts (16-14, 11-9) ; Efficiency Margin: -0.012

Last NCAA Tournament bid: 1996 (1^st Round)

I promise to stop harping on it, but it’s a little unfair to the South division that the North #2 is has actually been outscored in conference play, yet still earns a first round bye. The Catamounts have allowed the highest opponent FG% in the conference, including 53% on two-point attempts, and commit more than 21 fouls a game, but actually have a league average defense. This is due to good rebounding and the best rate of forcing turnovers in the SoCon. Western Carolina is also an average shooting team, but thanks to its ability on the offensive glass, gets a lot of second-chance opportunities.

Players to watch:

6-4 FR Harouna Mutombo, 14.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.9 SPG, 51.3 eFG% - A talented freshman out of Pickering HS, not too far from where I call home, Mutombo has led the Catamounts in rebounding and scoring, and has put up a very good shooting percentage, well over 50% from two-point range.

6-2 JR Brigham Waginger, 8.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 3.4 APG, 2.5 SPG, 50.2 eFG% - Waginger isn’t much of a scorer, but shoots the ball pretty well, with most of his attempts coming from three, and has one of the nation’s best steal rates.

South #2 – The Citadel Bulldogs (20-11, 15-5) ; Efficiency Margin: +0.094

Last NCAA Tournament bid: None

While much of the talk about the SoCon has focused solely on Davidson, one of the great stories in college basketball this season managed to gain some well-deserved attention when the Citadel beat Davidson in mid-February. This was the highlight of a run that saw the Bulldogs go 11-1 over the last month or so of the season, and the first time that the team had reached 20 wins in thirty years. If any team has a chance of stopping the Curry show from making a stop at the NCAA tournament, this looks like it. The Citadel has depended on a dynamite defense, the only non-Davidson unit to hold opponents below a point per possession on the year. It managed this with tough perimeter defending, allowing just 39% on opponent three-point attempts, and good defensive rebounding. The Citadel’s offense is only at the league average, but it’s a solid shooting team that doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, good enough to carry them through a defensively deficient league.

Players to watch:

6-8 SR Demetrius Nelson, 16.1 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 59.3 eFG% - The team’s leader in both points and rebounds, Nelson has been one of the best players in the conference this year, hitting nearly 60% of his shots and getting to the free-throw line quite often, where he makes 76% of attempts.

6-1 SO Cameron Wells, 15.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.4 SPG, 49.0 eFG% - Wells is nowhere as efficient a player as Nelson, but he’s a good scorer who leads the team in assists and steals.

North #3 – Samford Bulldogs (14-15, 9-11) ; Efficiency Margin: +0.024

Last NCAA Tournament bid: 2000 (1^st Round)

Samford’s overall record is a little misleading, they’ve been an .500 team in efficiency margin, though they don’t have the wins to show for it. The Bulldogs run one of the country’s slowest offenses, and take 50% of their field goal attempts from behind the arc. This has helped their inside play somewhat, as they are among the best two-point shooting teams in the country, but they’ve struggled with offensive rebounding and turnovers. Samford is also poor at defensive rebounding, and is vulnerable to opponents inside, but forces a lot of turnovers, rarely fouls and gets teams it plays to shoot a lot of threes.

Players to watch:

6-4 JR Trey Montgomery, 11.2 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.4 SPG, 57.3 eFG% - Montgomery is a do-everything player who leads the team in four separate categories, including rebounds and assists. A lot of this is due to the fact that Samford has tended to spread out its possessions and playing time, as his rates aren’t great, but he plays a lot. He’s a good shooter who scores mostly inside, and has a good complimentary long-distance shot.

6-4 FR Josh Davis, 10.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 61.9 eFG% - Davis is a three-point specialist, and he does an awfully good job of it, hitting 40% of his attempts and leading the conference in eFG%. He’s averaged 15 points a game in his last eight contests.

South #3 – College of Charleston Cougars (23-7, 15-5) ; Efficiency Margin: +0.067

Last NCAA Tournament bid: 1999 (1^st Round)

The Cougars are the fourth favorite for the tournament title, and twice fought Davidson down to the final possession, including causing the Wildcats’ first conference loss in early February. They feature the conference’s best offense, hitting shots well inside and outside, and rarely giving up the ball. Charleston’s defense has only been average, and its weak spot has been rebounding, as opponents have managed to get back a lot of their own misses. With the Cougars forcing few turnovers, this has meant a lot of chances for opposing teams to score.

Players to watch:

6-1 SO Andrew Goudelock, 16.9 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 56.3 eFG% - Goudelock is the conference’s best free throw shooter at 89%, and is also pretty good from behind the arc, where he earns a lot of points.

6-8 SR Dustin Scott, 9.7 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 1.4 SPG, 1.4 BPG, 55.5 eFG% - Scott’s best contributions come on the defensive end, where he leads the Cougars in both steals and blocks. He’s a very good percentage shooter, but doesn’t take a lot of shots, and he’s faced a lot of foul trouble in recent games, fouling out in 4 of his last 8.

North #4 – Appalachian St. Mountaineers (12-17, 9-11) ; Efficiency Margin: +0.002

Last NCAA Tournament bid: 2000 (1^st Round)

The Mountaineers just barely finished with a positive efficiency margin, and featured a pretty solid conference offense. They are the best pure shooters in the SoCon, leading the league in free throw and three-point percentage, and get back a lot of the shots they do miss. They need to maximize these chances, as they generally lose out in the turnover battle by a wide margin, the worst in the conference in both forcing and committing them. The problem that Appalachian St. has had is that its opponents make a lot of shots, and while it is as good on the defensive glass as the offensive glass, it doesn’t force enough misses to really take advantage.

Players to watch:

6-1 JR Kellen Brand, 15.0 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 57.7 eFG% - Brand is one of a pair of quality long-distance threats, shooting over 40% from behind the arc, but his contributions in the other parts of the boxscore are fairly limited.

6-10 SO Issac Butts, 8.7 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 1.1 BPG, 58.9 eFG% - Butts doesn’t have a huge role in the offense, but he’s pretty much what you want out of a big guy, a high percentage scorer who dominates the boards. He hasn’t played that much in recent weeks, but has had some big games, including 12-and-10 against Chattanooga.

South #4 – Wofford Terriers (16-13, 12-8) ; Efficiency Margin: +0.019

Last NCAA Tournament bid: None

Wofford is the last of the teams in the top 8 of the conference; after it, there is a large drop-off to the teams in the league basement. It’s had a pretty good offensive showing, making a fair number of its threes, avoiding turnovers, and doing well on the offensive glass. The Terriers’ problem has been defensive, especially from behind the arc, where opponents have shot 39%.

Players to watch:

6-6 SO Noah Dahlman, 17.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 61.1 eFG% - Dahlman is one of the SoCon’s most efficient players, as he does a lot of things really well, an over 60% shooter who is an excellent offensive rebounder and has committed just 37 turnovers all season.

6-2 JR Junior Salters, 15.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 54.4 eFG% - Salters is a good three-point shooter who has seen his scoring numbers drop over the month of February, and will need to find some form if Wofford is to make any noise in the tourney.

North #5 – Elon Phoenix (10-19, 7-13) ; Efficiency Margin: -0.083

Last NCAA Tournament bid: None

All of the teams from here and below have averaged less than a point-per-possession offensively, and all are underdogs in their opening round games. Elon is the best of these teams, as it has an above-average defense, holding opponents to a fairly low percentage from behind the arc and forcing a lot of turnovers. The Phoenix have needed this defense to be good, as they’ve had the conference’s second worst offense, shooting just 43% from the field and not being able to get their misses back very often, resulting in a lot of one-and-done possessions.

Players to watch:

6-8 SR Ola Atoyebi, 14.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 57.3 eFG% - Atoyebi leads the Phoenix in both points and rebounds, and is an is an excellent shooter who takes a large role in the offense.

6-5 SR Brett James, 13.1 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 1.5 BPG, 46.4 eFG% - James is an impressive defensive player, leading the team in both blocks and steals, but his relatively poor shooting, including just 30% on three-pointers, holds back his offensive game.

South #5 – Georgia Southern Eagles (8-21, 5-15) ; Efficiency Margin: -0.108

Last NCAA Tournament bid: 1992 (1^st Round)

Georgia Southern seemed to be going pretty well when it was 5-4 in conference in the final week of January, but totally lost its way from then on, losing 11 straight games to finish just one game out of a tie for last place. The Eagles have fallen this far because of their conference-worst defense, which has been one of the country’s worst in several areas, allowing opponents to shoot 38% on threes and 52% on twos, and getting very few defensive rebounds. Their offense has been better, but still not particularly good, below average in pretty much every statistical category.

Players to watch:

5-10 FR Ben Drayton, 11.7 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 57.0 eFG% - Drayton has been an excellent three-point shooter, over 50% from behind the arc, and while he hasn’t taken a huge number of them, he’s made enough to raise his efficiency. Drayton’s scoring average is somewhat dampened by his start, in which he played little; in the last month he’s averaged more than 17 points a game.

6-2 JR Antonio Hanson, 11.9 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 53.2 eFG% - Hanson hasn’t shot as good a percentage as Drayson, but he’s taken more threes than anyone else on the team, and made nearly 40% of them. His only real contribution is with his shot, so when he can’t get it to fall, he’s pretty much invisible statistically.

North #6 – NC Greensboro Spartans (5-24, 4-16) ; Efficiency Margin: -0.114

Last NCAA Tournament bid: 2001 (1^st Round)

Only Georgia Southern has defended worse than the Spartans in the SoCon this year, despite the fact that Greensboro has been better than average at defending shots. The problem for Greensboro has been limiting the number of chances its opponents get; it rarely gets opponents to turn the ball over, and picks up relatively few of its opponents’ misses. The Spartans have also struggled on the offensive side of the ball, sitting second to last in the conference in shooting on both three-pointers and two-pointers.

Players to watch:

6-5 JR Ben Stywall, 11.3 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 1.2 SPG, 52.5 eFG% - Stywall is one of the SoCon’s better rebounders, and is pretty efficient on the offensive end, shooting 52% from the field and getting to the free throw line a lot. His 59% shooting at the stripe is a drop-off from previous seasons and an area he needs to improve.

6-4 JR Mikko Koivisto, 12.5 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 2.4 APG, 50.5 eFG% - The Vantaa, Finland native is the only major three-point shooting threat on the Spartans, and the team’s leading scorer, though he tends to be inconsistent.

South #6 – Furman Paladins (6-23, 4-16) ; Efficiency Margin: -0.146

Last NCAA Tournament bid: 1980 (1^st Round)

Furman is the weakest team in the Southern Conference, with two of its six wins on the season coming against non-D1 opponents. It is the conference’s worst shooting team, barely managing to crack 40% from the field, and is one of the SoCon’s worst teams at committing turnovers. Defensively, they’ve been pretty weak inside, and while they’ve done a decent job of forcing turnovers, they just haven’t been good enough to cover for their offensive woes.

Players to watch:

6-2 SO Jordan Miller, 13.7 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 1.4 SPG, 42.0 eFG% - Miller takes a lot of the Paladins’ shots, and is the team’s leading scorer, but his percentages are weak, especially his sub-40% two-point shooting.

6-5 SO Bryson Barnes, 8.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 1.1 BPG, 48.5 eFG% - Barnes has only started 10 games, but leads the team in both rebounding and shot-blocks, and is a decent inside scorer. He’s increased his role in recent games, averaging 12 points in his last six games.

My statistical all-Southern team:

Davidson JR G Stephen Curry, 28.4 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 5.8 APG, 2.6 SPG, 55.1 eFG%

Chattanooga SR G Stephen McDowell, 18.3 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 58.9 eFG%

The Citadel SO G Cameron Wells, 15.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.4 SPG, 49.0 eFG%

Wofford SO F Noah Dahlman, 17.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 61.1 eFG%

The Citadel SR F/C Demetrius Nelson, 16.1 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 59.3 eFG%

SoCo Awards: Curry Player of the Year & More

Press Release — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:19:30 -0500

2008-09 All-Conference
Kellen Brand, Appalachian State
Stephen Curry, Davidson
Noah Dahlman, Wofford
Nicchaeus Doaks, Chattanooga
Andrew Goudelock, College of Charleston
Andrew Lovedale, Davidson
Stephen McDowell, Chattanooga
Harouna Mutombo, Western Carolina
Demetrius Nelson, The Citadel
Cameron Wells, The Citadel

All-Freshman Team
John Brown, The Citadel
Ben Drayton III, Georgia Southern
Damian Eargle, UNC Greensboro
Harouna Mutombo, Western Carolina
Brad Loesing, Wofford

Freshman of the Year
Harouna Mutombo, Western Carolina

Defensive Player of the Year
Max Paulhus Gosselin, Davidson

Player of the Year
Stephen Curry, Davidson

Coach of the Year
Ed Conroy, The Citadel

- The league’s men’s basketball coaches voted on the All-Conference and All-Freshmen teams.

College Basketball: 5 Things We Learned This Week

Kevin McNeill — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 22:34:57 -0500

Kevin McNeill's weekly 5 Things column breaks down what's important in the world of college basketball.

This week, we learned that...

1) Butler is not exactly rebuilding

After Butler lost four starters from last year’s 30-win campaign, including Horizon League player of the year Mike Green, AJ Graves, and Drew Streicher, the Bulldogs were projected in the preseason to finish a lowly fifth in the League. Butler was supposed to be starting a rebuilding project, involving a core of talented but underdeveloped freshmen that would be a least a year away from returning to the postseason.

Instead, they are right where they left off after last year. They are 10-1 for the third consecutive season, and nationally ranked after an upset of # 12 Xavier in Cincinnati.

A team that starts three freshmen and a sophomore has showed remarkable grit under pressure. After Xavier’s Derrick Brown nailed a three to bring the Musketeers back to within three points with less than four minutes remaining, Butler held Xavier to just one field goal for the rest of regulation and calmly made 11 of 12 free throws down the stretch to put the game away.

Freshman Gordon Hayward has been outstanding so far, scoring 25 points against Ohio State (and barely missing an off-balance three at the buzzer that would have tied the game) and putting up 19 on Xavier. Fellow freshman Shelvin Mack has shown consistent improvement, and is currently seventh in the Horizon in assists, and twelfth in scoring. He’s also hit his last 19 free throws. Finally, Matt Howard, the lone returning starter from last season, is not letting up his aggressive play, pulling down no less than nine offensive rebounds against Xavier.

This is all a tremendous credit to head coach Brad Stevens, the second year coach who replaced Todd Lickliter, after he left for Iowa. The 32 year old prodigy and former Butler assistant is just eight years removed from being a marketing assistant for Eli Lilly and Company before deciding that he’d rather make a career in basketball.

He now has 40 wins in his first 45 games as head coach; with a young team that no one thought would be within shouting distance of respectability this year. Should this hold up, if he’s not a coach of the year finalist at the end of the season, then something is seriously wrong.

2) The Big East is still the nation’s strongest conference, and one of the strongest ever

The Big East in all likelihood will put 10 teams into the NCAA Tournament in March, possibly even 11. The record for most teams any conference has sent to the Dance is eight, set by … the Big East - twice – in 2006 and again last season.

The Conference currently has four teams in the Top 10, eight teams in the latest coaches poll, and seven in the AP - with West Virginia knocking at the door with their walloping of Ohio State Saturday in Columbus.

To be sure, there are clear vulnerabilities. UConn was completely listless at home against Georgetown Monday, getting outhustled on almost every possession. Pitt still has much to prove after its ugly win over Florida State, the first of three road games culminating with a huge showdown at Georgetown. In fact, it’s hard to imagine any Big East team beating North Carolina right now. But overall, there are at least nine teams (UConn, Pitt, Georgetown, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Louisville, Marquette, Villanova, and West Virginia), particularly the Hoyas, that appear to be a legit threat to be an Elite Eight team or better, and, barring injury, will only improve as they beat up on each over the next couple of months.

3) Some disappointing BCS teams aren’t NIT bound just yet

After some particularly ugly losses recently, there has been plenty of talk in local media outlets of several bubble teams from major conferences a year ago already seeing their bubble burst this season.

First, it is important to keep in mind that the NCAA Selection Committee of late has put a lot of emphasis on how teams play during the final ten games of the regular season. Strength of schedule has also played a large factor, to the detriment of many upstart mid-major programs that have no control over the quality of teams in their conference, but to the benefit of teams in the Big 6.

Second, just like last year, many mid-major conferences will likely only send only one or two teams to the NCAA Tournament, leaving more at large berths for the Big 6. For example, the Missouri Valley Conference could once again be a one-bid league. The Mountain West could get as few as two teams in, ditto the A-10, C-USA and the WCC. The Sun Belt will be almost assured to send only one representative to the Big Dance, even though South Alabama received a surprise at-large berth last season.

All this means that programs such as Virginia Tech, Washington State, USC, Iowa, even Seton Hall (with losses to IUPUI and James Madison) are not out of contention for an at-large berth yet, and don’t even need a miracle to get there. Seton Hall for example will begin a stretch Tuesday at Syracuse that will see them play six out of their next seven games against ranked opponents, three of them on the road. Virginia Tech will close the season with home and aways with Florida State, on the road against Clemson and home games against Duke and UNC. Both teams will have a strong strength of schedule rating at season’s end, and corresponding RPI, which means just a high quality win or two could propel them to the NCAA Tournament, even with a .500 conference record or worse.

Of course a few upsets in conference tournaments, Butler losing the Horizon championship for example, would make this all moot. But for now, fans of mediocre major conference programs still have plenty to root for.

4) The next Hampton or Coppin State could be lurking

Portland State made a respectable showing Monday after stumbling out of the gate against Baylor in Waco, and has proven they can be dangerous after beating a Gonzaga team that was clearly overlooking them last week.

The Niagara Purple Eagles have won four straight road games, including victories over South Florida and St. Bonaventure. In addition, although the Wildcats were admittedly injured and tired after playing three games in six days, Niagara still played Villanova very tight throughout the game on their own court in November.

Bobby Cremins not only notched his 500^th career win this season, but has his College of Charleston Cougars looking like they may return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in ten seasons. The Cougars, out of the Southern Conference, have already handed South Carolina their only loss of the season and played Davidson to the wire Monday in front of a sold-out crowd, roaring back to within 2 from 12 down with under four minutes to play only to falter at the end.

Sporting a pair of up-and-coming sophomores, Andrew Goudelock and Antwaine Wiggins (who hit the game-winner against Winthrop), and senior leaders down low in Jermaine Johnson and Dustin Scott, the Cougars are looking like the high seed no one will want to play come March.

5) Its the most wonderful time of the year, except for college basketball

The holiday season is a time to get together with family and friends, eat too much, enjoy some eggnog and, for sports fans, to enjoy some quality college hoops. Like Minnesota beating up on High Point, Missouri eking out a 50 point win over SIU Edwardsville, and Marquette hammering Presbyterian (who has been cashing in on the guaranteed money this year, already playing Duke, Georgia, Clemson, and South Carolina).

In fact, since last week’s column, the only matchup of nationally ranked teams came in Monday’s Big East showdown between UConn and Georgetown. Just about every other ranked team has feasted on holiday cupcakes.

But better times are ahead. There’s the Michigan State–Minnesota matchup on Wednesday, followed by Villanova-Marquette on New Year’s Day. There’s also a great day on tap for Saturday with Pitt-Georgetown, Ohio State-Minnesota, Tennessee-Kansas and BYU-Wake Forest.

College Basketball: Week in Review

Rob Carpentier — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:33:21 -0500

Rob Carpentier's "Seven Day Stretch" is a whirlwind tour around every corner of college basketball nation:

Seven Day Savior (Team): Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Sooners have started the season 6-0 and although four of those wins have been against inferior competition, two of the wins have come against a very good Davidson team and a Purdue squad that will be one of the favorites to win the Big 10 (despite the Duke loss). Star forward Blake Griffin is averaging 19.2…REBOUNDS per game. That’s astonishing regardless of whom the Sooners have played. Oh, by the way, he’s scoring at a 25.7 per game clip. Against Purdue, Griffin “only” scored 18 points, but he hauled in 21 boards. It’s not just Griffin, though. Blake’s brother Taylor and super-frosh Willie Warren are both scoring in double figures. It’s early, but Jeff Capel is starting to look like the most successful Coach K protégé out there. The Sooners have a couple of tough contests this week, with USC coming to town for the Big 12/Pac 10 Harwood Series and then having to travel to take on a tough Tulsa squad. Win those two games and the Sooners will probably be a top five team.

Seven Day Savior (Player): David Holston

Senior David Holston, Chicago State Cougars. CSU hasn’t shocked anyone, but they did play Marquette tough and beat Central Michigan. This is big for a school that has no winning tradition whatsoever. The Cougars sit at 3-3 and although they won’t get an NCAA bid, (they’re an independent after spending years in the Mid Continent Conference), they are much better than in the past. The biggest reason why is the 5’8” Holston. He is second in Division 1 scoring at 25.7 PPG, and even that doesn’t tell the whole story. He has scored in the 30’s four times, including a 33 point effort at Marquette, and has already attempted 70 three point shots. The fact that he’s hitting on 4% of those shots helps, but he is also an unselfish player, averaging almost 6 assists per game. He’ll have a couple more shots at getting on the highlight shows this season as the Cougars still play at Illinois and at Kansas State.

Game of the Week (The one you DON’T know about): ASU vs Nebraska

Since there are no “big” mid-major conference games this week, let’s look at one of the intersectional games between two BCS schools. Arizona State is supposed to be one of the teams that should give UCLA a serious run for the Pac 10 crown, while Nebraska has started the year at 5-0 including a big win against Creighton this past weekend. Both schools should be in the mix for a bid to the Big Dance in March and winning this game will go a long way to getting one of those programs to go “dancing”. It will be an interesting match-up as Nebraska has relied very much on its defense to start the season, (no team has scored more than 57 on the Huskers this year), while ASU has one of the best individual offensive players in the country in sophomore James Harden. Both teams like to slow it down a bit and run very structured offenses. While games like UNC/MSU may get the bulk of the media coverage, its games like this that are often more intriguing and more entertaining.

Seven Days Under the Radar: Charleston

VMI defeated Kentucky in Lexington and Western Kentucky beat Louisville, (but was crushed earlier by Murray State), but the team that really should be raising eyebrows if you’ve been paying attention has been the College Of Charleston. They’ve started the year 5-1 and the one loss was a squeaker at Temple, (who should be pretty good this year), and they just defeated South Carolina. With all due respect to Davidson head coach Bob McKillop, the only current Southern Conference coach to get to a Final Four is Charleston’s Bobby Cremins. Granted, that was with Georgia Tech, but Cremins knows what he is doing. The Cougars play the same pressure defense that Cremins made famous during his days in Atlanta, and they rebound very well, (they essentially played the Gamecocks to a draw on the boards). It’s a young team, (only two seniors), but they play with a lot of confidence. Sophomore guard Andrew Goudelock is the go-to guy for the Cougars. But he isn’t it; Charleston has five players at least 6’7” tall, which is a lot for a mid-major program, and they are very athletic. Junior guard Tony White, Jr. is a defensive wiz, utilizing his quickness to harass opposing guards. Perhaps most importantly, Charleston takes care of the ball. As a team, they average only 11.7 turnovers per game. That means that Charleston doesn’t give up big runs to opponents. Circle December 29; Davidson comes to Charleston in what may be the first of three meetings this season. If Charleston wins, they won’t be under the radar anymore.

Seven Days on the Hot Seat: Billy Gillispie

Billy Gillispie is in trouble. His Kentucky team has rattled off five straight wins, including wins over Kansas State and West Virginia. Those wins were just in time, too. That’s because the Wildcats lost at home to VMI, (much like last season’s home loss to Gardner-Webb), and then got hammered at North Carolina 77-58, a score line that was in now way indicative of how thorough the beating was that Kentucky took. The natives are restless in Lexington and Gillispie will need a big season from here on out to defuse the perception that he is vastly underachieving. Gillispie’s offense has been suspect and he has yet to fully get his players to completely buy into his defensive concepts. The Cats still get Miami (Fla.), and Louisville out of conference so the sour taste of the VMI loss still can be purged, but Heaven forbid that Kentucky losses to Indiana…then Gillispie’s backside will really get warm.

Seven Days of Head Scratching: Kelvin Sampson

The NCAA finally came down with its ruling in the investigation of Kelvin Sampson and Indiana. Sampson, by all accounts, was justifiably hammered. He essentially won’t be able to coach in the college ranks for the next 5 years as he has been placed on a show-cause restriction, meaning that any college that wants to hire him has to show cause as to why. Okay, I think most people feel that’s a justified penalty, (one of the harshest that the NCAA can levy against an individual), as Sampson, basically, was stupid. I want even get into the “slime” factor. The head scratcher, though, is the fact that Indiana got off with three years of probation. No post-season ban, no loss of television. Normally this would be fine as Sampson was the real culprit here, as well as members of his staff. But it was shown that Indiana had some knowledge of his wrongdoing and didn’t jump to correct it. That’s an oversight issue and schools have been trashed by the NCAA for doing that. In short, the NCAA, once again, has shown no consistency in determining penalties for institutions. The fact that colleges and universities haven’t moved to form their own governing body is a head scratcher as most schools know that the NCA A is one of the most arbitrary bodies in existence.

Daily Conference Poll: Who Will Win the Southern Conference?

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 09:42:26 -0500

Southern Conference Basketball Preview: 08-09

CHN — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:38:27 -0500

Conference Rank: 17th

10 year average: 19th

Southern Conference Page

All-Southern Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Stephen Curry	Davidson	Jr
G	Donald Sims	Appalachian St	So
G	Tony White	Charleston	Jr
F	Nicchaeus Doaks	Chattanooga	Sr
F	Jermaine Johnson	Charleston	Sr
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
CHN All-Americans Stephen Curry Mid-Major All-Americans Stephen Curry* *Mid-Major POY		Points: Stephen Curry 25.1 Rebounds: Jermaine Johnson 8.5 Assists: Cameron Wells (Citadel) 3.8

Southern Conference Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

40	Davidson	Southern	1	NCAA
116	Appalachian St	Southern	2
141	Charleston	Southern	3
169	Chattanooga	Southern	4
205	Georgia Southern	Southern	5
216	UNC Greensboro	Southern	6
239	Furman	Southern	7
269	Elon	Southern	8
278	Wofford	Southern	9
292	Samford	Southern	10
293	Western Carolina	Southern	11
324	Citadel	Southern	12

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

** returning conference champion

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the SoCo? (soon)

Other Southern Content

Conference Media/Coaches Poll

Other

Rise & Fall: Patriot

Top SG's: Stephen Curry

Top Non-BCS Players: Stephen Curry

State of '08: South Carolina

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:10:55 -0400

Duke or Carolina? BC or UMASS? Gonzaga or Washington.. or Washington State? What is the best program in each state? While there's not much competition in Hawaii.. there are great debates to be had in loaded regions like California, North Carolina, and Texas. The State of '08 is a ranking of every program in every state.. based mostly on recent success (the last five years) mixed in with subjective factors such as conference prestige, historical success, and overall program direction.

For more info, check out the State of '08 introduction.

SOUTH CAROLINA

CLEMSON - Amazingly Clemson made the NCAA Tournament for just the first time in a decade, losing to Villanova in the opening round. The Tigers were an NIT team the previous three seasons, but have still trumped Winthrop in RPI in 6 of 8 seasons.

WINTHROP - The Eagles simply own the Big South right now. In Greg Marshall's ten-yea reign, Winthrop has made an amazing 8 NCAA Tournaments, and a 9th is possible in '09. In '07, Winthrop also knocked off Notre Dame in the tourney's First Round.

SOUTH CAROLINA - In Dave Odom's 7-year tenure, the Gamecocks were invited to one NCAA Tournament and 2 NITs. Former WKU Coach Darrin Horn was brought in to make the program more competitive in the SEC. Not since 1998 has USC finished over .500 in conference play.

CHARLESTON - For a long-time in the 90's up until a few years ago, Charleston was one of the top mid-major programs in the country. Ever since John Kresse retired, the Cougars have lost a little bit of their lustre and last year was the first time they finally finished below .500 in the Southern Conference.

SOUTH CAROLINA STATE - This is has long been one of the premier programs in the MEAC.. which isn't saying much because it is the MEAC. Since their last conference title in 2003, there has been some slippage however. Last year's 9-9 conference record was their worst in a decade, and RPIs of 290 & 284 in the past two years are anything but impressive.

6. FURMAN - In the previous six seasons, Furman was consistently a .500 team in the Southern Conference. But last year the bottom fell out and the Paladins struggled to a horrible 6-14 conference record, and an even worse 7-23 overall record. However, the team was young and most onlookers expect serious improvement in Jeff Jackson's third season.

7. COASTAL CAROLINA - In 2006, the Chanticleers were just a basket away from advancing to the Big Dance. This was an an aberration for a program that otherwise has been a middling to poor Big South team over the last 10 years.

8. WOFFORD - The Terriers have had similar overall success to Coastal Carolina above, hovering around winning 40 to 50% of their conference games on a yearly basis. Last season the team shocked Purdue on the road, and played Alabama very close as well.

9. CHARLESTON SOUTHERN - Other than two years of mediocrity in '05 & '06, this has been one of the worst programs in the country for quite some time. The Bucs have only won 10 D1 games the last 2 seasons, with an average RPI of 328th

10. THE CITADEL - Avoid being in last solely because there were two D1-newcomers in South Carolina last year. The Bulldogs haven't won 10 games since 2002, which was also the last season they finished above 290 in the RPI. Brutal stuff.

11. SOUTH CAROLINA UPSTATE - The Spartans beat six D1 teams in its initial season, including a decent Gardner-Webb squad. Upstate also has an advantage over Presbyterian due to their affiliation with the Atlantic Sun conference.

12. PRESBYTERIAN - Not much to say here. In the program's first full D1 season, the team went 2-25 (against D1 teams) with wins over Radford and Army.

Last: Pennsylvania - Next: Tennessee

State of '08: The Introduction (& State list/links)

Charleston Classic Matchups Announced

Press Release — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:43:52 -0400

ESPN Regional Television announced today the schedule of matchups for the inaugural Charleston Classic, set for Nov. 14-16 at the new Carolina First Center in Charleston, S.C.

The event will include 12 games in three days, with six games being broadcast on CSS. The Southern Conference, based in Spartanburg, S.C., will serve as the event's sponsoring conference.

The 2008 Charleston Classic field includes eight teams: College of Charleston, Clemson, East Tennessee State, Hofstra, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Temple, TCU and Western Michigan. Two of the teams, Clemson and Temple, played in the 2007-08 NCAA Tournament.

In the first round of action, beginning Thursday, Nov. 14, TCU will take on Western Michigan in the first game to be played at Carolina First Center. Also in the first round, ETSU will face Temple, SIU-Edwardsville will meet College of Charleston, and Hofstra and Clemson will square off.

"We're pleased to have a competitive field and exciting matchups in the inaugural Charleston Classic," said Pete Derzis, senior vice president and general manager, ESPN Regional Television. "We expect this new event to provide a terrific off-the-court experience for the student-athletes, coaches and staffs while giving fans a great opportunity to watch college basketball in the great destination of Charleston."

Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format. The two teams that remain undefeated throughout the tournament will face off in a championship match Sunday, Nov. 16, at 4 p.m. ET on CSS. Complete matchups are listed below.

"I am very excited about the Charleston Classic opening our new Carolina First Center," said Bobby Cremins, head coach of College of Charleston. "This will bring college basketball to our beautiful Low Country and downtown Charleston area. Clemson will be the headliner, but there are other exciting teams that should challenge them for the first Charleston Classic championship."

Tickets for the tournament will go on sale Sept. 15 at www.CharlestonClassic.com, or by telephone at the Carolina First Center box office at (843) 953-2632. Fans can purchase travel packages to the tournament by going to www.AnthonyTravel.com or by calling 1-800-736-6377.