Notes: Big East/SEC Challenge

1. Well, I'm not sure it was much of a challenge. The Big East took 8 of 12 games to take the conference matchup in convincing fashion. Now can we put to rest the silly argument that the SEC is as good as the Big East this year? The SEC managed only 4 wins. Those wins included victories over DePaul and Rutgers, the two teams RBP picked to finish 15th and 16th in the Big East, and a Kentucky victory over a St. John's team that returned 4% of its scoring from last season. Mississippi State's win over West Virginia was the SEC's only victory over a Big East team RBP projected to finish in the top-half of the conference, and we only picked the Mountaineers to finish 8th. Four Big East schools did not participate - Marquette, Villanova, Notre Dame, and South Florida. Marquette is undefeated and just topped rival Wisconsin over the weekend. Villanova would be no worse than the sixth best team in the SEC, and Notre Dame is a competitive team despite the loss of Tim Abromaitis to a season-ending knee injury. For its part, the Big East picked up some nice wins, highlighted by unranked Georgetown beating 12th ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa. In matchups featuring two ranked teams, the Big East was 2-0, as #3 Syracuse topped #9 Florida and #6 Louisville slipped by #19 Vanderbilt in overtime.

2. I'm surprised Ole Miss isn't better. RBP projected the Rebels to finish sixth in the SEC. However, they only managed two-point wins against DePaul (on Thursday) and Penn State (on Sunday), two of the worst BCS conference schools. While Andy Kennedy's squad sits at 7-1, the Rebels only quality win is against Miami, and they lost by 30 on a neutral court to Marquette.

3. LSU is a talented wing away from being very solid for the next couple years. 6-11 260-pound junior Justin Hamilton, a transfer from Iowa State, and 6-9 250-pound freshman Johnny O'Bryant, a McDonald's All-American, provide Trent Johnson with a talented (and enormous) frontline. The key going forward, however, may be freshman point guard Anthony Hickey. Hickey, who somehow flew under the radar on the recruiting circuit, won Kentucky's Mr. Basketball over Louisville freshman and McDonald's All-American Chane Behanan and led his Christian County squad to a state championship in the process. Waterbug-quick and a ballhawk on the defensive end, he leads the Tigers in minutes, assists, and steals and is second in scoring. Hickey struggled early against Rutgers on Saturday but made two crucial baskets in crunch time to put the game away for the Bayou Bengals.

4. Despite losing to ridiculously deep Syracuse, I like this Florida team. The Gators have an excellent backcourt, and I couldn't be much higher on Bradley Beal. I think he's a special player with shades of Eric Gordon to his game. Patric Young is a beast in the paint, but he's going to need some help. Will Yeguete will contribute, but the Gators will need Erik Murphy to step up after he returns from a knee injury if the Gators are going to make a deep run in March.

5. Seton Hall senior Herb Pope may finally be living up to his vast potential. The 6-8 235-pound senior forward spent his freshman year at New Mexico State. He chose the Aggies, despite being a highly sought after top 25 recruit. Prior to suiting up for the Aggies, Pope was shot in the arm at a party. He managed to put together a solid freshman campaign but transferred to Seton Hall after one season in Las Cruces. Then, in April 2010, Pope went into cardiac arrest caused by a genetic anomaly in his heart. After undergoing surgery to correct the condition, Pope returned to the floor last season but lacked the stamina necessary to play effectively for a full 40 minutes. Now fully recovered, Pope is averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds per game. In Seton Hall's 22-point shellacking of Auburn, Pope poured in 23 points, grabbed 12 boards, and blocked 3 shots. If he continues at this pace, the Pirates' inside-outside combo of Pope and senior point guard Jordan Theodore may surprise some teams in Big East play.

6. Louisville continues to find ways to win, despite a rash of injuries to key contributors. The Cardinals are without freshman McDonald's All-American Wayne Blackshear, junior Mike Marra, and junior Rakeem Buckles (who is expected to return in the short-term). A host of other Cardinals have missed time with an assortment of injuries but have since returned to action. The Cards' play on the offensive end against Vanderbilt wasn't pretty, but they managed to eke out a win in overtime. While Louisville is 7-0 and currently has the third best defense in the country (according to Ken Pomeroy's data), the Cardinals are struggling to score in the half-court. Vandy's length made Louisville's typically average offense look ineffective for long stretches. There is a good chance Rick Pitino's team will be ranked 4th when the newest rankings come out. However, with a date against Kentucky and conference play looming, the Cards are going to have to find ways to score in the half-court against long, athletic opponents, or their lofty perch in the rankings will be short-lived.

SEC Review

Alabama: A ton of talent made its way through Tuscaloosa during Mark Gottfried's time with the Crimson Tide, but his tenure was marked by chronic underachieving and a lack of player development. With Gottfried having been shown the door, former UAB coach and current Mizzou skipper Mike Anderson should be Bama's top priority. With the right coach, the explosive Senario Hillman and the (thus far) unimpressive JaMychal Green could thrive.

Arkansas: It's been a Jekyll and Hyde season for the Razorbacks. John Pelphrey lost a lot of talent to graduation after his first season in Fayetteville, and, so, his inexperienced squad began the season with extremely low expectations. Then, Arkansas opened up the season with a 12-1 record. During that span, the Razorbacks picked up wins over both Oklahoma and Texas. That same team has managed only two wins in conference play en route to quite possibly the most dramatic collapse in college basketball. Fortunately, brighter days appear to be on the horizon for this program. Freshman Courtney Fortson is a stat-stuffing floor general. Junior post player Michael Washington is one of the nation's most improved players, having almost quadrupled his scoring average from his sophomore campaign. Stefan Welsh is a crafty scorer, and freshman Rotnei Clarke (to my surprise) is more than a sniper from long-range. And while the other Baby Backs get more attention, Michael Sanchez may be my favorite. An active post player with a great motor, Sanchez is the homeless man's Tyler Hansbrough. Feel free to make a "I thought the homeless man's Tyler Hansbrough was [insert reference to slow-witted pop culture icon of your choice]" joke.

Auburn: Jeff Lebo's squad is one of the most underrated teams in the country. While I don't think the Tigers are tourney-worthy just yet, it's time to give them some bubble consideration. Auburn is three games over .500 in the not-as-bad-as-you-may-think SEC. If the Tigers can knock off LSU in their regular season finale, they would finish with a 10-6 conference record and would have a pretty good case for an at-large bid.

Georgia: By all accounts, former Bulldogs coach Dennis Felton is a class act. I do not take pleasure in his firing. But what exactly were the Dawgs doing in practice during Felton's tenure? Playing Guitar Hero? Having a booger-picking contest? If you know what was going on in Athens during the last couple years, please feel free to let me know in the comments section. And while I'm not sure what this program should do to right the ship, hiring Bob Knight is not the answer.

Florida: With Nick Calathes, Alex Tyus, Chandler Parsons, Kenny Kadji, and Eloy Vargas, Billy Donovan's roster is overflowing with young talent. Still, things just haven't clicked in Gainesville for the last two seasons. And while the majority of Donovan's young guns have failed to live up to the hype, Calathes has developed into one of the country's finest players. His importance to his team cannot be overstated. The Gators wouldn't even be close to the bubble without him. A second straight trip to the NIT is a definite possibility, but, if the Gators can beat Kentucky in their regular season finale and win a game in the SEC tourney, look for the Gators to pick up an at-large bid.

Kentucky: For a fanbase that is desperate to show the rest of the country that running Tubby Smith out of town was the right decision, season two of the Billy Gillispie era has been a debacle. It's still early, but Billy Clyde's refusal to adapt his coaching philosophy to his personnel and his increasingly hostile relationship with the media seem to corroborate speculation that he is in over his head on perhaps the brightest stage in college basketball. When the Wildcats are hitting on all cylinders, they can be a very good defensive team. Unfortunately, there's not much offensive firepower in Lexington beyond Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson. High-profile recruits DeAndre Liggins and Darius Miller have been disappointing. Neither freshman averages even six points per game – this despite the fact that Gillispie is dying for anything resembling a third scorer. The Cats need to beat Florida in Gainesville and then win at least one SEC tourney game to have a chance at an at-large bid. Ultimately, I think we're going to be filling out our tourney brackets sans the all-time winningest program in college basketball history.

LSU: Last year's LSU Tigers finished 13-17 and 6-10 in conference play. Enter former Stanford coach Trent Johnson, and the Bayou Bengals have a real chance at a 30-win season and have already wrapped up the SEC regular season title. Simply put, this looks like a totally different team, despite the fact that it's pretty much the exact same team that looked completely undermanned just one year ago. While Johnson will lose a lot of talent to graduation, making a repeat of his first-year success unlikely next season, the rest of the SEC should be very afraid. Trent Johnson plus Deep South talent equals the possibility of a Baton Rouge juggernaut.

Mississippi: Despite head coach Andy Kennedy's legal troubles and season-ending injuries to two of the Rebels' top four players (Chris Warren and Eniel Polynice), Ole Miss has somehow put together a decent season. After Warren and Polynice went down, Kennedy's squad had every reason to throw in the towel. However, the Rebels bounced back, are going to finish with a respectable record, and will have the chance to enter next season with one of the most talented foursomes in the country – Warren, Polynice, David Huertas, and freshman stud Terrico White.

Mississippi State: I'm not really a big Rick Stansbury fan, but his teams always seem to be in the mix at the end of the season. While the Bulldogs will likely miss the tourney, this is a solid team that can play with anyone. Stansbury's squad basically consists of human fly-swatter Jarvis Varnado and four streak-shooting guards. As usual, the Bulldogs play scrappy on the defensive end, but Varnado's ability to alter shots has given Stansbury's squad an added wrinkle. This team is one versatile scorer away from picking up an at-large bid.

South Carolina: Devan Downey and Zam Fredrick are terrific college guards and two of the best ballhandlers in the country. And while Downey and Fredrick get most of the ink, the Gamecocks are far from a two-man show. Dominique Archie is a long, versatile defender. Mike Holmes and Sam Muldrow provide Darrin Horn with a two-headed beast in the paint. Expect the underrated Gamecocks to pick up between an eight and ten seed (which will be too low). However, with their guard play and deep bench, don't be surprised if this team makes some noise in March.

Tennessee: Before the season started, I thought Rocky Top was a Top 10 team. (I also thought this was going to be junior J.P. Prince's breakout season.) Despite their disappointing play, I still think the Vols have Top 25 talent. Unfortunately, Team Headband doesn't put forth enough effort on defense and shows little to no discipline on the offensive end. Bruce Pearl has been a savior to this long-underachieving program, but this has not been his best performance. Look for Tennessee to pick up between a six and seven seed. However, if the Vols can find a shooter (and, no, emerging freshman Scotty Hopson is not a shooter), a deep tourney run isn't out of the question.

Vanderbilt: Not a whole lot was expected from Kevin Stallings' extremely young Commodores this year, but it's still a little disappointing that Vandy couldn't make a run in a thin SEC. That being said, have you seen the athletes that are filing into Nashville? Put simply, while not as successful as some of Stallings' past squads, this group is athletically superior to anything Vandy has ever put on the floor. Oh, and junior point guard Jermaine Beal is quite possibly my favorite player in college basketball. His numbers aren't tremendous (12.6 points, 3.1 assists, and 3.7 rebounds per game), but he's a complete player with great basketball instincts. Like former Villanova Wildcat Alvin Williams and former Florida Gator Justin Hamilton, the wiry Beal fits the mold of the floor general that is both athletic enough to be a scorer but disciplined enough to play within himself. He uses his body well, plays lockdown perimeter defense, and makes everyone around him better. With Beal manning the point, A.J. Ogilvy patrolling the paint, and a number of young, athletic wings slashing to the bucket and hitting the glass, this group could be special next year.

Player of the Year: Jodie Meeks, Kentucky
Runner-up: Nick Calathes, Florida
When Meeks is hot (and he often is), he's the most deadly scorer in the country. He's also active on the defensive end – especially for someone that is counted on to provide so much scoring. He'd be a lock for this honor if not for the fact that it's looking more and more like UK may miss the Dance. Then again, Calathes' Gators may be headed to the NIT as well. Calathes, Billy Donovan's do-it-all sophomore has almost singlehandedly kept his team in the postseason discussion. If both Meeks and Calathes fail to get their teams into the Dance, it's quite possible that Marcus Thornton, LSU's senior two-guard would be most deserving of the honor. Thornton averages 20.9 points and 5.5 rebounds for the first place Tigers. Kentucky's Patrick Patterson and South Carolina's Devan Downey also deserve consideration.

Coach of the Year: Trent Johnson, LSU
Runner-up: Darrin Horn, South Carolina
Johnson and Horn, both in their first year at their respective schools, have taken teams with extremely low expectations to the SEC's penthouse. Johnson has orchestrated an incredible turnaround in Baton Rouge and, to his credit, has adapted to his team's strengths. Specifically, he's altered his offensive approach to accommodate the Tigers lack of post scoring. Johnson is notorious for demanding that his bigs get touches on the offensive end. While LSU patiently works the ball around on offense, he's given Marcus Thornton and Tasmin Mitchell a great deal of freedom in light of his post players' lack of offensive skills. Horn, who led Western Kentucky to the Sweet Sixteen last March, brought new life to a South Carolina program that only made it to the NCAA tourney once during Dave Odom's seven-year tenure. Because the SEC was so weak this year (and Tennessee didn't live up to its advanced billing), I truly believe every team in this conference with the exception of Ole Miss (due to injury) and Georgia (due to being horrible) had enough talent to compete for the league crown. Johnson and Horn deserve credit for navigating their teams through a balanced SEC and extracting the maximum from their rosters.

Freshman of the Year: Terrico White, Mississippi
Runner-up: Courtney Fortson, Arkansas
During the first half of the season, Fortson looked like he would win this one in a landslide. Then, Arkansas experienced a collapse of epic proportions (and may very well end up finishing in last place in the conference). Fortson was also suspended for a single game for disciplinary reasons. Still, despite Fortson's maturity issues, it's hard to ignore a guy putting up 14.8 points, 6.2 assists, and 5.3 rebounds per contest. The honor, however, goes to Ole Miss frosh Terrico White. White only averages 12.6 points per game on the season, but his SEC play has been off the charts. In non-conference play, White scored in double-digits three times. In conference play, he's hit double-digits 13 times. In seven of those games, he went for twenty. All told, the 6-5 freshman is averaging just over 18 points per contest in SEC play. He also brings a ton of intangibles to the table, hits the boards, and has a high basketball IQ. Vanderbilt's Jeffery Taylor, a lockdown defender with a ton of upside, and Georgia's Howard Thompkins, a bright spot in an otherwise dreary season for the Bulldogs, also merit consideration.

Defensive Player of the Year: Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State
Runner-up: Patrick Patterson, Kentucky
Believe it or not, Varnado actually averages more blocks per game – 4.8 to be exact – than UConn's Hasheem Thabeet. He has impeccable timing and an albatross-like wingspan. For every shot he blocks, there are countless others that he alters. Varnado is one of the few players in the country that offenses have to gameplan around. Varnado doesn't always play the best position defense, and he sometimes shies away from physical contact, but his presence on the defensive end cannot be denied. Patterson is tremendous on the boards and is a talented shot-blocker in his own right. He's technically sound, and he's the lynchpin in Kentucky's man-to-man defense. Patterson just edges out South Carolina's Devan Downey for runner-up.

1st Team All-SEC
Devan Downey, South Carolina
Nick Calathes, Florida
Jodie Meeks, Kentucky
Marcus Thornton, LSU
Patrick Patterson, Kentucky
The 5-9 Downey is the SEC's version of Allen Iverson. Averaging 20.2 points per contest, he can score off the bounce, in transition, and with his jump shot. He's also great on the defensive end. His quickness and anticipation mean he's always in the passing lanes. He's fifth in the country in steals at 3.1 thefts per contest.

2nd Team All-SEC
David Huertas, Mississippi
Tasmin Mitchell, LSU
Tyler Smith, Tennessee
Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State
A.J. Ogilvy, Vanderbilt
Clearly, there's quite a bit of individual talent in a conference without a lot of team talent. Smith and Varnado would be on the first team in a lot of conferences. Mitchell, who may finally be reaching his potential under Trent Johnson, has scored double digits in every conference game and dropped 41 against Mississippi State. Ole Miss freshman Terrico White just misses the cut. If his non-conference body of work matched his conference play, he'd be a no-brainer. No Auburn Tigers make the cut, but DeWayne Reed and Korvotney Barber deserve consideraton. A number of analysts have praised Arkansas' Michael Washington. The junior power forward is averaging close to a double-double and is arguably the nation's most improved player. Still, I'm not overly impressed. He gets his numbers, but he seems to be playing in slow motion, and his defense is lacking.

All-SEC Defensive Team
Devan Downey, South Carolina
Garrett Temple, LSU
Patrick Patterson, Kentucky
Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State
Chris Johnson, LSU
Temple is the Bruce Bowen of the SEC. I would imagine that his SEC foes will not be sad that he (and his pointy elbows) will be graduating in the spring. Johnson is LSU's enforcer in the paint (2.8 blocks per game) and allows the Tigers to be aggressive on the perimeter. South Carolina's Dominique Archie and Vanderbilt's Jeffery Taylor just miss the cut.

Top Coaches

These college basketball coaches have done a good to exceptional job this year. They are in order, beginning with who I feel has done the best job.

Deserving of "Every Damn Penny!"
Bill Self - Self has done a remarkable job with his Kansas squad this year. Until last year, many of his Kansas teams were noted for their underachievments. However, after losing Kahn, Robinson, Chalmers, Rush, Arthur, and Jackson after their National Championship season, this year's Jayhawks are right back in the hunt for a number one seed and playing their best basketball of the season heading into the postseason. They lost roughly 85 percent of their scoring from last year, and 87 percent of their rebounding. Self's work this year may be his most impressive coaching effort. His name should be in the top 3 considered for National Coach of the Year.

Jeff Capel - The Sooners are one of the more fun teams to watch in all of college basketball. They have the Player of the Year, potential Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year. The emergence of Juan Patillo has given Capel an incredibly athletic team. Oklahoma recently dropped two without their star big man, Blake Griffin, but this will be a very dangerous team as either a one or two seed. Capel should be applauded for his development of Willie Warren, a guy I didn't think was much more than an athlete coming out of high school.

Trent Johnson - Besides an unexplainable loss at Utah, LSU's season has been quite remarkable. Johnson inherited a team of misfits, egos, and underachievers, saddled with the early departure of Anthony Randolph. He has turned them into a great defensive team with an excellent scoring tandem of Mitchell and Thornton (not the balding one). He's recruited a freshman named Storm Warren, and if that's any indication, Johnson and the hotbed of Louisiana recruits will maintain a hold of power in the SEC West.

Mike Anderson - Mizzou's 40 minutes of hell is wreaking havoc in the Big 12. Anderson has brought national attention to the program again, but this time it's not for vioalations by a smirking ex-Dukie. Did anyone realize Snyder coached Missouri until 2006? I thought he was out of there by at least 2004. Anyway, Mike Anderson brought in five freshman and two transfers this year to bring up the talent level and it appears everyone is fitting in nicely. They are a fun team to watch.

Dino Guadio - Though their conference play has been less than steller, with losses to Georgia Tech and NC State, they also have huge wins over UNC, Duke, Clemson, and Florida State. Many people forget Wake is a young team, maybe explaining their inconsistent play, with most of their production coming from sophomores and freshman. Jeff Teague is an all-world point guard and Aminu has developed into a sensational freshman. With such a young team, Guadio has done an outstanding job to put the Deacons in a position to gain a 2 or 3 seed.

Rick Pitino - Louisville finally looks like a team deserving of a preseason top five ranking. Pitino deserves the credit for this Louisville team's reemergance towards the latter part of this year. He has Preston Knowles and Andre McGee playing much better basketball, Terrence Williams has developed into a (would have won a lot of bets) complete player, and Terrence Jennings is providing defensive and, now offensive, energy from the bench. This Louisville team didn't start as a top five team, but they do look like one now. Surprisingly (to almost everyone who has watched Louisville the past three years), Williams is the heart, soul, and talent of this team. Without him, I sincerely doubt whether Louisville would be a ranked team at this point in the season.

Lorenzo Romar - Washington got off to a rough start, but Romar finally has the Huskies atop the Pac 10 standings. Winning against Washington State would clinch the Pac for the first time in Romar's seven year career. Washington has three guys averaging over 15 points a game, and a stud point guard in Isaiah Thomas. They are bringing in Abdul Gaddy, a top ranked high school guard, next year.

Deserving of Most of their Contract
Tom Izzo - Izzo fo Shizzo has developed a deep team in East Lansing. Kalin Lucas is the engine of this big slow PT Cruiser, but it has a lot of parts - parts that work well together. They play defense, rebound, and slow down every team they face (not a tall task in the Big 1o, but still). They force teams to play at their pace, but Lucas will burn the defense for easy baskets throughout the game. They are an extremely tough team, always seeming to make plays when they are needed. Typical of an Izzo team, the Spartans are poised to make some noise in March.

Roy Williams - Maybe a bit surprising to see Roy Williams and the second-ranked Tar Heels in the middle tier, but with the talent passing through Chapel Hill this year, it has not been one of Good Ole Roy's finest coaching jobs. They have one of the top point guards, top power forwards, and top shooting guards in the nation, but the Tar Heels sporadically commit themselves to defense. This might just be the new trend at UNC and Roy may have to practically go undefeated to be recognized as Coach of the Year.

Mike Krzyzewski - Outside of dropping 4 of 7 during conference play, it's been a remarkable season for the Blue Devils. They had their flopping asses handed to them by North Carolina and Boston College, but rebounded well with four straight wins. It's a typical Duke team, but with excellent floor spacing (Or so I hear). Their travels are receiving some hype on youtube, and if you are a believer of good, I assume you are hoping for one to cost them the game against their first round matchup in the tournament. Despite all of that, Coach K has done a good job with these . . . uh . . . guys. Gerald Henderson has finally lived up to his billing coming out of high school and Jon Scheyer shoots the ball . . . uh . . . I can't do it. Duke's the worst, I hate them.

Bruce Weber - Although Illinois lost a game to Penn State earlier this year 38-33, Weber deserves a lot of credit for where the Fighting Illini are at this point in the season. Although, if playing in any other conference, even the SEC, I don't think this Illini team is .500 in conference play. They fit in well with the other Big 10 teams, and Weber has really overacheived with this group of guys. Prior to this year, I couldn't have told you a player on their team besides Alex Legion.

Jay Wright - Wright may have been included in the top tier if not for his loss at Georgetown over the weekend. The Wildcats returned virtually the same team from last year, where they were a 12 seed that reached the Sweet Sixteen, losing to eventual champ Kansas. Wright dresses well, is married to a former cheerleader, and has hair I deeply envy. For that he gets a handshake, but he has also done an impressive job this year.

Ben Howland - UCLA has somewhat underperformed during their conference play, but with their last two games at home should finish the season at 24-7. I doubt many are expecting UCLA to make a fourth final four appearance in five years, but this team has some experienced talented players and could possibly win the PAC 10 regular season title.