DavidsonCats- Davidson Wildcats fan.
MocsMania- Chattanooga Mocs fan.
TheSportsArsenal- Citadel Bulldogs fan.
UNCGBasketballFan- UNC-Greensboro Spartans fan.
SCHEDULE
Sunday, January 8
Columbia at Elon
Thursday, January 12
Furman at Appalachian State (ESPN3)
Western Carolina at Davidson
UNC-Greensboro at College of Charleston (ESPN3)
Wofford at Chattanooga
Samford at Georgia Southern
Elon at The Citadel
Saturday, January 14
Davidson at Appalachian State
Furman at Western Carolina
Chattanooga at Samford (SoCon Network/ESPN3)
Elon at College of Charleston (ESPN3)
UNC-Greensboro at The Citadel
Georgia Southern at Wofford
POWER RANKINGS
1) Davidson 48 (4)
2) College of Charleson 44
3) Wofford 38
4) Elon 36
5) Western Carolina 28
6) Chattanooga 27
7) Georgia Southern 26
8) Appalachian State 21
9) Furman 20
10) Samford 9
11) The Citadel 8
12) UNC-Greensboro 7
QUESTIONS
Sum up your team.
DavidsonCats- Davidson is 10-4 now and 4-0 in the conference. The team is showing plenty of depth, with various players making major contributions. De'Mon Brooks played an outstanding game against GSU, but was overshadowed by Jake Cohen's numbers (29 points on 8-9 shooting including 2-2 on 3s, 11-12 FTs, and 12 rebounds ). The next two games are a home game against WCU and a road game at ASU. Last year the Wildcats lost to those two teams by 8 points each.
MocsMania- The Mocs got beat by Tennessee in Knoxville on Monday in a reasonably close game that was very disappointing to Mocs fans. The Mocs then went out and beat Western Carolina and Appalachian State at home. The comeback win over Appalachian State was exhilirating, and was without Omar Wattad. The win over Western Carolina showed how good the Mocs can be when they play well. They outrebounded the Catamounts by 24. The Mocs are starting to show signs of the team that was picked to win the North in the preseason. I think the Mocs can still win the North, but they really need play well in these next three games- home against Wofford, before trips to Samford and UNC-Greensboro. A 2-1 mark in those three games would put them in position to make a real run at the North title. A 3-0 mark would be even better.
TheSportsArsenal- The Citadel picked up its initial SoCon victory on Saturday, which was also the Bulldogs' first league home game of the season. Mike Groselle made all 10 of his field goal attempts and finished with 25 points, while Cosmo Morabbi, the lone senior on the roster, added a career-high 20 points and also dished out 6 assists. It was a badly needed positive performance after the Bulldogs were embarrassed at Furman earlier in the week. The Citadel continues to struggle with turnovers and allowing easy baskets (no team in the country has a worse defensive 2-point FG%), but the Bulldogs do show flashes of offensive potential, including a 30-point effort from freshman Ashton Moore in The Citadel's victory over UVA-Wise, an NAIA opponent, a game played before the Furman contest. This week, the Bulldogs have two more home conference games, against Elon and UNCG.
UNCGBasketballFan- What a ridiculous week for the Spartans. UNCG went to Coral Gables and played a solid game against Miami on national TV. Trevis Simpson went off for 36 points and the team played very inspired for almost the entire game. It took a major effort on the part of Miami big man Kenny Kadji to keep the Canes from being upset. The Spartans then came home and were routed as thoroughly as possible by Davidson. It took a billion shots for Trevis Simpson to be the only G player in double figures. I'm not sure whether it was the perfect storm of a great game by Davidson and a terrible night for G or something else. However, I don't know what to think of this team anymore. I keep telling people this isn't the worst team in the SoCon, but it sure is starting to look that way. A Saturday date at the Citadel should answer that question.
Which game are you most looking forward to this week other than your own team's?
DavidsonCats- I'm looking forward to the GSU at Wofford game on Saturday. I expect these two teams to battle all season for the 3S seed. In spite of the lopsided final score yesterday, this is the best GSU team that I've seen in several years. Their defense isn't good, but it'll be hard for Wofford to stop them. Should be a great game.
MocsMania- I'd be lying if I didn't say that I'm looking forward to the two Davidson games this week, as they host Western Carolina before heading to Appalachian State. But the best game is probably Elon's trip to College of Charleston. Elon's loss to Georgia Southern takes something off this game, but the Phoenix will need to win to stay on pace with the pack of four teams battling for the top two spots in the North. But College of Charleston needs a win to stay on track to win the South, or at least get a bye.
TheSportsArsenal- Western Carolina-Davidson is probably the most interesting of the Thursday games, all of which are North vs. South division affairs. Elon-College of Charleston on Saturday features two teams that will be fighting for first-round conference tournament byes.
UNCGBasketballFan- Elon at Charleston ...time to see if Elon is a contender or pretender.
Who would you pick for Player of the Year as we head into the bulk of conference play? Why?
DavidsonCats- The flashiest, most flamboyant, best NBA prospect is Eric Furguson. In cases where there isn't a player who is significantly ahead of the competition, I think the POY should go to the best player on the best team. Right now, that player is De'Mon Brooks.
MocsMania- I said De'Mon Brooks of Davidson the last time this question was asked. I see no reason to back off that statement. Antwaine Wiggins of College of Charleston and Mike Groselle of The Citadel both at least deserve mention in the race though. Groselle would be the winner if he could just play on a better team. Wiggins would be the winner if he could just play smarter and more consistently. But Brooks is the one who deserves it right now.
TheSportsArsenal- I'm still going with Jake Cohen of Davidson for POY honors. Davidson has multiple POY candidates, which is not surprising given it has had the best season of any league team thus far. It isn't that easy to separate Cohen's value from that of De'Mon Brooks.
UNCGBasketballFan- Even though it was Nik Cochran that destroyed UNCG on Thursday, I'm picking his teammate De'Mon Brooks. Brooks has been very good at almost everything for the Wildcats and I think he's the best player on that team. When you're the best player on the best team, I think that makes you the league POY.
Who would you pick for Coach of the Year as we head into the bulk of conference play? Why?
DavidsonCats- A few weeks ago, I thought the COY was Matt Matheny. There are arguments that could be made for Charlton Young and Mike Young. I'm really impressed with what Coach McKillop is doing at Davidson right now. He's my COY at this point.
MocsMania- Mike Young of Wofford is the clear winner at this point to me. His team has been substantially better than anyone expected. Their win over College of Charleston has only cemented his place as the top coach in the conference so far. To have the Terriers in contention in the SoCon South is unexpected, and he deserves a lot of credit.
TheSportsArsenal- I'm still going with Matt Matheny of Elon for COY honors.
UNCGBasketballFan- Mike Young at Wofford has taken what I thought would be a very bad team and really molded it into a fine club. This week alone his team won at Wake Forest and against Charleston. Right now I give him a slight nod over Elon's Matt Matheny.
After their performance against Wofford, what do you think the chances are that College of Charleston does not get a bye out of the South?
DavidsonCats- The odds of CofC not getting a bye are miniscule. It would require the intervention of illness or injury. They'll be the 1S or the 2S.
MocsMania- I'd put the chances at "very small." I believe that this team is just inconsistent enough to blow several more games that they should win. They have very little depth, so an injury would really hurt their chances too. But they have more talent than anyone else in the league, and it is really not that close. Wofford and Georgia Southern both could unseat them for a bye if they play inconsistently for the rest of the year. Assuming that Thursday was a blip on the radar, the more reasonable question would be "what do you think the chances are that the Cougars do not win the South division?"
TheSportsArsenal- College of Charleston is still a solid bet to finish no worse than second in the South division. Wofford is probably the only team with a shot of upsetting the applecart, and the Terriers do not appear to be consistent enough to challenge for that spot.
UNCGBasketballFan- I still think the south bye will go to Davidson and Charleston. I'm not convinced that Thursday night wasn't just a very hot Wofford team catching the Cougars not ready to play.This next week should tell a lot more about Charleston though.
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