1) Two upsets changed the face of the early season conference standings dramatically on Thursday night. Georgia Southern's upset of Elon served notice of two things. First of all, the Eagles are a dangerous team in the SoCon South title race, despite what the general thought around the league was. Secondly, Elon's loss really opens the door in the North. The Phoenix were supposed to be the class of the North, but have been coming back to the pack in recent weeks, and now they look like they may have some real problems. They are tied with Appalachian State and Western Carolina for the division lead now. Wofford beat College of Charleston by 18 points. This serves notice that the Terriers can contend in the South as well. They are now 2-1, and ahead of Charleston in the South, and behind Georgia Southern and Davidson. Who would have guessed that Charleston would be fourth in the standings at any point this year? I'm really stunned by this turn of events. The Cougars obviously are not in real trouble yet. The Terriers are serving notice that they are a contender in the South after all.
2) It's also clear where the two bottom teams (at the moment) reside. The Citadel and UNC-Greensboro both were humbled in losses. Davidson beat the Spartans by 29 points. The Citadel lost to Furman by 32 points. While Samford is the other team popularly considered to struggle in conference play, they have lost two games in SoCon play by a total of nine points. The Bulldogs head to The Citadel this weekend in a key game for both teams trying to come up with a conference win. The Spartans are more mysterious at this point. I expected them to battle for a bye in the North in the preseason, and saw them turning it around in recent weeks, but the Wildcats were looking for revenge after what happened in the SoCon Tournament last spring. They did not let up. It was a thrashing. UNCG and The Citadel certainly appear to be at the bottom of the conference right now.
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