MocsMania- Chattanooga Mocs fan.
TheSportsArsenal- Citadel Bulldogs fan.
UNCGBasketballFan- UNC-Greensboro Spartans fan.
SCHEDULE
Monday, January 30
Western Carolina at Wofford
College of Charleston at Samford
Wednesday, February 1
Davidson at Furman
Thursday, February 2
Chattanooga at Western Carolina (ESPN3)
The Citadel at UNC-Greensboro
College of Charleston at Elon
Samford at Appalachian State
Saturday, February 4
Georgia Southern at Western Carolina
Samford at Wofford
College of Charleston at Appalachian State
UNC-Greensboro at Furman (SoCon Network/ESPN3)
Chattanooga at Davidson
The Citadel at Elon
POWER RANKINGS
1) Davidson 48 (4)
2) Wofford 44
3) UNC-Greensboro 36
4) Georgia Southern 35
5) Elon 34
6) Appalachian State 29
7) Furman 21
8t) College of Charleston 18
8t) Western Carolina 18
10) Samford 15
11) Chattanooga 10
12) The Citadel 4
QUESTIONS
Sum up your team.
DavidsonCats- The Wildcats are now 15-5 overall and 9-1 in the conference after splitting the road trip to Chattanooga and Samford. Clint Mann returned to the rotation this week. Jake was less effective in these two games, but Nik, JP, De'Mon, and Chris Czerapowicz all had solid road trips. The Wildcats have a tough road game coming up on Wednesday against Furman and then have a very important home stand against Chattanooga and Wofford.
MocsMania- The Mocs lost two heartbreakers this week, allowing four combined points in the final one and a half combined seconds in their two games this week. They both were losses, by a combined total of four points. In other words, they played Georgia Southern and Davidson to a dead even tie for the first 39 minutes and 59 seconds of both games, and got outscored 4-0 in the final second, which means the Mocs lose both games. The Mocs may well be the second best team in the SoCon, but after three losses by a combined five points, the Mocs have nothing to show for it. They could be a major surprise in the SoCon Tournament, but they have to gain some confidence before then. It does not look good.
TheSportsArsenal- The Citadel lost three more games this week, although the Bulldogs were competitive in all three and arguably unlucky not to win at Georgia Southern, losing in double-OT, with a noticeable disparity in free throw attempts. Competitive is nice, but The Citadel needs to start winning. Despite the team's record, Mike Groselle has continued to put together what has to be an All-SoCon season. I am concerned the SoCon media that votes on such honors may not see fit to honor a player on a team with a poor record, but in Groselle's case that would be an enormous travesty.
UNCGBasketballFan- UNCG is currently enjoying its biggest resurgence since Kyle Hines donned his cap and gown. The Spartans have really perfected the art of winning very ugly, but exciting games. While G has lacked a killer instinct in closing games out the past few weeks, they have shown a knack for still finding a way to win the games. The past weekend UNCG had to go to overtime to beat App State and Western Carolina. Both games saw the visitors come storming back to force overtime only to have UNCG come out aggressive in the extra period and play with confidence. Trevis Simpson and Derrell Armstrong are leading the scoring parade, with Armstrong coming off the bench exclusively. This week will see UNCG to have to play its first road game in almost 3 weeks. They will have to continue to win there to stay in contention for a tournament bye.
What game are you most looking forward to this week that does not involve your team?
DavidsonCats- Thursday's Chattanooga at Western game has my attention. Chattanooga's next opponent after WCU is Davidson, and I'd like to see Chattanooga get their first road win of the season before arriving at Belk.
MocsMania- I'll go with Davidson's trip to Furman. Can the Paladins get into the bye race? Will the Wildcats give up some ground on their race to winning first in the South? Will the Wildcats offense soar? Or will the Paladins defense dominate? Should be a quality game.
TheSportsArsenal- Most of the games this week are cross-division games. None truly stand out. Western Carolina has three games this week, two of which are against Wofford and Georgia Southern, and thus may play the most impactful schedule in terms of the standings.
Who do you think is the best sixth man in the league?
DavidsonCats- There are several players who have primarily come off the bench this year, but have started a few games. Guys like Jack Isenbarger and Derrell Armstrong. My top sixth man would be Chris Czerapowicz. He hasn't started any games and has been Davidson's best scorer off the bench. Through 20 games, he's scored 183 points and grabbed 88 rebounds. 9.2 points and 4.4 rebounds. He's getting better rapidly.
MocsMania- I'd love to be a homer here and pick Z Mason, who I think will be a force in the SoCon starting next year, and already has proven to be one of the Mocs better players. But in the end, you really can't go wrong with UNCG's Derrell Armstrong at this point. He is one of the main reasons that the Spartans have started winning. I know he hasn't played that well all year, but at his current level of play, there really is no going wrong picking him.
TheSportsArsenal- Right now I would slightly favor Derrell Armstrong of UNCG as the league's top sixth man.
UNCGBasketballFan- Well, it's kind of hard to decide who is really coming off of the bench for some teams. This week I watched Omar Carter (ASU) and Harouna Mutombo (WCU) not start for their teams. However, I'm going to be biased and say that right now, UNCG's Derrell Armstong is the best pure bench player. He's scored 23 or more points his part 4 games is one of the leading catalysts to UNCG quick climb up the standings.
At the halfway point of the conference season, which four teams do you expect to earn byes for the SoCon Tournament?
DavidsonCats- Davidson, Wofford, Elon and ASU.
MocsMania- Whew. In the South, I'll take the obvious choice (Davidson) and go with Wofford for the second seed. I'm not convinced the Terriers are as good as their record indicates, but I'd be surprised if any other team from the South has what it takes to make a run at the second seed. Charleston has the talent, but without Cremins, and already trailing the Terriers by three games and the tiebreaker, it's hard to envision them catching the Terriers. The Paladins and Eagles are too inconsistent. In the North- I have no idea. Chattanooga is the most talented team in the division I believe, but they are too far out of it to get a bye at this point, I think. Western Carolina appears too flawed to me (and are struggling right now). Samford is just not good enough, even though they are hot right now. That leaves Appalachian State, UNCG, and Elon. UNCG is the team I like the most of those three, so I'll go with them for one bye. I'm less than convinced that Elon can keep on playing at their current level, and I am also less than convinced that Appy has what it takes to get a bye. They just don't seem to play well together at times. I'll take Appy, but feel more than a little apprehensive when I do it.
TheSportsArsenal- The four byes will go to Davidson, Wofford (since the CofC is now in freefall), and...oh, boy, the north. Might as well throw darts while blindfolded. I suppose picking UNCG to get a bye would be trendy. I'm not quite so sure about the Spartans, at least not yet, but I guess I'll go with Elon and UNCG.
UNCGBasketballFan- I still think UNCG has a tougher 2nd half schedule than most teams. So, in the North I'll go with Elon and App State. In the South, I think Wofford just looks like the stronger of the "rest of the pack". So I'll pick them to get a bye, along with Davidson.
With Bobby Cremins announcement of a leave of absence and possible retirement, share some thoughts on Cremins career.
DavidsonCats- I hope that Cremins returns to the bench at CofC. He's been fantastic for the conference.
MocsMania- Cremins has been great for the Southern Conference. He has brought national attention to the conference that used to get it only when a team pulled an upset in the NCAA Tournament or was a popular pick to pull an upset in the NCAA Tournament. Not saying that people follow the SoCon now- but Cremins brought more national attention to it. That was great. All in all, he has been a great coach for many years. He deserves all the respect he has received. He is a fine man and I hope that he makes a full recovery.
TheSportsArsenal- Bobby Cremins did a great job of building the Georgia Tech program (after a solid stint at Appalachian State). Nobody can ever question Cremins' ability as a recruiter, and his teams were often very entertaining as well, which in a major metro area like Atlanta is important. As the head coach of South Carolina, Cremins had a short but memorable run...I think his tenure at the CofC is a mixed bag, to be honest. He was a great comeback hire for that school after the Gregg Marshall debacle (which was the CofC's problem, not Marshall's), but I think most CofC supporters anticipated regular trips to the NCAA tournament, and Cremins went 0-fer in that category despite bringing in very good talent.
UNCGBasketballFan- How amazing is it for a guy to be credited for resurrecting a program with the status of Charleston after already having a court at an ACC school named after you? If Cremins actually retires, you've got to be impressed with the shap he left that program in for the next coach. I do wish him the best and hope that he gets well soon from whatever is ailing him.
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