Scanning the SoCon- Week Fourteen

Scanning the SoCon gathers bloggers and fans from around the conference to vote on things and  answer questions. This is the third year of Scanning the SoCon and hopefully will be our best year yet.

SCHEDULE

Monday
Samford at Furman

Tuesday

Chattanooga at Eastern Kentucky

Thursday

The Citadel at Appalachian State
UNCG at Elon
Georgia Southern at Wofford
Davidson at Samford

Saturday

Appalachian State at Western Carolina
Furman at Davidson
Chattanooga at Samford
Wofford at The Citadel
Georgia Southern at Elon

POWER RANKINGS

1)      Davidson 99 (9)

2)      Chattanooga 88

3)      Elon 74

4)      Wofford 73

5)      Western Carolina 71

6)      Georgia Southern 50

7)      UNCG 45

8)      Samford 39

9)      Appalachian State 28

10)  Furman 18

11)  The Citadel 9

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

DeMon Brooks, Davidson (9 votes)

GAME OF THE WEEK

Georgia Southern at Wofford (2 votes), UNCG at Elon (2 votes), Chattanooga at Samford (2 votes)

Others Receiving Votes: Georgia Southern at Elon (1 vote), Appalachian State at Western Carolina (1 vote), Chattanooga at Eastern Kentucky (1 vote)

QUESTIONS

Sum up your team.

Samford- Talented, but young and inconsistent. This team can look like the worst team in the league one night and the next night look like they could challenge for the tournament title. I'm not going to speculate on why, but I don't buy youth as an excuse (there are plenty of juniors and sophomores to use youth as an excuse).

The Citadel- The Citadel has lost 12 straight games for the second year in a row. The team's performance at Georgia Southern was its worst of the season, just a complete debacle. There is not a whole lot else to say, other than Chuck Driesell's status as head coach is in serious jeopardy. At least, it should be.

Western Carolina- Losers of 3 of their last 4 conference games, Western Carolina has become completely unpredictable due to inconsistent offensive play. At this point, all the Cats can hope for is to remain in a position to get one of the byes for the conference tournament, and hope for a strong run in the tournament.

What teams do you think will receive byes in the SoCon Tournament?

Samford- Davidson, WCU, UTC and Wofford. Aside from Elon, the rest of the conference just isn't good enough on a consistent basis to finish in the top four. Elon will finish fifth. Not to take anything away from the top four or five teams, but six of the other conference teams just aren't that good. The reason I went with Wofford, UTC and WCU over Elon is that I don't want Elon to win anything on their way out.

The Citadel- The top five teams in the current standings (UTC, Dav, Woff, WCU, Elon) will likely get the byes. The only other team with the personnel to break into that group is probably Samford.

Western Carolina- Davidson, Chattanooga, Elon seem to be locks for a bye, with Wofford now making a strong run, they will probably be in, with Western Carolina now looking for that final 5th bye, but based on their play the last four games, GSU or UNCG may well get that final position.

Did Chattanooga’s 43 point loss to Davidson expose the Mocs, show how good Davidson is, or was it just a fluke that Davidson won by that much, or some combination of those things?

Samford- Too early to tell. I think the Mocs have been playing above their heads, but I do not think they are 43 points worse than Davidson. One bad night does not ruin a season.

The Citadel- I tend to doubt Davidson is really *that* much better than UTC, but I think Chattanooga is probably not as good as its league record may have suggested. If the result means anything (which is debatable), it's that at least five teams can win the league tournament, because no squad is really that much better than any of the other contenders.

Western Carolina- In my opinion, it was a combination of exposing some of the weakness of the Mocs and how good Davidson is playing at this point of the season.

What are some ways that SoCon officiating could be better?

Samford- There is nothing that can be done. Pick a conference and the same complaints resonate. Basketball officiating is inconsistent. But, part of the problem is the bias that fans bring to the table--officials are really in a no win situation.

The Citadel- Obviously, the officiating in the Southern Conference is incredibly great and beyond reproach. After all, not one but *two* basketball officiating supervisors have been elected to the league's Hall of Fame. When you consider the fact that only four male athletes who have competed in the conference since 1956 have also been enshrined in the Hall, it gives you an idea of how esteemed the officiating is in the SoCon.

Western Carolina- There is only one way to improve officiating on the SoCon, and it would require the one thing that the SoCon does not have much of $$$$$. The only way to get better officials is to increase the pay per game. The better officials are scooped up by the larger conferences because they pay more. Until the SoCon becomes competitive in pay, they will continue to get the newer, less experienced, and poorer skilled officials, especially for weekend games.