Gator Country

CAGator93 · 12-06-2012, 12:30 AM

Not trying to brag, I'd actually rather see a good conference and see us come out on top if things go our way, but -- gotta ask, are we it in the conference?

Looks like the SEC could be in for a really down year.

gatorev12 · 12-06-2012, 01:33 AM

Missouri will be a solid team...tournament-bound for sure and I wouldn't be surprised if they went to the Sweet 16 either. They aren't as solid as they were last year...but they'll have a good record going into the tourney and their players will be itching to avenge last year too.

Also, have a feeling Bama will be good as well. They're always well-coached and tough to play. Wouldn't bet against them making the tournament either.

Kentucky's off to a terrible start, but they'll improve as the season goes on and I'd be shocked if they didn't make the tournament when all's said and done.

Four tourney teams will be decent for a "down" year...and it'll be temporary at that. Kentucky has some absolute studs on the way next year, as does Donovan.

**sec1** · 12-06-2012, 01:36 AM

i agree mizzu is a good team and they are getting better , UK will improve and so will bama...

CAGator93 · 12-06-2012, 01:39 AM

What's up with Tennessee? 36 and 38 points the last 2 games?

**sec1** · 12-06-2012, 01:49 AM

UTs O looks horrible recently

tommyuf21 · 12-06-2012, 12:07 PM

UT is missing their best player. He should be back soon.

HayGator · 12-06-2012, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tommyuf21

UT is missing their best player. He should be back soon.

That should get them to 50 a game.

GatorPlanet · 12-06-2012, 12:34 PM

UF, Missouri, and Bama are all good. UK will be good by the end, but they're in jeopardy at the moment. They'll need to turn it up soon if they want to make the NCAA tournament.

As for the rest...who knows? UT has potential, maybe Ole Miss and LSU.

I hope the conference starts putting together some wins before league play starts. Otherwise, they're not gonna help our seeding at the end.

TampaGatorFan · 12-06-2012, 12:36 PM

Frankly, I think the SEC Championship is ours to lose this time around.

Go2gtr · 12-07-2012, 10:59 AM

Has Ole Miss played anyone yet? Never mind, no they haven't.

Miss Valley State
W93-57

Coastal Carolina
W90-72

Arkansas Little Rock
W92-52

McNeese State
W76-50

Lipscomb
W91-45

Rutgers
W80-67

Next up Middle Tennessee then East Tennessee State.

Not sure how good Rutgers is. OM can score though. I'd like to think they can rep the conference but it's probly not gonna happen.

HotlantaGator · 12-07-2012, 01:35 PM

Kentucky still has the potential to be an Elite Eight/Final Four team by March, do not expect to see the same level of mediocrity from the Cats that they are showing in December.

Too much young talent and a lot of time still to go, UK will improve by a LOT, whether it will be enough to better UF remains to be seen, but don't go clearing space on the mantle just yet.

**GothamGator** · 12-07-2012, 04:59 PM

Kentucky plays Louisville at the end of the month. We will know a lot more then about how much they are improving.

We play both Missouri and UK twice. Hopefully, that bit of tougher scheduling will not hurt us in the long run.

REM08 · 12-07-2012, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GothamGator

Kentucky plays Louisville at the end of the month. We will know a lot more then about how much they are improving.

We play both Missouri and UK twice. Hopefully, that bit of tougher scheduling will not hurt us in the long run.

I hope to see improvement by UL, but as far behind as UK has looked so far, I honestly don't expect to see a significantly different team until March or so - and it might be more hoping than expecting. The 2011 team didn't click until late February and they were never as scary (in a bad way) as this team looks so far.

demosthenes · 12-07-2012, 05:39 PM

Kentucky will be in the tourney. As much emphasis as the selection committee puts on the last 10 games will benefit them. Plus the committee will know they're a young team and the early session losses are understandable.

GatorsGators · 12-07-2012, 05:50 PM

Ole Miss hasn't played anyone yet, but they're still a pretty good team with a good chance of making the tournament. They have a very good frontcourt with Holloway and Buckner. Summers is a heady point guard. Marshall Henderson takes a ton of bad threes, but he's an explosive shooter. Nick Williams and Snoop White are athletic and skilled wings.

Alabama has been inconsistent, but they have a bunch of good guards and wings, and college basketball is a guard's game. Trevor Releford is probably the best PG in the conference at the moment. He's ultra-quick and a great finisher at the rim, especially considering he's sub-6ft. I think they'll end up in the tournament as well.

Then there's Florida, Missouri, and Kentucky. Those are the five bids in the conference imo. Tennessee and Arkansas still have some chances to get quality wins in the non-conference, so I wouldn't count those teams out either.

themistocles · 12-07-2012, 06:15 PM

You may recall that Tennessee beat UF twice last year. This year they return all starters, but, as Tommy21 noted, they are missing their best player. Apparently, they have absolutely no one to replace him. Last year, they also had a horrible pre-season that kept them out of the NCAA tourney, despite finishing effectively in 2nd place in the SEC and beating the 2nd tier teams, Vandy and Florida 3-1. They appear to be doing exactly the same thing this year, but they might well beat the Gators again in Knoxville.

Last year, Kentucky was IT in the SEC, and, except for the Gators, who played some very bad games during the SEC season, but did well in the NCAA tourney, all other SEC teams were out of the tourney quickly.

This is likely not true with the Gators this year, although, right now, UF appears to have the "best team." The Gators almost always manage to figure a way to lose to one of the weak West teams

As was noted above, Ky will improve, they are young, lost 95% of their scoring, and are lacking a true PG (which is really vital), but they will be much better by tournament time as their Freshmen become battle tested.

I have not been as impressed with Missou as others have, although they are always well-coached and have good talent, but this year, they also lost a large part of last year's outstanding team. They too will improve as the season wears on.

UNFORTUNATELY, once again, the Gator's schedule is most heavily loaded with difficult games at the end of the schedule. The last seven games are @Auburn (weak team), @Missou (pretty good team), Arkansas (probably not very good), @Tennessee (which should be a good team by them), Alabama (probably good team), Vandy (look really bad so far), and finally, @Ky (by then, they should be a pretty good team if they ever will be).

So, four of the last six look tough, and three are on the road.

This team could go undefeated, or they could lose as many as 5 games.

They may be IT in the SEC, but I sure wouldn't put any money on that yet, perhaps after the first two road SEC games (LSU & Tex A&M). If they come out of that 3-0, and beat Zona and K-state as well, then I will be more likely to say they might be IT in the SEC.