1. The opening game in last year’s season between Michigan State and North Carolina took place on the deck of an aircraft carrier, an unprecedented location for a college basketball game in the history of the sport. Back by popular demand and the opportunities it provides to our military personnel, many more college basketball games (and practices) are taking place at military bases or other aircraft carriers across the world this year. On Friday, Florida will become the first SEC school to take place in one of these military-themed games against Georgetown on the deck of the USS Bataan in the Navy-Marine Corps Classic in Jacksonville. When asked about the specifics, coach Billy Donovan stated that the outdoor temperature, unusual sight lines, and unique atmosphere of the game will not affect the Gators’ game plan at all. The temperatures will be a bit cooler in this year’s game, hopefully avoiding a condensation problem similar to what arose during the game action in San Diego last year.
2. So what happened Tuesday night at Ole Miss? In non-basketball related news, Twitter conversations in Oxford regarding the presidential election results triggered university police to convene at the student union on campus to disperse an angry group of protesting students, some of whom were shouting racially-charged epithets according to a statement from the school. The result? Two arrests for disorderly conduct, one for public intoxication, and another for failure to comply with police orders were handed out. The university issued a statement stating the campus was ‘a normal day’ on Wednesday and all campus related events will go on as planned. Let’s hope so — Mississippi doesn’t have a history of racial enlightenment to fall back on here.
3. Can Tennessee make it nine straight wins versus UNC-Asheville next week in Puerto Rico? The Volunteers have history on their side, but the Bulldogs want to schedule a home-and-home series with the Vols and hopefully end the streak that way. Separated by only 117 miles across the Smoky Mountains, both Tennessee and UNC-Asheville ironically will travel 1550 miles to Puerto Rico for their latest game in the series. UNC-Asheville head coach Eddie Biedenbach is hopeful that a new arena on his side of the divide could trigger a local rivalry with the Vols, but there were no comments from Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin on the subject. Also, Volunteers freshman Derek Reese began basketball activities again on Tuesday after tearing his right labrum over the summer. Reese participated in layup drills using only his left hand.
4. Mark your calendars appropriately: ESPN.com‘s Eamonn Brennan has compiled a list of the must-see non-conference games before New Year’s Day. Which SEC schools frequent the list? Kentucky and Florida, of course. Kentucky and Florida have four games each on the list, followed by Missouri with two games and Arkansas with one. The only two games that are not on campus locations include Missouri’s games in the difficult Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament and Florida’s match-up with Georgetown on the USS Bataan, off the coast of Jacksonville. These games will not only make for great viewing but also good early tests for all clubs before conference play.
5. What makes Kentucky coach John Calipari so successful? He has proven that he can corral the egos of mega-talented freshmen and mold them into a national championship squad using a style of play that best fits that specific team’s needs. In the 2010-11 season, Calipari used the reliable shooting of Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb to push his team to a surprise Final Four run. The previous team was centered around the play-making of John Wall and the size of DeMarcus Cousins. But how do these recruits end up at Kentucky and why does the Big Blue Nation adore their coach so much? Jason King of ESPN.com dubs the Calipari persona almost ‘gospel-like,’ breaking down Calipari’s unbelievable ways of operating a blue-blooded powerhouse, including recruiting, his relationships with hip-hop moguls such as Jay-Z and Drake, and his uncanny ability to make time (when he has none) to raise a million dollars via a telethon for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.

Every week, the SEC microsite will post a composite power ranking list for the league’s performances coupled with a short commentary justifying each team’s specific ranking. This week the rankings are centered around the preseason expectations of each team, including the arrivals, departures, and results of their previous season. With the season officially underway on Friday, here’s your SEC preseason power rankings.

Kentucky tops the first Rush the Court: SEC power rankings (Washington Post)

1. Kentucky – The playlist is set on repeat as long as Calipari is in Lexington; raw freshmen talent comes in, matures, performs at their highest peak in March, and gets drafted. Don’t expect this year’s squad to match last year’s numbers or expectations. However, Calipari will find a way to get these Cats to mature quickly and be in the hunt for their 48th SEC crown and another Final Four run.
2. Florida – The Gators return quite a bit from their second Elite Eight run in as many seasons. Their expectations are to reach the Final Four for the first time since winning it all in 2007. While the veteran leadership of Kenny Boynton is a positive, the Gators must get more consistent play from several key role players, including Scottie Wilbekin and Mike Rosario, to reach their goals. The pieces are in place for another deep Gator run.
3. Missouri –  The island of misfit transfers is located in Columbia, Missouri. Newcomers such as Earnest Ross (Auburn), Keion Bell (Pepperdine), Alex Oriahki (Connecticut), and Jabari Brown (Oregon) all come to Missouri to find a new and hopefully winning experience in the Tigers’ first year in the SEC. With preseason SEC Player of the Year Phil Pressey leading the backcourt as well as Laurence Bowers in the post, Missouri should not only come close to their success of last year but also vie for the school’s first Final Four appearance in history.
4. Tennessee –  The Volunteers won nearly 20 games last year and earned a postseason NIT berth with first year head coach Cuonzo Martin. Adding freshman phenom forward Jarnell Stokes in January resulted in at least four more wins in the second half of the season. Martin’s defensive style of play, plus Stokes on the team for a full year and senior Jeronne Maymon guarding the post, should cause hopes for a darkhorse run at the SEC title. Read the rest of this entry »

Chris Johnson is an RTC Columnist. He can be reached @ChrisDJohnsonn. 

Expiration dates on coaching tenures vary based on a variety of different factors. Signs of positive momentum and progressive change no doubt correlate positively long coaching tenures, but there are other elements involved: Program expectations, buyout fees, revenue accumulation, recruiting success, and so on. The checklist differs at each program, which makes nailing down a hard-and-fast list of general standards practically impossible. Despite the vague criteria that define the profession, and the fundamental truth that administrators – not fans, players or boosters – make the final call on coaches’ job statuses, we enter every college basketball season with a pretty good idea of where each coach stands in his current state of employment. Perhaps the most obvious trend, the one most easily spotted across a wide sample of coaches, is the fateful decline. Win totals plummet, fan support wanes, administrators stay mum while perusing the market for a replacement – then, the rumors, the denial, the wait and, last but not least, the long-expected press release signaling the end of a coach’s time at the program. Pretty boilerplate stuff. The path to the dreaded fall is fairly predictable. What follows are six coaches (one from each of the power conferences) feeling the heat this season. All of them may or may not last the year, but there’s a decent chance at least one of these guys will get the axe by next April. To quantify this hot seat breakdown, I’ve added a meter that gauges a coaches’ “heat level” on a 1-through-5 scale. I wish these coaches well, but their inclusion here is not a positive way to begin the season.

Herb Sendek (Arizona State)
Heat Meter: 4

Unless Sendek leads a major renaissance in Tempe this season, he could find himself out of a job (photo credit: Getty Images).

In most years, finishing with a 6-12 record in the Pac-12 is not a terrible result. Winning in league play is difficult, and winning in one of the nation’s better high-major conferences is even more difficult. Notching six wins won’t get you into NCAA Tournament (or even NIT) consideration, but it’s hardly a death sentence, either. The problem with this line of thinking is that last season’s Pac-12 was not the usual Pac-12. It was awful – so bad that regular season champion Washington didn’t qualify for an at-large bid. Considering the league’s top-to-bottom futility last season, managing just six wins is proof enough to raise serious questions about the direction of Arizona State’s program. Now Sendek finds himself at a crossroads: after last year’s disappointment, two of his best assistants left the program, including one, Lamont Smith, who joined Lorenzo Romar’s Staff at Washington. When you’re losing your top assistants to league competitors, job security develops a tenuous, even artificial, feel. Sendek can save his position if the Sun Devils show noticeable signs of improvement, and with highly-touted recruit Jahii Carson eligible this season, that’s a reasonable expectation to have. Another six-win league total – and this year, six Pac-12 wins won’t be as easy to come by – is a doomsday scenario.

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As we preview the SEC this season, the focus this week is on Halloween, the junk food-centered holiday predominantly celebrated by children or college kids, who both have different motives when this date comes around on the calendar every year. While the ghosts and goblins knock on doors asking for their sweet tooth tithes tonight, we pose the question: Which Halloween candy represents each SEC school? The analogies might surprise you.

What Kinds of Candy Are the 12 SEC Schools This Year?

• Alabama – M&M’s. The always consistent M&M’s can never disappoint, even with variable options such as peanut butter and peanut. This year marks Year Four of the Anthony Grant Experience in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide are coming off consecutive 20-win seasons and are building a case to challenge more prominent schools for their place in the SEC pecking order. Returning senior Jalen Steele, sophomore sharpshooter Trevor Lacey and skilled freshman Devonta Pollard will provide skill and reliability for Anthony Grant as the Tide battles a tough non-conference slate, including Purdue, Villanova, Cincinnati, and Grant’s previous school, VCU. A 2o-plus win season in Alabama, coming off another dominant season on the gridiron, will have fans in Tuscaloosa cheering all season long.
• Arkansas – Milky Way. Like the Milky Way bar in its history, Arkansas basketball has lost some luster from its national championship ways in the early 1990s. Over time, better teams and chocolate bars have gained popularity while leaving little respect for this program and its chocolate. Arkansas has not been to the NCAA Tournament in four years and is 17 years removed from its last Final Four appearance. Now on their third coach since Nolan Richardson’s firing in 2002, head coach Mike Anderson is working to reinvigorate the “40 minutes of hell” style of play that his mentor used to gain attention almost two decades ago. The Milky Way bar has done the same; changes to the texture, size, and taste to attract more buyers might have done more harm than good. Maybe a trip back to their standard will be more profitable too.
• Auburn – Smarties. The Smarties are the consistently bad candy; they can always be found in a jumbo pack of other powder-type candies for cheap and are always the last Halloween candy eaten — usually on the day after Thanksgiving. Auburn basketball has consistently been the Smarties of the SEC. Since the 2003-04 season, Auburn has finished in the bottom three of the conference standings in all but one year. Fans no doubt see basketball as the dead period between fall football games and spring football practice. There is some hope on the horizon, however, as Auburn is in the mix with ESPN Top 100 recruit Austin Nichols and was quoted to say he “wanted to be the face of the program.” Head coach Tony Barbee, his staff, and players hosted a  free “Barbee-Q” for all Auburn students on Monday night. Maybe weekly free food and an elite recruit could help invigorate some life into the basketball program; or maybe just feed some college kids so they take a break from eating ramen every night. Read the rest of this entry »

1. As we mentioned yesterday, Kentucky coach John Calipari isn’t one to normally give his team undue praise, and he didn’t change course Thursday at SEC Media Day. “Whoever did that needs to be drug-tested,” Calipari said in response to those who consider his Wildcats the team to beat. “We’re not very good right now. I think we’ll be a good team eventually, hopefully, but right now we’re average.” Calipari won’t ever fall victim to the hype, but he should get used to this line of questioning in the future. When his freshman-dominated team cut down the nets in April, his star-studded squads ceased being the primary example of why the one-and-done strategy isn’t a viable championship method. He’s showing no signs of slowing down in the recruiting arena, meaning that his squads will be perceived as one of the heavy favorites almost every year in the foreseeable future.
2. Frank Martin believes that Ole Miss is in for a big season. We were hoping for an outrageous quote out of the new South Carolina coach on Media Day, but some respectful optimism will have to do. When asked about Martin’s comments, Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy responded, “The pieces are in place for us to have a good team. I think when you return your top nine, four starters, and you have the most experienced top line in the SEC, it’s not a bad place to start.” Unfortunately, that experience he’s referencing has only done enough to become an NIT fixture. Each of Kennedy’s teams in Oxford has finished with between seven and nine wins in conference play, and because of another weak non-conference schedule, that number will need to increase for the Rebels to have a chance to go dancing.
3. Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy wants you to forget about last year. “I’ve learned a lot about myself and [I’m] really excited about the opportunity to be at Texas A&M and represent a great school and a great league,” the coach told assembled media in Hoover, Alabama, “It’s going to be a lot more fun, I promise you.” The Aggies’ first season after Mark Turgeon bolted for Maryland was disastrous. The projected Tourney team suffered from a rash of injuries and underachievement. The offseason wasn’t much better, with Khris Middleton bolting for the NBA and several contributors graduating or transferring. The cupboard isn’t completely bare, however, as the Turners (Ray and Elston, mistakenly identified in the link as twins) will be expected to provide leadership in addition to on-court production. Says Kennedy: “For us to be good, they have to have great years – not just average years, they’ve got to have great years”.
4. Arkansas received some disappointing news last night when the NCAA denied a transfer waiver for forward Alandise Harris. The Little Rock native was hoping to receive immediate eligibility after leaving Houston for family reasons. Harris played two years for the Cougars and averaged 13.3 points and 6.4 boards last season. This development leaves second-year coach Mike Anderson with a depth problem in the frontcourt. Marshawn Powell is the unit’s primary scoring threat, but he’s coming off a season lost to injury. Hunter Mickleson is a defensive specialist hoping that his offensive game will improve. Beyond that exists only unproven commodities. With his high-energy defensive schemes, Anderson has to be worried about fatigue for his thin frontcourt.
5. In an entirely unsurprising development, Huntington Prep forward Andrew Wiggins announced his intention to reclassify to his original 2013 recruiting class. The 2014 top prospect immediately unseats Jabari Parker and Julius Randle as the top available talent atop both ESPN’s and Rivals’ rankings. The battle to land Wiggins’ signature on a letter of intent will be fierce, and John Calipari will surely be involved. With top 10 commitments from Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, and James Young (not to mention five-star Marcus Lee) already signed on, landing the swingman would give the Kentucky coach the most highly touted recruiting class in recent memory.

1. A casino in Las Vegas has released its annual preseason odds to win the national championship for the 2012-13 season. Kentucky emerged as having the second best odds at 7-1, trailing only Indiana with 6-1. Missouri, heralded as one of the teams to challenge Kentucky for the SEC throne this season, is getting 30-1 odds along with Florida to win it all. High expectations for both squads could yield in an equally high payout for those who believe highly in the Tigers and the Gators. Other SEC teams on the list are Vanderbilt (80-1), Alabama (90-1), Texas A&M (100-1), and Arkansas (100-1). The field came in as a 15-1 favorite.
2. ESPN is taking its all-access talents to a specific SEC school this year, and you guessed it, that school is Kentucky. The multi-part series, much like their Hard Knocks series, will display some of the behind-the-scenes of Kentucky basketball, ranging from John Calipari’s breakfasts in Lexington to preparations for Big Blue Madness to daily practices and player involvement. Most importantly, it will focus on Calipari’s latest project of implementing new freshmen into a cohesive unit en route to a national championship. Matt Jones at Kentucky Sports Radio has acquired a short clip about how the players prepared for Madness. CoachCal.com also offers another preview clip for the series. The first episode will air tonight at 7:00 PM ET.
3. Who will be Vanderbilt‘s next point guard? Christian D’Andrea of Anchor of Gold wrote a brilliant piece regarding which players the Commodore faithful should turn to as their next floor leader. Vanderbilt loses nearly as many key pieces from its SEC Championship team as Kentucky did and will have to turn to Kedren Johnson or Kyle Fuller to help fill that particular void. D’Andrea states “they possess very different styles” in that the older Fuller has a faster tempo than Johnson, but Johnson has a much smoother game presence and has “showed more composure than his veteran counterparts in big games.” Johnson, for example, contributed with several important baskets in the final minutes of the SEC Tournament championship game over Kentucky. Both guards present weaknesses, however; Johnson shot 24% from three-point range last season and Fuller shot just over 27% from the field. They both must improve on their outside games rather quickly to keep defenses honest. Vanderbilt fans can also see positives with both players in their assist-turnover ratios (Johnson’s is 1.57 and Fuller 1.62, respectively) and their growing maturity in the upcoming seasons.
4.  The Jackson (MS) Clarion-Ledger released two very interesting articles about the upcoming Ole Miss team involving the frontcourt bodies who will help Andy Kennedy’s squad improve on its 67 points per game from last year. Seniors Murphy Holloway and Reginald Buckner have very high ceilings with their post-collegiate futures, but both will have to improve on their dreadful free throw shooting. Holloway shot just under 51% from the charity stripe last year, while Buckner was even worse with a 42% free throw percentage. Both big men will have experience on their side but also must utilize the opportunity to make up for a lack of personnel that plagued the Rebels last year.  Kennedy spoke recently about his new squad and how they are not “last season’s team.” He added that he has “caught the new guys integrating themselves into what we’re trying to get accomplished about as smoothly as possible. We have two guys who have been through division one practices before in Marshall (Henderson) and Jason Carter and it helps.”
5. Tennessee isn’t wavering at any of the success or praise that is being bestowed by its neighbors to the north. In fact, the Vols are embracing the “tough love” mentality that they are receiving in the preseason and will use it to motivate them going forward. With all the hoopla surrounding Big Blue Madness and the ESPN all-access series in Lexington, head coach Cuonzo Martin and sophomore forward Jarnell Stokes have other plans for what lies ahead in Knoxville. Both Martin and Stokes have high expectations for next year’s Midnight Madness, something they had to skip because of the university’s fall break last weekend. Martin stated that he is looking forward to an event next year and that his players will be ready as well.

It’s hot out there, and to many of us, college basketball is the last thing on our minds. But here at the SEC Microsite, we’re going to be rolling out mid-summer resets of each of the (now) 14 basketball programs in our league. We’re calling it Transition Basketball, and you can expect we’ll cover three or four teams a week until we’re done. By that time, we’ll actually start to be turning the slight corner into the fall, and from there it’s a smooth slope down to Midnight Madness in mid-October. Today’s update: Mississippi.

State of the Program

Coach Andy Kennedy has led Ole Miss to the NIT in five of his first six seasons as head coach, but has yet to reach the NCAA Tournament while in Oxford. Under Kennedy, the Rebs have never done better than 9-7 in conference play, and 2011-12 was more of the same. There were several low points including a 30-point loss to Marquette and a 26-point home loss to Vanderbilt. After an 8-8 conference record saddled with mid- to late-season losses of two of its most talented players — the dismissal of guard Dundrecous Nelson for marijuana charges and the suspension (and eventual departure) of guard Jelan Kendrick for being, well, his true self — Ole Miss might be ready for a fresh start. But could this be the year that the Rebs take the next step and get into the Big Dance?

Murphy Holloway will be key in the middle for the Rebels this season. (AP Photo/B. Newman)

There is certainly enough talent in Oxford for Ole Miss to get over the hump. Kennedy returns three double figure scorers in all. Guard Jarvis Summers and wing Nick Williams bring back a lot of experience in the backcourt while seniors Murphy Holloway and Reginald Buckner return to form one of the best front lines in the conference. Kennedy welcomes six newcomers to the fold next season, but Holloway knows the secret to how the Rebels will advance. “I think we have a lot of pieces that can help us soon, but I think it’ll be more of our returning players that already get it,” Holloway said. “We kinda got it at the end of the season last year and what you have to do to win. There’s no way around it, this is what you got to do.”

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1. While many athletic programs avoid so much as acknowledging their players are utilizing social media outlets, Tennessee is embracing it. The Volunteers have added players’ Twitter account information on their online player profiles. And associate media relations director Tom Satkowiak hasn’t turned his players loose in the social media world, but rather is educating them on its proper use by conducting seminars and workshops. “I cringe every time I see a coach or program ban the use of social media,” Satkowiak said. “I think we should be educating guys on how to use it because it’s not going to go away. It’s a part of life now. We just need to educate them on how to use it right.” And there are plenty of opportunities to showcase improper use as well, as Satkowiak has done by showing pictures and tweets that have landed other players in big trouble. A coach cannot control every action of his players, so it’s refreshing to see a university turn to education first as opposed to automatically resorting to punishment.
2. Fifth year Kentucky senior Julius Mays doesn’t have long to adjust to his new coach John Calipari, but the guard is coming along quickly in a new system. Mays transferred to the Wildcats with one season of eligibility remaining after playing for NC State and Wright State. And even though he is a veteran player, he is learning new things already. “Coming here it’s just completely different, even the way (Calipari) wants you to come off the ball screens,” Mays said in an interview with CoachCal.com. “It’s completely different than the ways I’ve done in the past, and I’ve played ball screen offense for the four years I’ve been in college.” It is clear that Mays can score, so Calipari will figure out how to find minutes for a player who can provide three-point shooting accuracy and scoring even if he isn’t in the starting lineup.
3. Players can’t be expected to practice and work out every second of the day. It’s the summer, after all, and that means a lot more free time. Kentucky sophomore Kyle Wiltjer and freshman Willie Cauley-Stein recently found the time to take a break from basketball to make an entertaining video complete with break-dancing in the parking lot, freestyle raps, and a special guest appearance from “random dude’ complete with swag. And this isn’t Wiltjer’s first taste of YouTube success. Wiltjer and his crew, affectionately known as the “White Boy Academy”, have made other videos including this dunk fest, this instructional video, and this celebratory rap video. It may be a slow news week for SEC basketball, but we can always count on the WBA and the addition of Cauley-Stein to entertain us. Well done, fellas. Well done.
4. Look out, ESPN College Gameday is coming back to Rupp Arena. Kentucky has been a participant in College Gameday every year since its inception in 2005 (, excluding a Billy Gillispie season in 2009). Rupp Arena has hosted the show three times (2005 against Mississippi State, 2007 against #1 ranked Florida, and 2010 against Tennessee) and holds the record for the largest attendance at the Gameday morning show. But this time, Kentucky fans are really looking forward to the arrival of Digger Phelps after his dig at Big Blue Nation in Nashville last year. Just imagine if Bobby Knight shows up in Lexington too, after his comments or lack thereof about Kentucky and coach John Calipari over the years. The drama of the personalities involved might be the biggest draw for this event, and not the actual game itself, which has the Cats facing off with the Florida Gators.
5. Ole Miss sent out this release , already mentioned in the RTC Morning Five on July 18, stating that the rivalry between Memphis and the Rebels would be renewed on the hardwood. While Tigers coach Josh Pastner said “not so fast my friends,” his beef isn’t just with Ole Miss. He has expressed his lack of interest in playing any regional SEC team. Regarding in-state rival Tennessee, Pastner told a Knoxville radio station, “I have no desire to play Tennessee,” and told CBS Sports his team would not play the Volunteers “unless the Governor makes me.” It sounds like Pastner isn’t making friends anywhere he turns in the Southeastern Conference.

1. Let’s talk scheduling, but enough about the soap opera between Kentucky and Indiana. There’s a new drama between Syracuse and Arkansas, and it turns out to be much ado about nothing. Syracuse originally refused to play in Fayetteville, but has relented to the powers that be and will play Mike Anderson‘s Razorbacks after all. “We discussed our concerns regarding Syracuse’s participation in the SEC/Big East Challenge with the conference and have come to an agreement on the logistics of the game,” Syracuse athletic director Daryl Gross said in a statement. “The Big East Conference will work with us to assist in our on-conference scheduling for the 2012-13 season.” Not sure that Syracuse ever had a choice in the matter, but good to see everyone in agreement.
2. Guards Jelan Kendrick and Maurice Aniefiok are leaving the Ole Miss program, according to a spokesman for the Rebels. Aniefiok averaged just 1.5 points and 0.8 rebounds per game in only 6.9 minutes per game. He struggled from the field shooting just 25.8 percent. Kendrick, a former McDonald’s All American, averaged 5.1 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game off the bench. Kendrick showed promise on the court, but struggled with off the court issues and with his relationship with coach Andy Kennedy.
3. Welcome to the SEC, Missouri and Texas A&M. And how does the conference ensure a collegial  environment? By throwing a party, of course. However, the official welcome is set to expire soon. Missouri opens up football play with Georgia on September 8, and Tigers head football coach Gary Pinkel provided advice that could be relevant in college basketball this season as well. “I understand everyone is going to want to watch how A&M and Missouri do, coming from the Big 12 into this league. My big thing, when you’re new like we are, you’ve got to earn respect. That’s what we’re going to try to do.” Missouri instantly joins Kentucky and Florida at the top of the SEC power rankings this year in basketball, so the respect factor may come much quicker on the hardwood for the Tigers.
4. Tennessee standout Jarnell Stokes has been named as a finalist for the U18 USA Men’s Basketball National Team. Committee chair Jim Boeheim spoke of the difficulty in making selections saying, “You had 23 guys who all are really good players, there wasn’t a bad player here. To get down to 12 is going to be difficult but I think we’re going to end up with a really good athletic team that is going to be very well coached. I think we’ve got an unbelievable coaching staff. I think we’ve got guys that have won, been winners, won state championships, and I think they’ll represent USA Basketball extremely well in this tournament.” Florida Gators coach Billy Donovan serves as the head coach for the team, which will make its final roster cuts on June 12.
5. If you were a head basketball coach and every SEC head coaching position was open and available to you, which would you choose? Well, ESPN’s college basketball gurus made their choices and Kentucky, Florida, and Missouri top the list as desirable positions while Ole Miss, Auburn, and South Carolina finish out the bottom of the pack. No major gripes here on the order, but the placement of one school, in particular, was interesting. Mississippi State has been relatively successful recently, yet they rank number 11 on the list. I agree with the reasoning behind the placement, but if this is all true, why chase off Rick Stansbury? He enabled the Bulldogs to compete in the SEC and he recruited well for what we are now calling a bottom tier SEC basketball job. Sounds like Mississippi State was exceeding expectations with a coach at the level of Stansbury.