1. The big story of the weekend was the ongoing Bernie Fine saga. As we mentioned on Friday, the case at Syracuse is more nuanced than the one at Penn State although there are plenty of strange things going on at both locations.  After Jim Boeheim basically called out the two individuals who accused Fine of sexual molestation, one of them issued a response that indicates this case will end up being a he said, he said controversy. For their part, the team responded by leaving Fine’s seat on the bench vacant during their first game since he had been put on administrative leave. Interestingly, it appears that the accusers may not be able to bring the case in front of a court due to how long ago the alleged crime happened. We have a feeling that this case will drag on for quite a long time.
2. Connecticut received some good bad news when the NCAA announced that it would be suspending freshman Ryan Boatright for six games for improper benefits — a plane ticket he received while playing AAU basketball. Including yesterday’s game, Boatright has already missed four of the required six games so he will only need to sit out the first two games of the Battle4Atlantis Tournament this week. Boatright could potentially see his first action of the season in the final game of Battle4Atlantis if the Huskies are able to win their first two games. Boatright’s return could be a big boost for the defending champions, who have not posted a dominating win yet during the regular season while their primary competitors for this season’s championship have all done so at least once.
3. We are not exactly sure what is happening at Oregon with Jabari Brown and it appears that neither does the Oregon staff. The most recent reports indicate that Brown is on his way out of Oregon, but earlier reports suggested that Brown’s name had been removed from the school’s online roster and that school officials, as well as head coach Dana Altman, were unaware of the reasons behind it. Now it appears that Altman will essentially be left to beg for the school’s one stud five-star recruit to come back to them, as the loss of such a hyped recruit so early in the season will certainly affect the decision of uncommitted prospects who now might be more weary of playing for Altman after this incident.
4. Arkansas was dealt a significant setback at a practice last Thursday when Marshawn Powell suffered what is being called a “serious” knee injury that will sideline him indefinitely. The loss could be a huge one for the Razorbacks as Powell, a junior, led the team in scoring the first two games with 19.5 PPG on a team full of freshmen and sophomores and bereft of the services of Rotnei Clarke, last year’s leading scorer who decided to transfer. The Razorbacks are talented enough and their non-conference schedule is weak enough — with the exception of a game at Connecticut — that they should be able to survive until their SEC schedule starts. If Powell is not back by then, things could get ugly very quickly for the young Razorbacks.
5. Former UCLA legend Walt Hazzard died on Friday from complications related to cardiac surgery at UCLA Medical Center. Many of our younger fans may not be as familiar with Hazzard as they are with other members of the UCLA dynasty, but Hazzard was the one who gave John Wooden his first national championship in 1964 when Hazzard was named the MOP of the 1964 NCAA Tournament. Hazzard teamed with Gail Goodrich to form one of the most devastating backcourts in NCAA history and help build the UCLA dynasty. Along with his contributions as a player at UCLA, Hazzard also won a gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, played 10 seasons in the NBA, and coached the Bruins for four seasons. There has been no word on when and where funeral services will be held, but we imagine that it will be a who’s who of basketball royalty at the event.

SEC Set Your TiVo will take a look ahead at each week’s key games. See bottom of the post for the Official RTC Star System.

The SEC got the Internets goin’ nuts this weekend. You’ll have to hook up your laptop to your TV if you want to catch nearly every game not involving Mississippi State, Mississippi or South Carolina. Check out our evaluations below for the games that’ll make you want to change television service providers to get The Tres.

#15 Arizona vs. Mississippi State (2K Classic Championship Game) – Friday, Nov. 18, 6:30PM EST on ESPN2 (***)

Renardo Sidney is available for basketball AND all your stamp-licking needs.

Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury finally found some redemption for an embarrassing loss at home to Akron last week. In Thursday night’s 2KSports CvC Classic Semifinals, the Bulldogs sprinted to a 31-9 lead in the first half and held off #18 Texas A&M’s comeback to win 69-60. MSU’s eight-man rotation forced 16 turnovers and committed just 16 fouls, limiting A&M’s free-throw attempts (10-14). Another tough defensive assignment awaits in Arizona, who defeated St. John’s in the other semifinal, 81-72.

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1. Arkansas forward Marshawn Powell is becoming accustomed to the spotlight and being the leader of a young Arkansas squad. This is a new role for Powell as he was out most of last year with an injury. “The whole deal with me last year was my foot was still bothering me a whole lot,” Powell said. “It is fixed now and I enjoy my coach, the guy that I am playing for. My team, they make it comfortable for me. They have put me in a leader position and I have tried my best to uphold it.” Not only has Powell been a leader for the Razorbacks in the locker room, but he is leading on the court as well. In two games so far this year, Powell has averaged 19.5 PPG and six RPG. If he can continue that kind of production for coach Mike Anderson, Arkansas will be able to score with anybody in the SEC.
2. Vanderbilt blog Anchor of Gold has been impressed with the play of Commodore freshman Kedren Johnson. Johnson’s defense has drawn praise from Vandy fans, but it seems he is coming along with his offensive skills as well. Johnson finished the game against Bucknell with 12 points on 5-7 shooting, three rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes of play. Vanderbilt may not necessarily need additional scoring once they are completely healthy, but it is refreshing for ‘Dores fans to know that Johnson can become a viable option off the bench. The guys at AOG were not as sold on the development of Dai-Jon Parker. While they acknowledged that he played “impressive in spurts,” they went on to point out that “he also chucked up ten shots and missed all but two of them – including a 1-7 performance from behind the line.” Vanderbilt needs the defensive pressure that both guards are able to bring on the court, however neither of the freshmen can afford to become a detriment on offense.
3. Kansas coach Bill Self has divulged the secret to beating Kentucky. Self thinks it’s important against the athletic and quick Cats to slow down the pace of the game, utilizing the full 35-second shot clock. This approach could minimize the Wildcats’ ability to get easy fast break points.  “I’d imagine most teams are going to try to do that to us,” said Kentucky coach John Calipari. But Coach Cal felt that his team could also play a grind-it-out style of play. In fact, the young Wildcats slowed the game down in the second half against the Jayhawks on Tuesday night, and looked quite aggressive throughout the game. Anthony Davis and Terrence Jones played physically against the Kansas big men, with Davis recording seven blocks and Jones pulling down seven rebounds. Both players accumulated four personal fouls, which is usually an indication of physical and active play on the low block.
4. Former Kentucky guard Brandon Knight’s mom is writing a book detailing Knight’s recruitment and time at Kentucky. According to Kentucky Sports Radio, Knight’s mom kept a diary throughout her son’s rise to high school stardom, and she is ready to tell all. A preview came out where she recounts a conversation with Kansas coach Bill Self. “Kansas came to visit today. Coach Bill Self’s opening line was as follows. ‘Brandon, I didn’t recruit you, and quite frankly, I don’t deserve to be here.’ Huh? So I had to ask him that if he didn’t think he deserved to be in my house, why was he there? I think he was surprised that I called him out. He gave me a line of crap (which I don’t even remember) and went on with his presentation. I don’t know if I like him.” It sounds like the juicy details from Momma Knight’s diary are going to be must-read. It is somewhat surprising that with the seedy underbelly of recruiting that currently exists that more parents and players haven’t cashed in on tell-all books about the process.
5. Jeronne Maymon is working on his post play and toughness for the Tennessee Volunteers. The 6’7″, 255-pound forward says, “I want to just continue to be physical, continue to be the dirtiest player on the floor. Not the dirtiest as far as technical fouls and nasty play… but just being mean, rugged, the toughest player out there… taking charges, making open shots and making free throws. That’s what I’m trying to do.” The new attitude appears to be working as Maymon is averaging 13 points and 7.5 rebounds per game this year. In his last game against Louisiana-Monroe, Maymon recorded a double double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Coach Cuonzo Martin has a tough, hard-nosed approach to practice, and it appears it is quickly rubbing off on his players and their style of play. Tennessee may not have the talent to be among the elite in the SEC, but they certainly appear to have the resolve and toughness to make a run to string together wins in conference play.

The college basketball season has tipped off, and we are well under way. There has already been plenty of action as some teams have injured superstars, out-of-shape stars, underappreciated stars and emerging stars. But there are plenty of stars in the SEC, nonetheless. Before we jump into the star studded matchups of Tuesday, let’s do a quick look back at our SEC microsite preview coverage from the last several weeks:

We looked at the non-conference schedules of several SEC teams to determine the three most important games in our Make or Break series:

• Arkansas Razorbacks
• Florida Gators
• Georgia Bulldogs
• South Carolina Gamecocks
• Mississippi State Bulldogs
• Auburn Tigers
• Tennessee Volunteers
• Vanderbilt Commodores

We profiled several of the incoming transfers who will make an impact in the SEC this year through our Fresh Start series:

• Arnett Moultrie 
• Jelan Kendrick 
• Mike Rosario

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1. Senior point guard Brad Tinsley’s minutes were limited in Vanderbilt’s shocking demise against Cleveland State on Sunday. The Vandy offense looked out of sync, and as a result, they were pressured into 21 turnovers. Tinsley was bothered by a hand injury that was aggravated during the Oregon game a couple of nights ago. “Brad’s hand has been an issue,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said in his postgame press conference. “I didn’t ask him how the hand was feeling (today).” It seems unclear whether Tinsley sat during crucial minutes of the game because of his defensive liability or because of the injury. This will remain a situation to keep an eye on. One thing remains clear, Tinsley will have to stay in front of quicker guards defensively in order to stay on the floor in the future.
2. Vanderbilt’s surprising loss has the critics out in full force. Some tabbed the ‘Dores as a team that didn’t belong in the top ten. And well, they won’t be for long. Gary Parrish of CBS Sports isn’t hitting the panic button just yet, because it is November after all. And the Commodores are without Festus Ezeli. Parrish acknowledges, however, that this loss doesn’t help the perception that Vandy is in fact overrated. A 71-58 loss to Cleveland State looks bad, but Vanderbilt has time to correct its mistakes.
3. Arkansas’ 83-63 win over USC Upstate started the Mike Anderson era for the Razorbacks, but the biggest storyline was the attendance in Bud Walton Arena for that game. Anderson’s first game brought in 10,500 fans, but he believes this is only the beginning. “This is a style of basketball that hasn’t been played here in a while,” Anderson said. “There is potential here, but we have to keep working. We are by no means where we want to be.” As long as Anderson continues winning and playing an exciting brand of basketball, the attendance numbers will continue to grow in Fayetteville.
4. The SEC had many outstanding freshmen take the court this past weekend, and they generally didn’t disappoint. The CBS Eye on College Basketball blog took a look at the first glimpse of the nation’s best freshmen, and all five SEC freshmen on the top 20 list scored in double figures. Kentucky’s Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marquis Teague impressed in a blowout win against Marist. Davis scored 23 points, grabbed ten rebounds and earned five blocks in a high flying display of athleticism. Florida’s Brad Beal scored 14 points, and Georgia’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope pushed the Bulldogs to victory with 15 points. These young stars are already looking good, and it was only their first game in a college uniform. Just wait until they become truly adjusted to the college game and their new teams.
5. It wasn’t all about the freshmen this weekend though. Some sophomores were turning in impressive performances as well. Tennessee is looking for a scorer in the Cuonzo Martin era, and they may have found him. Sophomore point guard Trae Golden lit up UNC Greensboro for a career high 29 points in a game where he was 10-14 from the field with six rebounds and nine assists. His performance has Martin and the Volunteers excited that they may have found the offensive weapon that they so desperately need. But if we’ve learned anything from this opening weekend, it is still very early and a lot can change over the next few weeks and months.

While most of the college basketball world will be focused on the game between North Carolina and Michigan State on the USS Carl Vinson on Veterans Day there are plenty of other schools that are doing their part to honor military personnel. The UNC-Michigan State game will be attended almost entirely by military personnel, who have already been pre-selected, but if you are a veteran and were not selected to be on the ship to watch the game there are other opportunities.

Veterans Can Attend A Handful Of Games For Free On Veterans Day (Credit: AP Photo/U.S. Navy - Seaman Amanda Huntoon)

We have compiled a list of those opportunities based on what the host schools for Fridays games had on their websites as of late on Wednesday night (yes, we sifted through about 120 school web sites with some easier to navigate than others). If you know of any others, let us know so we can add them to the list. Our current list (all start times are local):

• Air Force: Discounted admission ($5) for all military personnel with ID (active or retired) for the game against Army, which starts at 7:30 PM, as well as the rest of the All-Military Classic this weekend (featuring Citadel and VMI). It isn’t stated on the website, but we confirmed with Air Force media relations.
• Arkansas: Free admission for all military personnel with ID (active or retired) for the game against USC-Upstate, which starts at 7 PM.
  
• Florida State: Free admission for all military personnel with ID (active or retired) for the game against Jacksonville, which start at 7 PM.
• La Salle: Free admission to all military personnel with ID (active or retired) for the game against Lafayette, which starts at 7 PM.
• Liberty: Discounted admission ($1) for all active military, fire, EMS and police personnel with ID and their families for the game against Randolph, which starts at 7 PM.
• Longwood: Free admission for all military personnel with ID (active or retired) for the game against Navy, which starts at 7 PM.
• Nebraska: Free admission for all military personnel with ID (active or retired) for the game against South Dakota, which starts at 7 PM.
• New Hampshire: Discounted admission ($3) for all military personnel with ID (active or retired) for the game against Suffolk, which starts at 7 PM.
• Saint Louis: Free admission for all military personnel with ID (active or retired) for the game against Tennessee State, which starts at 8 PM.
• Wake Forest: Free admission to military personnel with ID and their immediate families for the game against Loyola (MD), which starts at 7 PM.
• Xavier: Free admission with two tickets for all military personnel with ID (active or retired) for the game against Morgan State, which starts at 7 PM.

Gerald Smith of HalftimeAdjustment.com is the RTC correspondent for the SEC. He also contributes to the RTC SEC Microsite. You can find him on twitter @fakegimel.

Reader’s Take I

The SEC/Big East Invitational features all 12 SEC teams in action.

Top Storylines

• Everything In Its Right Place: After several years of coaching changes and lackluster out-of-conference performance, the SEC is finally ready to jump back into the national discussion of powerful basketball conferences. The movement is powered by young coaches (Alabama’s Anthony Grant), older but new-to-the-SEC coaches (LSU’s Trent Green, Georgia’s Mark Fox) and the SEC coaching stalwarts (Vanderbilt’s Kevin Stallings, Florida’s Billy Donovan, Mississippi State’s Rick Stansbury, Mississippi’s Andy Kennedy, Kentucky’s Johhn Calipari). Thanks to the solidifying of the coaching guard, the conference is flush with top talent: 13 McDonald’s All-Americans will be playing this season across six different teams. The national basketball pollsters have noticed and have rewarded the SEC’s upward mobility with four teams in the preseason Top 25 polls; the first time the conference has had four or more teams in a preseason poll since the 2006-07 season (incidentally, also the last time an SEC school won it all).
• Sit Down. Stand Up. (Snakes & Ladders): Kentucky head coach John Calipari brings arguably the greatest recruiting class in SEC history to join an already-talented roster. The hype for this season was already building in Lexington even before the 2010-11 season began when Calipari netted McDonald’s All-Americans Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Marquis Teague and Kyle Wiltjer; when Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb elected to return for their sophomore seasons to rejoin senior Darius Miller, expectations were raised to national championship status. It remains to be seen if Calipari’s freshmen will wilt against more experienced teams that will play them tough physically and mentally. One thing is for sure: This Kentucky team will score in downpours not seen in Lexington since the 1995-96 National Championship team.

Will Sidney Finall Reach His Full Potential This Year?

• My Iron Lung: After an infamous season that included fighting his own teammate, Mississippi State’s Renardo Sidney realizes that the college basketball public is watching him for more screw-ups. He spent this summer working out in Houston with former NBA player/coach John Lucas in order to improve his conditioning and attitude. Sidney’s lackluster performance in MSU’s first game Monday (nine points and three rebounds in just 23 minutes of play) won’t easily squelch his critics. Unless he can finally meet the expectations of his talent level, the Bulldogs will be wheezing all season long.
• Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box: This season the Southeastern Conference removed the divisional formatting for its basketball conference standings. The teams with the top four overall conference records regardless of schedule strength will receive a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament. The SEC East and SEC West divisional championships now exist only in the past. And perhaps the future: With the addition of Missouri and Texas A&M in the 2012-13 season, going back to the two basketball division format may be necessary.

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1. Former Tennessee Volunteers head coach Bruce Pearl was working as a Vice President of Marketing for a Knoxville-based grocery store H.T. Hackney, but he has a new gig that will bring him a little bit closer to college basketball. Pearl will host a three-hour college basketball call-in show on SiriusXM radio. “It’s all I’ve ever done,” he said of working in basketball. “I don’t want to walk away from it.” Pearl should be entertaining and do just fine, so long as he doesn’t turn the staff holiday party into a barbeque at his house.
2. The #3 small forward in the class of 2012 is set to make his college decision on Thursday, according to his hometown paper. Alex Poythress, a 6’8″ forward from Clarksville, Tennessee, will choose between several SEC schools including, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Florida. Some believe the frontrunners for Poythress’ services, however, are from outside the SEC with the Memphis Tigers. Poythress would be a great addition for any team, and continuing to bring in elite talent is great overall for the Southeastern Conference. Here’s hoping that one of the four SEC schools pull out a surprise commitment from the talented big man.
3. Injured Vanderbilt center Festus Ezeli is ready to get back into game shape, and could do so earlier than expected, according to the Tennessean. Ezeli said he was already “working on the mobility of the knee again” and expects to be back to playing before Christmas break. He added that the knee is “feeling good” and that he expects to begin exercising again in “I think four weeks [from the injury]. Four weeks is two weeks from tomorrow. So I should be doing some more stuff again.” Sounds like things are progressing well for the Commodores’ big man, and that is great news for Vanderbilt.
4. Had enough realignment talk yet? I didn’t think so. Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long is hoping the SEC will consider putting Missouri in the Western Division. “We would like to see Missouri in the West,” Long said. “We think that makes sense from our standpoint, having them in the West, playing them on a regular basis… Long-term I hope there is an opportunity to look at Missouri in the West.” When Missouri sees the football schedule that awaits them in the Western Division, the Tigers may object to the Arkansas AD’s comments. Regardless of placement, the additions of Missouri and Texas A&M bring two quality basketball programs to bolster the overall strength of the SEC.
5. Even though Mike Anderson left Missouri to coach at the Arkansas, he is happy to see the Tigers join the SEC. “The University of Missouri is a wonderful fit for the Southeastern Conference and I am happy to see them join the league,” Anderson said. Sure… we believe you! Even Anderson admitted that his return to Missouri in the not so distant future “will be interesting.” I have a feeling that Mizzou fans might be just as “happy” to see Anderson as he is to see them again. We’ll have to wait until at least the 2012-13 season to see if Anderson gets a warm welcome in Mizzou Arena.

1. The non-conference schedule is ready to begin and according to CBSSports.com, the SEC has scheduled an incredibly tough out of conference slate.  On average, the 12 SEC schools scheduled teams with 17.6 wins last year — the most of any power conference. As a whole, SEC teams scheduled 31 true road games, and will play a total of 37 NCAA Tournament teams from last season. Finally, SEC teams will play a total of 43 power conference opponents. Need more numbers? How about charts? CBS has you covered there too with enough analysis to keep you busy all day at work today. But don’t blame RTC if you don’t get anything else done!
2. Who’s ready for less previews and more basketball? The Tennessee Volunteers are anxious to play. It has been nearly eight months since the Vols have played a game in Thompson-Boling Arena, and the Vols look like a completely different team after Bruce Pearl’s dismissal led to mass defections and a new coaching staff. But the Tennessee basketball team won’t be the only thing in Knoxville with a facelift. Thompson-Boling Arena has received an upgrade to the LED ribbon board around the bottom of the arena’s upper deck. Jordan McRae says, “we had a great arena anyway, but now there’s no question that it makes it feel more like an NBA arena.” Tennessee fans are even more anxious to see the Cuonzo Martin’s new-look team than they are upgrades to the facility.
3. The preseason #2 Kentucky Wildcats took to the floor Wednesday night for their first exhibition game. The Cats opened up slowly against Division III Transylvania University, actually trailing 11-4, but one person there was excited about the slow start and it might not be who you think. Kentucky coach John Calipari said, “I think we thought we were going to win by a hundred. I was so happy the game was close. I was so happy the start was what it was. Then when we started separating, they came back and tied it up again. I was loving it. It’s a teaching tool. It’s a chance for me to talk to them about, you know, look, they’re a good team, but they’re Division III.” We can almost guarantee that Calipari won’t be satisfied with too many more slow starts like this one.
4. Another positive emerged from the Cats’ eventual 97-53 win over Transylvania — Calipari has found a new starter in freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Cal said, “I would say, looking at today, he’s a starter because you have to have him start the game. Can’t start the game like we did today.” Kidd-Gilchrist did a little of everything in the exhibition as he contributed 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists and one block. Calipari praised him even more, saying, “he was the difference in what happened. He did what I knew he would do.” Now that Calipari apparently has one spot in his lineup solidified, he has a little more than a week to determine the other four starters — UK tips off the season on Veteran’s Day against Marist.
5. Not all SEC coaches are as pleased with their team’s performances. New Arkansas coach Mike Anderson didn’t see the type of defense he is looking for in Arkansas’ enhanced 40 Minutes of Hell style. In the Red-White game scrimmage, the two squads combined for 191 points. As Anderson spoke about the Hawgs’ upcoming scrimmage against Texas A&M-Commerce, he said, “I’m really anxious to see defensively because that’s some of the things that we’ve been really picking up here lately. Trying to get our defensive intensity, our pressure defense. It’ll be a work in progress. You’ll see some things that we’re not doing well early right now that hopefully we’ll be doing better later on in the season.” With only 10 scholarship players, many of whom are freshmen, the progression will need to be seen sooner rather than later for Anderson to remain in the honeymoon phase with Razorback fans.

Last week we examined the sixty or so major programs that Vegas feels is worth offering as action to win the 2011-12 national championship. Unsurprisingly, the top several teams in the preseason Coaches Poll — North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio State, Duke, Syracuse — generally mimic the top several teams in terms of the odds Vegas is offering. The one stunning exception to that trend is Connecticut, whom the pollsters have listed among the few teams most likely to cut the nets down in New Orleans next April, but from whom the oddsmakers still aren’t seeing much value (+2000, or a 4.8% chance, as of now).

This week we’ll take a step further into the odds and consider the probabilities that Vegas has assigned to each power conference team to win its regular season championship. These odds are by no means foolproof. In reviewing last year’s preseason tables of the same six leagues, only Pittsburgh in the Big East and Arizona in the Pac-10 were favorites that came into the money by March. The other four league favorites this time last year? Try Duke in the ACC (UNC), Baylor/Kansas State in the Big 12 (Kansas), Michigan State in the Big Ten (Ohio State), and Kentucky in the SEC (Florida). So while all of these favorites looked reasonable one year ago today, keep in mind that college basketball seasons have a tendency to work themselves out differently despite what the oddsmakers and pundits think.

Ed. note: These odds are published on The Greek as of October 27, 2011. If you’re unfamiliar with how futures odds work, +150 represents the amount of money a potential gambler would receive back if he placed a $100 wager on that team and it won.  He would, in other words, win back 1.5 times his original wager.  Those few teams sporting a negative odds notation (e.g., -175) represents a situation where someone would have to wager $175 to win back $100. Since the aggregate of futures odds are designed to add up to a figure much larger than 100% (removing the incentive to wager on every team), we’ve added a far right column normalizing the odds to a true 100% value for each conference.    

ACC

Quick Thoughts on the ACC:

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