DavidsonCats- Davidson fan.
MocsMania- Chattanooga fan.
TheSportsArsenal- The Citadel fan.
UNCGBasketballFan- UNC-Greensboro fan.
SCHEDULE
Sunday, December 18
Jacksonville at Wofford
Monday, December 19
The Citadel at James Madison
UNCG at Duke (Fox Sport South/ESPN3)
Georgia Southern at South Alabama
Davidson at Kansas (ESPNU)
Tuesday, December 20
Samford at Kentucky (ESPN2/ESPN3)
Furman at Presbyterian
Western Carolina at Bradley
College of Charleston at Louisville (ESPNU)
Wednesday, December 21
HIwassee at Chattanooga
Wofford at High Point
Thursday, December 22
VCU at UNCG (ESPN3)
Davidson at Massachusetts
Campbell at Appalachian State
College of Charleston at Coastal Carolina
Georgia Southern at Georgia State
Elon at San Diego State
The Citadel at Denver
Friday, December 23
Furman at Georgia (CSS/ESPN3)
POWER RANKINGS
1) College of Charleston 47 (3)
2) Davidson 45 (1)
3) Elon 40
4) Wofford 33
5) Western Carolina 31
6t) Furman 25
6t) Georgia Southern 25
8t) Appalachian State 21
8t) Chattanooga 21
10) Samford 9
11) The Citadel 8
12) UNC-Greensboro 7
QUESTIONS
Sum up your team.
DavidsonCats- Davidson didn't play this past week. I hope that all the guys did well on their exams and are ready to get back to basketball. The Wildcats have a big week coming up. On the road Monday at Kansas and at UMass on Thursday.
MocsMania- The Mocs had their own Twitter controversy this week, as Chris Early has been suspended indefinitely following some tweets made on a private account back in mid-November just after he was benched by John Shulman. It makes me a little sick that we've got another Twitter controversy in the SoCon, and this one involves my beloved Mocs. Regardless, following that suspension, the Mocs actually played decent against a Kentucky team that has run several teams out of the gym this year. Yes, the Mocs lost by 25, but Z Mason (the former tight end recruit at Ole Miss) played very well, and Drazen Zlovaric had his best game of the season. If that carries over, then the Mocs could still contend for a bye in the North. Shots still really aren't falling for Keegan Bell and Omar Wattad, but if their shots start falling and Zlovaric, Mason, and in any other inside presence can play like they did against Kentucky, this will be one of the SoCon's better teams by season's end. Not anywhere near there yet. We'll know a lot more by New Year's after the Mocs play in the Dr Pepper Classic.
TheSportsArsenal- The Citadel played one game this week, losing badly at home to Charleston Southern. It was another disappointing performance for the Bulldogs, particularly on defense. As Chuck Driesell noted after the game, if The Citadel doesn't improve defensively, it won't win any more games. The Bulldogs now go on a tough three-game road trip (over eleven days), against James Madison, Denver, and Tennessee. The Citadel will be heavy underdogs in all three of those contests.
UNCGBasketballFan- After the events of this week (Mike Dement fired) I really had no idea what to expect when the team played ECU on Friday night. What we got to see was a team that played a very solid game for about 30 minutes. However, when ECU switched to a full court press late in the game, UNCG looked lost. In the post game press conference, Coach Wes Miller admitted that they just didn't get to spend any time preparing for that press based on all they were dealing with during the week. So all things considered, I wasn't upset with what I saw at the Greensboro Coliseum. I believe that G is improving. It is a shame though that UNCG's record is what is b/c I think Trevis Simpson is playing like the SoCon POY.
Which game are you looking the most forward to this week that does not involve your team?
DavidsonCats- I think CofC is the best team in the conference this year. They have a chance to make a national splash this week with games at Louisville and Coastal Carolina.
MocsMania- Well, for the purposes of the blog, the game I'll be previewing this week will be Furman at Georgia, because I think the Paladins have a real shot against the Bulldogs. For the purposes of this question, I don't know how the conference can't be looking forward to seeing what Davidson does against Kansas or what Charleston does against Louisville and Coastal Carolina. This should be a real fun week to follow the two conference frontrunners.
TheSportsArsenal- College of Charleston-Coastal Carolina should be a good matchup.
UNCGBasketballFan- I can't wait to see how Charleston plays against a top 5 team in Louisville. I thought the Cougars looked like a legit NCAA tournament team that could do some damage when they got there this week against UT. I'll openly eat crow that I thought it was going to be a down year for Charleston with all of their losses. I was very wrong.
What do you think about replacing a coach midseason, as UNCG just did?
DavidsonCats- I hate to see a mid-season coaching switch. This one needed to happen. Several Spartan players were making idiotic statements in social media outlets, the team was stinking up on the court, and the fans were grumbling. Good luck to UNCG in their coaching search.
MocsMania- Not a fan. Seems like there is a really rare time to fire a coach midseason in college athletics, and that is when the team is engulfed in scandal. I'm talking serious, Joe Paterno/Penn State kind of scandal, not tweets from players saying fans don't know anything or that their coach shouldn't be coaching middle school kind of scandal. UNCG wanted to get a look at Miller, and so the move makes a little sense because they can find out what they have in him before the end of the year and figure out (virtually risk free) whether or not they want to do a full blown coaching search, so MAYBE this rises to level to be able to get away with it, but I'm virtually never in favor of mid-season coaching changes. I just don't see the necessity.
TheSportsArsenal- Generally, I believe replacing a coach at midseason is a mistake, and unfair to the players. I can see why UNCG decided to make a move now (assuming Mike Dement's resignation wasn't really voluntary), because UNCG's on-court results were starting to resemble a train wreck, but on the other hand, why not just fire Dement after last season? I guess it does give Wes Miller the chance to win the job.
UNCGBasketballFan- Normally, I think it's a bad idea. I think knee-jerk reactions should be left for the fans and not AD's. But with this situation, it may have been justified. UNCG was going no where fast and seemed to have to inside issues. Plus, fall recruiting had not gone as well as expected. I believe the AD made this move in order to spark the program on both fronts.
DavidsonCats- I'm not enthused about the new TV package. We aren't going to attract any new viewers by hiding on public TV.
MocsMania- Well, here are the facts. In the states that are the SoCon's footprint, more homes have the public television station than had SportSouth. So, that means that more people will have access to the SoCon games. Now, outside of the footprint, no one will have television access to these games and they did before. However, ESPN3 is a growing commodity, and more and more people have access to that. While most of the games were on there last year with SportSouth, what this means is that just as many people will have access as in previous years, if they will turn on their computers. So, I don't HATE the deal as some do. But I don't like it. It seems like a step back. The conference needs to find a way to get their product out there. The football product is excellent. The men's basketball product (despite what we seem to be seeing this year) is normally OK. There just needs to be better promotion. I don't quite know how to get there, though.
TheSportsArsenal- It is hard for me to be too excited about the league's TV deal, since my team is only featured once (which was also true for football). The only real benefit from a national perspective is the ESPN3.com hookup. The SoCon needs to be on television as much as possible, so it's better than nothing, but it's not exactly setting a standard for mid- or low-major conferences.
UNCGBasketballFan- I hate to say this, but it's the kind of deal you get when your conference has been as down as the SoCon has been over the last 3 years. I actually think it's amazing that they've put together any kind of TV deal at all. Plus, with the ACC & SEC reaching massive TV deals in the past year, there just aren't many outlets for SoCon conference games to appear.
What do you think of the proposal to provide a $2000 stipend to each athlete, and the SoCon since they said they would not participate in this?
DavidsonCats- I understand why the $2000 stipend is unpopular, but if some schools are doing it and some aren't you don't want to find your school in the pool of those who choose to not compete. The stipend and other factors (like the ACC going to an 18-game conference schedule) will widen the gap between the haves and the have-nots. We need a strong commissioner.
TheSportsArsenal- If the $2000 stipend had been approved, the league would have been at a serious recruiting disadvantage if it had not participated, regardless of the financial burden. It isn't the only league that would have been in that position, which is why the stipend has been more or less tabled for a few months.
As for what I think, why $2000? What is so special about that number? It's really a P.R. band-aid more than anything. It doesn't do anything to alleviate the real problem the Association has with regards to amateurism.
UNCGBasketballFan- I think the stipend idea totally stacks the deck in favor of the power conference teams. Schools like UNCG already have a razor thin margin in their athletic budget and this just makes it tougher. However, the SoCon choosing not to participate puts all of the league teams in an even tougher spot recruiting-wise. If you're an 18 year old kid (and all other things being equal) would you choose the school that will give you $2k spending money or the one that doesn't?
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