Does the SEC Have a Chance...

[Joneslab]

Kind of a weird day in the SEC yesterday.

Vandy got a big win coming off a beatdown to us.

On the other side, Texas (who looks totally awful) got absolutely curb-stomped by South Carolina, who notched its first SEC win.

That Texas loss remains the worst of the season, imo. They aren't good at all.

[justafan]

Kind of a weird day in the SEC yesterday.

That Texas loss remains the worst of the season, imo. They aren't good at all.

Agreed. It was one of those “what could go wrong, did go wrong”. Bad timing. I keep going back to my early season post. “UK will have a handful of head scratching losses”. Texas, tOSU, UGA clearly in that category. Easy to throw in Arky and Vandy, but I think those were more of what the other team did (played out of their minds).

I reiterate, I’m thrilled with how Pope has done so far. The quality wins IMO are not at all disminished by the head scratcher losses. What he’s done with a hodgepodge of players, fantastic.

But, gotta beat Oklahoma and LSU…… got to….

[DA#23]

I reiterate, I’m thrilled with how Pope has done so far. The quality wins IMO are not at all diminished by the head scratcher losses. What he’s done with a hodgepodge of players, fantastic.

The incessant injuries really soften most of the losses for me. Overall a really positive start to the era with lots of promise.

[justafan]

The incessant injuries really soften most of the losses for me. Overall a really positive start to the era with lots of promise.

Exactly. This season could’ve been a 15-15 (or worse) season with no top-15 wins. If that had happened it’d have been easy to shrug and say it’s his first year.

But nooooo, Pope went out and beat Duke, Gonzaga, UofL, only to run into arguably the toughest conference to play in.

Throw in a boatload of injuries just to top it off.

[Joneslab]

The guys at Hardwired Sports have 14 SEC teams currently vying for an NCAA spot. Fourteen.

[KCKUKFan]

The guys at Hardwired Sports have 14 SEC teams currently vying for an NCAA spot. Fourteen.

Even more surprising in the Big 10 quietly has 12 vying for a spot.

[Catsrock]

I read Brucie P is a little worried today because of all the calls go UK’s way at home. Go Cats!

[TrueblueCATfan]

I read Brucie P is a little worried today because of all the calls go UK’s way at home. Go Cats!

OMG...that's funny...we never get calls at home

[Joneslab]

Interesting, and random, thing about the SEC?

The top four draft picks out of the conference might come from four of the five worst teams. (There's a possibility that Auburn's Tahaad Pettiford slips in here.)

But if Johnson, Fears, Murray-Boyles, and Asa Newell all go in the first round as expected, that could be a situation where four of the five bottom-seeded teams have the highest NBA picks in the draft. And if Boogie Fland goes, that's another one off a team that finished in the bottom quarter of the league.

What's that mean? Probably nothing, but I do think it's kind of indicative of how the game has changed from the old one-and-done model into something far different.

[Bluesong]

Interesting, and random, thing about the SEC?

The top four draft picks out of the conference might come from four of the five worst teams. (There's a possibility that Auburn's Tahaad Pettiford slips in here.)

But if Johnson, Fears, Murray-Boyles, and Asa Newell all go in the first round as expected, that could be a situation where four of the five bottom-seeded teams have the highest NBA picks in the draft. And if Boogie Fland goes, that's another one off a team that finished in the bottom quarter of the league.

What's that mean? Probably nothing, but I do think it's kind of indicative of how the game has changed from the old one-and-done model into something far different.

Excellent observation, as always. 👍

[Mr.Nezzer]

Interesting, and random, thing about the SEC?

The top four draft picks out of the conference might come from four of the five worst teams. (There's a possibility that Auburn's Tahaad Pettiford slips in here.)

But if Johnson, Fears, Murray-Boyles, and Asa Newell all go in the first round as expected, that could be a situation where four of the five bottom-seeded teams have the highest NBA picks in the draft. And if Boogie Fland goes, that's another one off a team that finished in the bottom quarter of the league.

What's that mean? Probably nothing, but I do think it's kind of indicative of how the game has changed from the old one-and-done model into something far different.

It means that college kids are gettin paid. Like you inferred, the old way was to get to a top tier college, one that WILL be in the NCAAT, work year or two developing and showing off for the NBA scouts, shoot for a first round pick and cash in.
Now kids are getting great paydays in college, they stay 1-4+ years they could make well into 7 figures in that time frame. Then then they can do whatever. This NIL has taken away some of the drive to get to the NBA, gonna be interesting to see how it affects the NBA product in 3-5 years