SEC Basketball Preview

The non-conference basketball season is over (for the SEC at least), with a few exceptions. And before I actually start the "real" preview, let's recap what has happened to this point for each team.

SEC STANDINGS (I've put them into categories)

TOP TIER
1. Kentucky (14-1, #2 AP)- Kentucky. That's about all you need to know about this team. They look like Kentucky. They play like Kentucky. They win like Kentucky. Their only loss came this buzzer beater to now #12 Indiana.  Other than that, they have just taken care of business.

2. Mississippi State (13-2, #15 AP)- A surprise team to most, Mississippi State has had some quality wins (Texas A&M, Arizona, West Virginia) and a (semi?) disappointing loss to Akron.

3. Florida (12-3, #13 AP)- Florida has had a great non-conference season, adding some good resume-building wins(Arizona, Texas A&M). Their three loses were all (mostly) understandable (@ then #3 Syracuse, @ then #3 Ohio State, and 2OT to Rutgers).

4. Alabama (11-3, received 1 vote in AP poll)- If you want to see a team that was over-hyped in the preseason, take a good look at Alabama. They were ranked as high as 12th. They lost to now #9 Georgetown, and seemingly started an uncontrollable spiral downward (3 losses in 4 games). They now seem to have that under control.

MEDIOCRE AND/OR UNDERACHIEVING

4. Arkansas (11-3)- This team has played a rather soft- preseason schedule. They were not expected to win any of their 3 losses (Houston, then #10  UCONN, Oklahoma). They have lost team-leaders PF Marshawn Powell to injury and Rotnei Clarke to transferring to Butler.

5. Auburn (10-4)-  Auburn is mediocre and overachieving. Losses include Seton Hall, (a good) Long Beach State University, UTEP (UGLY!!!), and a 29 point loss to Florida State. Notable Wins: South Florida, Hawaii (Do those even count?).

5. LSU (10-4)- An all-around inconsistent team. I can't decide if they're on the rise or if they just get lucky every now and then. Losses: Coastal Carolina, Northwestern, University of South Alabama in OT, then #23 Virginia. Good Wins: then #10 Marquette.

5. Ole Miss (10-4)- Just a plain, old mediocre team. With losses to then #19 Marquette, Southern Miss, Middle Tenn. State University, and Dayton, it is not going to get any easier to win for Ole Miss now. As of today, Ole Miss's leading scorer Dundrecous(sp?) Nelson was booted from the team for, as he stated under oath,  "unlawfully and willfully used paraphernalia to ingest or inhale a controlled substance." Notable wins include: Miami, Penn State, TCU.

5. Vanderbilt (10-4)- If you want to see another over-hyped team, look no further than Vandy. A consensus top-10 basketball team in the preseason. Losses: Cleveland State, then #11 Xavier, then #6 Louisville, Indiana State Sycamores (yes, they are the sycamores). Wins: BLOWOUT @ then #13 Marquette.

THOSE EASTERN TEAMS THAT WILL BE LUCKY TO ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING

6. Georgia (9-5)- Inconsistent. Notable Wins: Notre Dame, USC. Losses: then #18 CAL, then #12 Xavier, Colorado, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech

7. South Carolina (8-6) Even more inconsistent than Georgia. Bad losses, but hung with then #2 Ohio State until after halftime. Notable Wins: Clemson. Losses: then #1 UNC, USC, Providence, then #2 Ohio State, Elon, Tennessee State(!!!!!!!!).

8. Tennessee (7-7)- Just bad. Dealing with the NCAA doesn't help either. Notable Wins: none. Losses: then #6 Duke, then #8 Memphis, Oakland, then #17 Pittsburgh, Austin Peay, College of Charleston. It may be a long year for the Vol faithful.

PREVIEW

Well now that our recap is complete, I'm gonna preview the SEC season. Complete with best and worst case scenarios, NCAA tournament and NIT chances, and my Pre-SEC season- ALL SEC- Team.

1. Kentucky. This is not a hard choice. Easily the most talent in the SEC.

Best Case Scenario: 16-0. Hey, it could happen.

Worst Case Scenario: 12-4. Are there even 4 teams in the SEC that could hang with Kentucky?

NCAA TOURNAMENT? Yes, 1 seed. 2 seed at worst.

2. Mississippi State. One reason I have MSU over Florida is the easier schedule. The second reason wears jersey #3.

Best Case Scenario: 13-3. MSU will drop some close ones and maybe one they aren't supposed to.

Worst Case Scenario: 9-7. Another late-season collapse leads to a disappointing season.

NCAA TOURNAMENT? Yes, anywhere from a 3 seed to a 7 seed.

3. Florida. Just continues to be a solid basketball team under Billy Donovan.

Best Case Scenario: 14-2. All wins except two close ones to either Kentucky, Mississippi State, Vandy, Alabama

Worst Case Scenario: 8-8. An injury to Kenny Boynton would kill UF.

NCAA TOURNAMENT? Yes, 3 seed to a 9 seed.

4. Alabama- Will hopefully improve since the non-conference schedule.

Best Case Scenario: 13-3. This Alabama team is known to play great defense. If they get hot... LOOK OUT!

Worse Case Scenario: 8-8. A lack of effort can become contagious on a team.

NCAA TOURNAMENT? On the bubble, could be anywhere from a 8 seed to a 13 seed

NIT? If they don't get an NCAA berth, look for Alabama to host a NIT region.

5. Vandy- I think they will get better.

Best Case Scenario: 12-4. They basically return all the key clogs from an excellent team last year.

Worst Case Scenario: 8-8. Ezeli could get reinjured. That would be very bad.

NCAA TOURNAMENT? On the bubble, Vandy as a 9 seed is very possible. Heck, Vandy as a 7 seed is very possible.

NIT? Well if they don't make the NCAA, look for Vandy to host.

6. Arkansas. We're gettin' on down the list.

Best Case Scenario:11-5. They play a very potent full-court defense. They could get hot.

Worst Case Scenario: 7-9. Injuries could stack up on a team that already only plays 9 scholarship players.

NCAA TOURNAMENT? If they make a run in the SEC season and go fairly deep in the SEC tourney, they could be anywhere from a 10 seed to a 13 seed.

NIT? Very likely.

7. LSU. A team that has definitely improved from last season.

Best Case Scenario: 10-6. Trent Johnson could finally wake the sleeping Tigers.

Worst Case Scenario: 6-10. Another LSU basketball season.

NCAA TOURNAMENT? Probably not, but if they make a (unlikely) run in the SEC tourney, it IS possible.

NIT? Extremely likely.

8. Ole Miss. Andy Kennedy will probably be on the hot seat by the end of the season.

Best Case Scenario: 11-5. Jelan Kendrick could step and be the star he's capable of being.

Worst Case Scenario: 6-10. Lack of depth could hurt the Rebs.

NCAA TOURNAMENT? Probably not, they would probably have to win the SEC tourney to grasp a 12 seed.

NIT? Almost definitely.

9. Georgia. They have a tough schedule.

Best Case Scenario: 10-6. They could get lucky. That's all I've got.

Worst Case Scenario: 4-12. Like I said, they have a tough schedule. Kentucky X2, Florida X2, MSU, Vandy X2

NCAA TOURNAMENT? No.

NIT? Probably.

10. Auburn. Just a inconsistent team.

Best Case Scenario: 9-7. They could win most of their home games and maybe two or three more.

Worst Case Scenario: 4-12. It's Auburn basketball.

NCAA TOURNAMENT? No.

NIT? Maybe. I'm leaning towards no.

11. Tennessee. The only thing that separates UT from South Carolina is the talent level.

Best Case Scenario: 10-6. They DO have talent. Just some poor coaching.

Worst Case Scenario: 4-12. Bad coaching. It happens.

NCAA TOURNAMENT? No.

NIT? Maybe. They would have a better chance of making it than Auburn just for their namesake.

12.South Carolina. Just bad. Just really, really bad.

Best Case Scenario: 8-8. They could win the easy ones.

Worst Case Scenario: 2-14. Now THAT would be bad. Like fire your coach midseason bad.

NCAA TOURNAMENT? No.

NIT? Nothing is impossible.

Pre-SEC season-ALL SEC-Team

PG: Dee Bost, Mississippi State

SG: John Jenkins, Vanderbilt

SF: Doron Lamb, Kentucky

PF: Arnett Moultrie, Mississippi State

C: Anthony Davis, Kentucky

Any comments/ thoughts/ questions? Thanks for reading!

Music City Bowl Preview

This Friday, Mississippi State will play Wake Forest in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, TN. Many have marked Mississippi State's season a disappointment. Mississippi State started the year ranked top 20 in most polls. Injuries on the offensive line and close games have lead the Bulldogs to a 6-6 season. And while, yes, it was a disappointing season, most everyone will tell you that reaching this bowl game was a rather large step for MSU in the long run. This marks only the 4th time in school history that the Bulldogs have reached back-to-back bowl games and the first time since the 2000 season.

The Bulldog's opponent, Wake Forest (6-6), is in the process of getting back on top. The Demon Deacons received a BCS-bowl bid in 2006. They lost in the Orange Bowl to Louisville 26-14. This is the Demon Deacons first bowl bid since the 2008 season.

Mississippi State has been somewhat of a mystery this season with performances that range from a dominant victory against Ole Miss to a blowout loss to Arkansas.However, Wake Forest has played fairly consistent this season. With a win against ranked (at the time) Florida State and a near win against BCS-bound Clemson. Both of these teams will be looking to claim a winning season.

Wake Forest plays a unique style of a 3-4 defense. This defense has many different schemes and blitzes. Look for Miss. State to take advantage of  linebacker-wide receiver mismatches during this game. Screen passes and quick throws will neutralize this blitz-happy defense.

On offense,Wake Forest will use an air attack that the Bulldogs haven't seen since Arkansas (and that didn't turn out too well for MSU). Lead by Tanner Price ( 2803 yards, 20 TDs, 6 INTs), WF will test Mississippi State deep through the air early and often . And MSU better keep an eye on WR Chris Givens, a Mississippi native who is having a very special season ( 1276 yards, 74 receptions, 9 TDs).

With all of that said, let's look at my keys to this game.

Wake Forest's Keys to the Game

• Test the MSU secondary DEEP early and often.
• Get the passing game going early, and it will open up the ground game.
• Blitz Bulldog quarterbacks Chris Relf and Tyler Russell and force them to make costly mistakes.

Mississippi State's Keys to the Game

• Take advantage of any Linebacker-WR mismatches.
• Use screen passes and quick throws to slow down WF's Defense
• Play assignment football on defense. Lock down the passing game and WF won't be able to do much on offense.
• Run the ball down hill at the defense. WF is a speedy team. Don't go around them, go through them.

Prediction: I just pointed out what each team will have to do to win this game. I think it will be easier for MSU to beat WF for one reason: They have a team that is battle-tested because they have already played the best teams in the nation. One of those top teams (Arkansas), thrashed the dogs. If WF can match Arkansas's offensive firepower, it could be a long day for MSU.  Not Happening.  MSU 41, WF 24.

A competition.

In anticipation for bowl season, I have created a group for ESPN's College Bowl Mania. Winner gets a shout out on the blog!

Click here to be taken to the group homepage. The password for the group is goodwin.

The End (And the Beginning of Something Special)

Basically, football season is over. Yes, there are bowl games, championships, all-star games, and even coaching controversy,but nothing will ever replace the empty void left in me on Friday nights and Saturdays. And since I must acknowledge this, I will recap this past season to help cope with the emptiness that is the end of football season.

High School Football

I had the pleasure of going to all but one of the Madison Central football games(missed the Greenville game), and I have never been more proud of being a Jag. The Jags DESTROYED teams on the ground by essentially running about 5 plays. It is tough to not make it past the North State Championship game for the 4th year in a row, but the Jags will recover and regroup this offseason like they always do. This season was not short of drama for MC. The Jags started off 0-2, beat rival NWR 52-20 in a hyped-up, televised game, and lost a close game against the eventual 6A state champions, Olive Branch, in the North State Championship game. But let me tell you one thing. If you thought the Jags were talented this year, wait till next year. The Jags sophomore class is as talented as any in the school's history. The sophomore class has won its conference the past three years with a combined record of 24-0. Olive Branch will have lost most all talent by next year. South Panola will be just as much of a non factor next year. Look for the Jags to make a run at their first 6A championship ever.

College Football

Both Ole Miss and Mississippi State had disappointing seasons. The good news for Ole Miss? The season is over and you have hired a new coach who has pumped new life into the nearly dead football program. So the question posed to you, Ole Miss fans, is: Are Hugh Ready?(PUN. NY) State's disappointing season was highlighted earlier in the season with a close loss to Auburn. There were several games decided by very few points. Who knows? A few different outcomes on plays, and State might be a 8-4 team.

Southern Miss football was not a disappointment. Recording the schools most victories in a season and a C-USA championship had Larry Fedora's name popping up like Dan Mullen's at nearly every school without a coach. Since then, Larry Fedora has accepted the job at the University of North Carolina.

Conclusion

Thanks for following my blog with me the last couple of weeks for football and other things. I hope this was as much fun for you as it was for me. I'm looking forward to next year and possibly expanding the blog's coverage to more schools than just MC.  It's time to shift gears to basketball and baseball. Hopefully I will be covering MC in these sports as well (as often as possible).

Finally, it will be tough to continue to write here (seeing as baseball and basketball are not exactly the king sports in Mississippi). I will try to write as often as possible. However, lots of information will be passed through twitter. So as soon as you're done reading this go to twitter and follow me @GOODWIN_SPORTS.

A proposition. If you are at all interested in writing for the blog (no matter the opinion), contact me on twitter. If you would like to write for your high school sports team, I would be more than happy to use that on my blog. I would love to make this a place for eveyone's opinion and not just mine.

And on a personal note, I would like to thank everyone for their continued support. The thoughts and comments have meant a lot to me. Continue to read and develop your own personal opinion of all things in the world. Thank you so much.

MC@Olive Branch Live Stream

Are you not gonna be able to make it up to Olive Branch? Well that's okay. You can still watch the game! Below is a link to the Olive Branch athletics website. The link will take you to the page where a live stream of the game will be played.

Link to game: http://www.quistorsports.com/?page_id=265. GO JAGS!

P.S. If this doesn't work, I WILL be tweeting live from Olive Branch tonight. Follow me on Twitter @GOODWIN_SPORTS .

Friday Night Writes: Madison Central @ Olive Branch- North State Championship

A rematch. That's what will take place this Friday night in Olive Branch, MS.  The Jags of Madison Central High School will play the role of underdog when they take on the Conquistadors of Olive Branch High School at 7 p.m. The first time these teams played, it took a two-minute drill for the Conquistadors to beat the Jags. So expect a very close game. The winner of this game will head to Jackson to play the winner of the Meridian- Petal in the 6A State Title game.

Madison Central is led by Drew Rowell and Hugh Warren. They have combined for over 2,200 yards of rushing this season. Running back Brandon Moore will not play the rest of the season due to a wrist injury. The running back duties will fall on Brandon Collins. Collins is averaging nearly 6 yards per carry this year. The Jags also boast a defense that held the run-heavy South Panola Tigers to 14 points. The Jag's front seven were EXTREMELY impressive last Friday night. The secondary has played well beyond my expectations recently, forcing two interceptions in the past two games.

Olive Branch is led by stud Senior QB Todd Mays. Mays has over 3,000(!!!) total yards. Mays is enough to deal with by himself. However, OB also boasts one of the nations top WR's. D'Arthur Cowan, a Arkansas commit, has over 1,100 yards with ONLY 56 catches. The Olive Brach Conquistadors also boast these.

As a Madison Central student, I think I speak for all my fellow Jags. Bobby Hall, Sign us up for these jerseys!

KEYS TO THE GAME

• Madison Central's defense must work as a unit. The D-Line must get to Todd Mays and then force a bad pass. The secondary must keep the talented OB WR's contained. Speaking of contained, you must keep Todd Mays contained as well. Sounds like a lot? It is. The key to this key is TACKELING. I remember one specific play from the August match up with these teams. Todd Mays made 9 tacklers miss. 9!!! Tackle, tackle, tackle!
• Olive Branch's defense has one simple task. Stop MC's run game. If they do that, this game will not even be close. MC has proved time and time again that they simply just cannot pass the football.
• MC's offense must be able to score at the same pace as OB or this game will get out of hand very fast. Very few punts for the Jags will allow the Jags to put more points on the board and more importantly, keep the ball out of Todd Mays hands.
• Olive Branch must torch the Jags through the air. Todd Mays threw for over 250 yards the past time these two teams played.
• The Jags must keep the ball out of the Todd Mays' hands in the final 4 minutes. This offense is SERIOUS GOOD. Stop him or leave yourself time to score the winning score.
• If the Jags win the turnover battle, MC WILL win.

Prediction: Rod Walker of the Clarion Ledger picked MC to lose to Northwest Rankin and South Panola. The Jags won both of those games. Walker has picked OB in this game as well. Most all Jag fans think that Rod Walker picking the opposite team is a good sign. I agree. Thanks Rod. MC-38, OB-35

The Egg Bowl- 107th Battle

This coming Saturday night, a championship game will be played in the state of Mississippi. And while this game won't decide national or even conference championships, it WILL decide who gets bragging rights for the next 366 days. The 107th meeting between Ole Miss and MSU will take place in Starkville . The game will be broadcasted on ESPNU at 6 p.m. The are several story lines going into Saturday night's game. For Ole Miss, Houston Nutt and his assistants will be coaching their last game as the Ole Miss coaching staff, capping off a more than disappointing season. But rest assured that his players will want to send him off a winner. For Mississippi State, there is a sense of confidence, maybe even arrogance surrounding this match up. And maybe rightfully so. State will enter Davis-Wade Stadium winners of the past two egg bowls. They will also enter as the largest favorite in egg bowl history. The spread on this game is 17.5(!!!) points. And check out this first in college football, hashtags in the endzone!!!


( I don't care who you pull for, this is AWESOME.)

Ole Miss enters this game with the 94th worst total defense in the division 1. Out of 120 teams.
And it could be worse. State has the 87th worst total offense in the nation averaging about 386 yards per game. However (Ole Miss fans) if you just laughed at that,save your breathe. Ole Miss is 114th in total offense. Yeah. And State has a pretty good defense. 32nd in the nation in scoring defense. Oh, and by the way. Numbers mean nothing in such a heated rivalry. So forget everything I just said.

You know? Honestly there's only one chance Ole Miss has in my mind. If Ole Miss's freshmen come out to play for coach Nutt, Mississippi State might just have a game on their hands.

The Stake's are high. Bragging rights. A bowl game for Mississippi State. And for Ole Miss, nothing could be sweeter than denying MSU a bowl game.

MSU's Right Tackle Addison Lawrence said it best. "I think they're going to come out fired up and hot, but if we jump on them, I think they'll kind of lay down. I feel like they're wanting to lay down in a way, because of the things that have been happening here recently."

Prediction: As a state fan I HAVE to pick State. However I will pick 2 outcomes so I don't seem TOO biased.

1. MSU- 38, Ole Miss- 10
2. MSU- 42, Ole Miss-35 2OT