re: SEC Basketball - Predicictions

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He was a Collin floater vs A&M away from feeling serious heat going into this year.

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It really puts into perspective how harsh we are as fans/critics sometimes. Not saying I feel bad for them. They get paid a bunch of money to deal with it all.

You could argue that Mike's future looks much different if they hold on to be UNC in the tournament two years ago. That being said, you have to get it done even if a lot of luck is involved and mike has had plenty of chances.

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I think state and LSU will both end up ahead of them

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I think that is possible but I don't think that means they still aren't pretty close to a lock to make the NCAAT. They return 3 of their top 5 scorers and add Johnson and Nembhard from a team that was a 6 seed last year.

It'd be a pretty huge disappointment if they missed the tournament.

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You could argue that Mike's future looks much different if they hold on to be UNC in the tournament two years ago. That being said, you have to get it done even if a lot of luck is involved and mike has had plenty of chances.

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Yep - it also just proves how much college basketball is postseason driven. The regular season is nothing but getting yourself ready to win in the postseason.

It truly doesn't matter, outside of winning a conference title, what you do in the regular season (outside of missing the NCAAT, of course) if you get hot in March. It's just different than other sports. You are judged on winning in March, the rest of the season is just prep and resume building to have the most advantageous position to win in March.

Mark Gottfried had 3 teams win 10 or more SEC games, and won a SEC Regular Season title. His most remembered and "accomplished" team, by far, is one that went 20-13 (8-8). Those 3 games they had in March bought him at least 1-2 extra years once things went south. 3 games.

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Yep and you can argue it is one of the hardest things for any coach to win or be successful at across sports. Just imagine the NBA in a single elimination tournament. But these coaches knew what they were getting into so you can't say it isn't fair.

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Exactly - everyone understands what it is, but it still feels like it comes down to a coinflip sometimes.

A lot like the baseball playoffs a lot of years.

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Most of y'all are sleeping on a dominant PG with returning experience and depth with serious talent. But they have to put the pieces together

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Who is sleeping on them? Most are saying they are going to be good this year.

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Road wins in the conference are going to be extremely hard to come by for every team in this league

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This has really always been the case even in down years. It is why people complain about the refs all the time.

I expect Bama to finish somewhere between 3rd and 12th in the league.

I think the talent and experience is there to be a very good team. We'll see how far the coaching takes it.

It's about matchups.

And our front court being severely depleted, created a bunch of issues last year.

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Tennessee returns the most experience.

Kentucky has the most talent.

I'd say Auburn takes a step back this year. Even with key guys returning.

The SEC will be a bloodbath in conference play. There are so many good teams.

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1. Florida
2. Tennessee
3. Kentucky
4. Auburn
5. LSU
6. Miss State

I do think Johnny Jones has LSU pointed in the right direction.

Jontay was the only reason to be excited about that team. Cuonzo has a knack for exceeding expectations when expectations are shite but that's a bad roster right now