DavidsonCats- A Davidson Wildcats fan.
MocsMania- A Chattanooga Mocs fan.
TheSportsArsenal- A Citadel Bulldogs fan.
UNCGBasketballFan- A UNCG Spartans fan.
SCHEDULE
Sunday, November 13
Chattanooga at Indiana (Hoosier Classic)
Emory & Henry at Wofford
Monday, November 14
UNG-Greensboro at Georgetown (Maui Invitational)
Furman at Columbia
Richmond at Davidson
Tuesday, November 15
Morehead State at College of Charleston (25 Hours of Basketball) (ESPN)
Chattanooga at Butler (Hoosier Classic)
Appalachian State at ETSU
South Carolina at Elon (SportSouth)
Montreat at Western Carolina
Wednesday, November 16
Georgia Southern at Wake Forest (SportSouth)
Clemson at The Citadel (ESPN3)
Thursday, November 17
UNC-Pembroke at UNC-Greensboro
Mercer at Furman
Western Carolina at Presbyterian
Friday, November 18
Davidson at Duke (ESPNU)
Webber International at Georgia Southern
Samford at Jacksonville
Kennesaw State at Chattanooga
Rutgers-Newark at Elon
Saturday, November 19
UNCG at Middle Tennessee (Maui Invitational)
College of Charleston at Clemson
Wofford at Wisconsin (Chicago Invitational Challenge) (ESPN3)
Appalachian State at Tennessee Tech
1. Davidson 48 (4)
2. Chattanooga 43
3. College of Charleston 40
4. Appalachian State 36
5. Western Carolina 31
6. Wofford 23
7t.UNC-Greensboro 22
7t. Elon 22
9. Georgia Southern 19
10. Furman 12
11. The Citadel 11
12. Samford 5
Sum up your team in 150 words.
DavidsonCats: Davidson doesn't start the D1 season until Monday when they host the Richmond Spiders. The Spiders made the Sweet 16 last season, but lost a lot of firepower to graduation. They were 13-3 in the A10 last year and 29-8 overall. We'll learn a lot about the Wildcats in the next 8 days. We host Richmond, play at Duke, and then host Presbyterian. In the Friday night game against D3 Guilford the Wildcats rolled 111-64. The starters were Cohen, Kuhlman, Cochran, De'Mon Brooks, and Tom Droney. Clint Mann started last season. He didn't play in the final scrimmage against Lenoir-Rhyne and played in a protective face mask against Guilford. Oft-injured senior Frank Ben-Eze played well against LR and didn't play against Guilford. Wildcat fans are optimistic about the play of sophomore Christopher Czerapowicz and freshman Tyler Kalinoski. The two combined for 7 3-pointers against Guilford.
MocsMania: The Mocs didn't play this week, so there isn't much to add to what I already said last week. I guess the only thing to add is that Shulman talked this week about how Stokes and White may be on the first team instead of Early and Taylor. Stokes and White are both freshman, so this is more than a little surprising to me at this point in the season. Not sure if they will end up starting or not. The competition for those spots can only make all the players better. That would be good for the Mocs.
TheSportsArsenal: It was not a bad weekend for The Citadel, as the Bulldogs split two games at the All-Military Classic in Colorado Springs . The Citadel needs to do a better job at the beginning of games, as it trailed by large margins early in both contests. A furious end-game run wasn’t enough against VMI, which outlasted the Bulldogs 103-100, but The Citadel overcame a 20-point deficit to beat Army 83-72.Mike Groselle was outstanding in both games, finishing with a combined line of 41 points (16-21 FG, 9-12 FT), 21 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals, with only 2 turnovers, in 68 total minutes. The Bulldogs got good performances from several freshmen in both games, and a sterling effort against Army from DeVontae Wright (26 points on just 12 FGA). The Black Knights are picked by most observers to finish in the Patriot League basement, but any D-1 win this early in the season by a team as youthful as The Citadel is a good one.
UNCGBasketballFan: Well that first game was certainly a shocker. Not beating a power conference team on the road is one thing. But it was never even interesting. UT made their first 3 shots and it was over. Part of it was just it was one of those nights for the Vols. They hit 2 NBA range 3's and banked 1 in from the corner very early. G just never recovered. But some of it was just plain bad defense. Plus, it was back to an old problem for the Spartans ... not being able to keep guards in front of them. That problem must get corrected soon. Also, Dement seemed very lost in who he wanted to play. G played 12 guys in the first 15 mintues of the game. He's got to get that under control. Right now it just looks like he's panicing. That's not cool at all.
What game are you most looking forward to, other than ones your team plays in, this week?
DavidsonCats: I'm looking forward to the Mocs game at Butler. Butler has played in the past two National Championship games, and have one of the most historic home courts in the game. They lost on Saturday at Evansville. This would be a sweet win for the Mocs and for the Southern, but it won't be easy.
MocsMania: Count me among the interested in South Carolina's visit to Elon. The Phoenix played very competitively with Massachusetts in the opener, while South Carolina hammered away at Western Carolina in the opener. The gym at Elon is not big, and the Mocs have often had difficulty adjusting to it. That will be even tougher for a team like South Carolina, who is used to playing in places like Rupp Arena. The Phoenix are a good team- much better than originally thought by many people, I believe. They have a chance to show it against the Gamecocks.
TheSportsArsenal: It’s hard to pick just one game of interest this week. Chattanooga plays both IU and Butler , which should be a decent early indicator of how the Mocs will play this season. Davidson’s game against Dukeshould be a good watch. I’ll also be following the CofC’s game at Clemson, as a kind of barometer for The Citadel, which hosts the Tigers earlier in the week.
UNCGBasketballFan: Chattanooga at Butler. Even though the Bulldogs have been to 2 straight final fours, they dropped an exhibition game to a non-D1 team this past week. I think there is absolutely a chance a good SoCon team can pick up a nice win over a very good mid-major program.
What would it take for a SoCon team to earn an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament?
DavidsonCats: To get an at-large bid right now, we need someone to cash some big OOC wins, run through the conference regular season, achieve a national ranking, and then lose in the conference tournament. In other words, we need a perfect storm of unlikely events. The long-term answer is that to get an at-large bid we need to have several superb teams. To do that we need to start bringing in more players with more talent.
MocsMania: Someone has to come up with several good out of conference wins. I think that something along the lines of an OVC-SoCon Challenge (or CAA-SoCon, if they'd go for it) would be good for the SoCon. I think that the conference scheduling all twelve teams to participate in BracketBusters would be good. Do those two things, and instantly the scheduling gets slightly better because there would be fewer non-D1's on the schedules of certain teams. Winning those games would be the second step, obviously. I do not believe that they have to run the table in the SoCon. I think College of Charleston could have gotten into the discussion last year if they had had just one SoCon loss. They had a decent RPI, and a couple of nice OOC wins. I think a nice run in the NCAA Tournament by a team one year and then a solid all around year for the conference the next year would be the real way that this would work out for the SoCon. Probably this year, an at large is all but out of the question, due to the lack of respect for the conference on the whole.
TheSportsArsenal: The SoCon has not had a team receive an at-large bid to the NCAAs since 1950 ( North Carolina State ). I believe Davidson might have garnered an at-large berth in 2008 even if had not won the league tourney. It would have been close. That’s the kind of team that could get an at-large -- a team that runs the table in the league in a decent year for the conference. That Wildcat squad played well out of conference but couldn’t quite get a win that would have “locked” up an at-large bid, if it had needed it.
UNCGBasketballFan: Honestly, our league is going to have to start scheduling much, much better and start to win some of those games. There are just way too many non-D1's being scheduled throughout the league. Our league need to start scheduling lots of mid-major conference team and beating them, as well as getting some wins against power conmference teams. Also, it's going to take wins in the NCAA tournament to gain respect. Even though it's repeatedly denied, past performance does play into future opinions on the conference by the selection comittee. The Misouri Valley and CAA prove this point. It's a shame our league couldn't capitalize on the success of Davidson a few years a ago.
The national fall signing period began this week. What are your thoughts on your teams signees or the signees around the league?
DavidsonCats: It looks like we have some good guards coming in next year. Elon and GSU have both signed shooting guards with ESPN recruiting scores of 85. Chattanooga has signed a guard with a score of 86, Farad Cobb. Hopefully, the conference will also do well in the spring signing period.
MocsMania: I like who the Mocs signed. Warren was big, but Cobb was the most important signee for the Mocs. With Bell graduating, the only true PG on the roster is Hampton, the walk-on. Hampton is fine and all, but the Mocs desperately needed a really good PG to come on, and Cobb fits the bill. He is one of the Top 50 in the country. Tanner Samson looks like a nice find for Elon as well. The Phoenix need another shooter, and they may have found him in Samson.
TheSportsArsenal: The Citadel had two early signees, a point guard from the local area, and a 6’6”forward from Wisconsin who is a good shooter. Both seem to be solid pickups. I'm not that familiar with recruiting around the league.
UNCGBasketballFan: I'm quite dissapponted with UNCG's signing class. Jordan Potts seems to bea very nice player, but I'm confused as to why G needs another PG. The rumor was that Potts teamate (and former Cincinatti commit) Devon Scott was looking to join him in Greensboro. Scott is a strong 6'-8" foward and would have made sense to a team that is losing both of it's big men. However, Scott picked Dayton on Wednesday. It looks like the staff has missed on all of the other big guys that they targeted in the fall. I would expect UNCG to go the JUCO route in the spring and grab a couple of big guys.
Who is the more important returning injured player- Isaac Butts (Appalachian State) or Willie Powers (Georgia Southern)?
DavidsonCats: I think Powers is more important to his team than Butts is to his. ASU has other guys who can defend, rebound, and bang. Butts is a force and the ASU guys say that he is in excellent shape. He could be a double-double machine this season. Powers does so many things well. He scores it, rebounds it, passes it, and is a fine defender. What makes me pick him, though, is that he can be a coach on the floor. GSU has a team of young guys with more talent than discipline. Powers can help them develop and teach them to win.
MocsMania: I am a big believer in Butts. Last year, with Sims, the Mountaineers finished third in the North. Many people expect them to win the division this year, without Sims. How is that possible? It's because Butts is back. He is a big body for the Mountaineers and instantly becomes one of the best big men in the league. Powers is great, and could win POY if the Eagles have a breakout year. But I am not convinced that Powers makes as much difference as Butts does to the Eagles.
TheSportsArsenal: Ike Butts could conceivably help Appalachian State win the league if everything breaks right for the Mountaineers. No matter what Willie Powers does, Georgia Southern isn’t winning the league. I think Powers is a more valuable player for his team, but Butts is a bigger impact in terms of the league as a whole.
UNCGBasketballFan: Powers, hand down. Adding an experienced player to that team makes them dangerous to really have a break out season.
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