1. As you may have noticed that was a lot of college basketball played over the past few days. The marquee event was Kentucky‘s win over Duke at the Champions Classic, but for our money the most exciting game/environment was Maryland‘s win over Georgetown due to the combination of the college environment and the fact that it was a more competitive game. As we mentioned last night on Twitter, we would love for the Champions Classic to rotate between the home arenas of the four teams involved, but unfortunately we doubt that will ever happen because of both the desire to keep the series in big markets and the reluctance of some coaches to play tough non-conference road games.
2. Kentucky didn’t just win on the court yesterday as the picked up another top recruit when Edrice Adebayo, the #6 recruit in the ESPN Top 100, committed to play at Kentucky next season. Adebayo, a 6’8″ 235-pound power forward, picked the Wildcats over North Carolina State and Auburn citing a desire to play for John Calipari given his relationship with Calipari and Calipari’s success in helping players reach the NBA. Adebayo’s commitment gives the Wildcats the #2 recruiting class behind Duke although there is still plenty of time and recruits who are still uncommitted.
3. The new rule changes implemented since the end of last season were the source of considerable debate, but they seem to have led to increased scoring at least through the first weekend. As Ken Pomeroy notes, the rule changes appear to have had the intended effect thus far. Not only is scoring up, but so is shooting both in terms of field goal/three-point percentage and three-point shot frequency. We are not sure if this will continue and there are definitely other ways that they could make increase scoring, but this appears to be a good start.
4. Northwestern State will be without star senior guard Jalan West for the rest of the season after he tore the ACL in his left knee late in their loss on Friday at Ole Miss. West, who averaged 20 points, 4.4 rebounds, 7.7 assists, and 2.1 steals per game last season, had scored 24 points in the second half before suffering the injury. Northwestern State probably wasn’t going to be better than Stephen F. Austin even with West, but his presence would have given them the possibility of getting hot in a one-game scenario and knocking off the Lumberjacks.
5. We have used this space to discuss NCAA eligibility issues a lot in the past as well as the various legal issues players find themselves involved in, but we don’t often talk about forgery and pretrial diversion programs. Thanks to Arkansas guard Anton Beard we can check off those two boxes after the sophomore, who was an All-SEC freshman selection last season, struck a deal to avoid jail time (for now) after being caught trying to use and exchange counterfeit $20 and $50 bills. The technical issues involved with his arrangement are a little too detailed for this space, but essentially if he doesn’t mess up he will be eligible to play starting December 18.

We’re in the midst of Championship Fortnight, so let’s gear up for the continuing action by breaking down each of the Other 26’s conference tournaments as they get under way.

Southland Tournament

Dates: March 11-14

Site: Merrell Center (Katy, TX)

What to expect: This is Stephen F. Austin’s tournament to lose. Over the past two seasons, the Lumberjacks have gone 35-1 in Southland play and won 28 of those contests by double-figures, using sharp offensive ball movement and half-court pressure defense to make easy work of most challengers. Brad Underwood’s club has won seven games in a row since stumbling at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in mid-February, including its title-clinching victory over second-place Sam Houston State last Saturday. That last win was not easy, however, and those Bearkats – statistically one of the best defensive teams in the country – could present another tough test on Saturday. Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State combined for a 32-4 conference record this season and are overwhelming favorites to reach the title game, especially since five of the league’s 13 teams are ineligible for postseason play and will not participate. Despite a tough final hurdle, expect Stephen F. Austin to reach the NCAA Tournament – and possibly do damage while there – for a second straight year.

Favorite: Stephen F. Austin. This year’s Lumberjacks are slightly more efficient and substantially more accurate than last year’s group, which beat VCU in the round of 64. Their effective field goal percentage (56.1% eFG) is the 10th best mark in college basketball and their offense as a whole ranks among the sport’s 30 most efficient, thanks largely to the success of Jacob Parker (48% 3FG) and Southland Player of the Year Thomas Walkup (126.8 ORtg). Stephen F. Austin has dominated the conference from start to finish and seems unlikely to slow down this week in Katy.

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