State of the SoCon

Here's a quick glance around the Southern Conference's internet outlets to find out what's on the fan's minds:

In Davidson-land, fans have begun to get over the slight from ESPN that placed Davidson in a Bracketbuster game with a Winthrop team that is 40-50 RPI points its inferior. Fans are now more concerned about how to keep themselves interested and involved while the Wildcats blow out their conference opponents. There has also been a recent little discussion over how students get tickets, where they get them, and how the stadium staff enforces different sections.

Down in the lowcountry, College of Charleston faithful have joined the ranks of UNC-Charlotte fans in questioning the heart of their team's players and the strategy of its coach. While the Cougar faithful have not been called out by the local press for their gab, things are getting pretty downright depressing in Cremins' backyard. College of Charleston suffered their worst defeat in SoCon history on Saturday and the anger that usually accompanies a proud following has started to border on exasperated resignation. It seems that the only corner of South Carolina where basketball still has legitimate standing is in, of all places...Clemson! The Tigers are third in the ACC and go into Chapel Hill tonight with a chance for a signature victory after falling to the Tar Heels in OT a month ago.

In the North Division of the Southern Conference, the Chattanooga Mocs suffered yet another loss to the "dirty", "better than they look" Davidson Wildcats before dropping an embarrassing loss to Western Carolina, a team with only eight players on the active roster after several mid-season defections. But wait, it gets worse. Chattanooga then went on to beat 4-win Furman by a mere three points, and then was kicked out of the North Division lead thanks to a 20-point blowout by Georgia Southern. Things are so bad up in Chattanooga that starting point guard Kevin Bridgewaters rolled his ankle in pre-game warmups just so he could stop committing turnovers.

So, all this means that reigning North Division champ Appalachian State is now back in first place and ready to make a run at Davidson in the Southern Conference tournament...right? Well, Appalachian State gave up 10 unanswered points at home to fall to the Cougars in the final minutes on Thursday. (Yeah, those Cougars...) Then the Mountaineers end up needing the karma of a missed Citadel free throw just to get the Bulldogs to overtime on Saturday. The Appies came away with the win and the outright lead in the North Division. But that doesn't matter too much, because...they scheduled LSU to start next year's football season! Heck, there is more discussion on Baton Rouge hotel rooms than App's loss to the College of Charleston on Thursday.

So...um...who else? Oh yeah, Georgia Southern! They did beat Chattanooga by 20 on Saturday and are now the projected three seed for the tournament. But...um, I can't find their message board. I did find this, but it seems that's just football-only. Heck, even the Eagles' own fanbase have somehow found better things to do than attend a home basketball game against the North Division-leading Chattanooga Mocs. Only 2400 people were on-hand to watch the Eagles shut down that high-flying Moc attack.

I would mention Wofford's recent streak of winning six out of their last eight games, but I'm afraid they would immediately want to kick me out of the SoCon for not playing D-I scholarship football. Oh wait, I was complementing the Terriers on their basketball team? Well, nevermind.

SoCon North Division

Chattanooga

While Davidson likes to flaunt its rich tradition of basketball, no Southern Conference school can hold a candle to the basketball history of UT-Chattanooga. The Mocs' men's and women's teams have each won 24 conference titles and have been in the title game in most other years. Two years ago, the Mocs took a young team, after graduating a conference championship class the year before, and returned to the title game as a five seed. And we won't talk about how dominant the Chattanooga women's team has been over the years.

But last year, the Mocs fell on hard times. They finished 6-12 in the conference and were bounced by Davidson as an 8 seed in the quarterfinal round of the tournament. They finished eighth in the league in scoring offense, and their top scorer, Keddric Mays, finished just 11th overall in the conference in points per game.

With Mays and Casey Long lost to graduation, fans in Chattanooga had little to look forward to in 2007-2008. The Mocs were picked to finish fourth in the preseason polls while most of the outside attention of the Conference went to Davidson and UNC-Greensboro. But now, at the end of December, the Mocs sit with the conference's best record of 3-0 (7-4 overall). They have knocked off the College of Charleston and handed Elon its own conference loss of the season. They also came within six points of knocking off regional rival Tennessee.

This year, little known Stephen McDowell has stepped into the scoring role and has averaged over 15 points a game. He has been joined by fellow junior Nicchaeus Doaks who has averaged over 12 points and 6.5 rebounds a game. As a team, the Mocs have shot 48% from the field and averaged 81 points a game. Only five of Chattanooga's fourteen players have hit less than half of their shots taken (compare that to nine players for Davidson).

Davidson has struggled to play well in Chattanooga's McKenzie Arena over the years, sporting just a 2-5 record in that building since 2000 (that includes Davidson's 1-1 record in the 2005 SoCon tournament in McKenzie Arena). The Mocs have averaged nearly 40 rebounds a game this year. Combine that number with their high shooting percentage and it shows that most of those rebounds must be coming on the defensive end. Davidson will have to play very crisp basketball in order to sweep the season series with the Mocs this year. Chattanooga looks to be back to defend their basketball tradition.

Elon

When the Elon Phoenix joined the Southern Conference several years ago, most conference fans complained about adding another basketball cupcake. The tiny school from Burlington, NC has a gym that doesn't even seat 1,500 people and a basketball program with little notable history. But two years ago, Elon found themselves at the top of the North division and playing in the SoCon tournament semifinal game against Davidson. The Wildcats bested the Phoenix and sent them back down to the road of mediocrity as they put together an atrocious 7-23 record while going 5-13 in the conference last year.

Little more was expected from Elon this year, but they have been a pleasant surprise so far, putting together a 3-1 conference record with their only loss coming at Chattanooga. The Phoenix have been led by returning starter Ola Atoyebi who has averaged seven rebounds and fourteen points per game. He has been helped by senior guard Montell Watson who has averaged just over 10 points a game.

While Elon was one of only a handful of teams to beat Appalachian State last season, they dropped an embarrassing loss to Davidson in front of a home crowd that was louder for the Wildcats than the Phoenix. Davidson's first matchup comes next week when they travel up to Burlington for a late 9 p.m. tip.

Western Carolina

The Western Carolina Catamounts were counting on this year to be one in which they moved out of the basement of the Southern Conference. The Catamounts have not won a conference title since 1996, but they looked to compete in a weakened North Division because of returning star forward, Nick Aldridge. Aldridge would have been a shoo-in for Conference Freshman of the Year in 2007 had it not been for some guy named Curry.

But less than a month into the season, word came out of Cullowhee that Aldridge was gone. Personal issues between him and the staff and players led the school to cut ties. All of a sudden, the Catamounts did not have an identity. Role players were forced to produce and they were unsuccessful. After starting 2-2 with a two-point loss to Cincinnati, the Catamounts have gone 2-6 with their only wins coming against first-year D-I programs N.C. Central and Presbyterian.

Stepping in to fill Aldridge's shoes has been 6-6 sophomore Brandon Giles and 6-2 freshman guard Michael Porrini. Both have averaged double digits in scoring while Giles scored 46 points in Western's two conference losses against College of Charleston and Elon.

Appalachian State

Through the middle of last January, App State thought that they had become the most dominant sports program in the Southern Conference. The school had wrapped up back-to-back football national championships, and had rolled through their basketball season picking up wins against Virginia, Vanderbilt, VCU, and defending SoCon champion Davidson.

But then, they lost...to Elon...at home. Then, in the SoCon semifinal, star Virginia transfer Donte Minter had the chance to send the Mounties to a finals rematch with Davidson. But he missed the free throw. App State lost to CofC, went on to the NIT and got blown out in the first round. D.J. Thompson graduated and then everyone started watching football again. Not that football was ever questioned as the premiere sport up in Boone, but after a stunning upset of Michigan and a third straight national title, fans could care less about a Mountaineer basketball program trying to find an identity.

So far this season, it has seemed as if the players don't care much either. App State now sits 0-2 in the conference and 5-6 overall after dropping games to Davidson, San Jose State, Georgia Southern, and East Tennessee State. Against the Wildcats, App gave up 39 points to sophomore sensation Stephen Curry while star forwards Jeremy Clayton and Donte Minter struggled to produce offensively.

But then Appalachian State went and messed up all the trends. They went out on the road and beat SEC power Arkansas on the Razorbacks' home court. Donald Sims, a young point guard who had pretty much averaged the same amount of points as he had turnovers, went off for 24 points including 4 threes. He only turned the ball over once and managed the game perfectly for Houston Fancher's squad. Minter, a player who had underachieved ever since he arrived in Boone, scored 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds.

The Mountaineers have shown that they have the talent to make noise in the North Division. But only time will tell if they can play well consistently, and draw enough fan support to create a menacing home court environment.

SoCon South Division

With the conference season about to begin in earnest, I have compiled some short notes on every member of the SoCon and their season thus far. I will publish an entry or two on every team leading up to Davidson's Jan. 3 game with Georgia Southern. I will start with the South Division in this post.

Georgia Southern

The Eagles are currently 8-2 with a perfect 2-0 mark in the Southern Conference. Their conference victories came at Furman and hosting Appalachian State.

The Eagles' biggest out-of-conference win of the season came against Alabama-Birmingham. Georgia Southern held UAB scoreless for four-plus minutes down the stretch as they turned a four-point deficit into a seven-point lead. The Eagles hit 11 of 12 free throws in the final minutes to pull out a two-point victory.

Georgia Southern finished last season in the bottom half of the conference with a 7-11 league record including an overtime loss at The Citadel, 74-69. They lost to the College of Charleston in their first game of the conference tournament.

Although the Eagles lost Donte Gennie and his 16.2 points per game, they returned 6-8 forward Louis Graham and their floor general Dwayne Foreman. This season, Graham is in the top 10 in the conference for both scoring and rebounding while Foreman has averaged 6.2 assists per game (second in the conference behind Davidson's Jason Richards).

Davidson plays the streaking Eagles at odd times during the conference slate: during Christmas Break on Jan. 3, and at the beginning of Spring Break on March 1.

Last season, Davidson trailed GSU in Statesboro by nine points at halftime. However, Jason Richards scored a career-high 32 points including four three-pointers and twelve free throws to give Davidson a 101-92 victory. GSU's Graham scored 26 points while Foreman dished out a game-high 11 assists. Davidson's Thomas Sander hit three three-pointers in that game. The 6-8 forward has only hit four threes in the entirety of the 2007-2008 season.

Wofford

The Wofford Terriers have surprised a few people around the Southern Conference with their 7-4 start and one-point victory over North Division rival UNC-Greensboro. Wofford now stands third in the conference with a 1-1 record after dropping a road game at Elon.

The Terriers responded by defeating the Purdue Boilermakers and winning the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic by besting Texas Southern and Bethune-Cookman.

This Terrier season comes in true form as Wofford continues to be the Southern Conference's most inconsistent squad. Last year, the Terriers knocked off Cincinnati and barely lost to College of Charleston before going 5-13 in the conference with a loss at The Citadel.

Their fortunes have largely been determined by the play of their two stellar guards: Shane Nichols and Drew Gibson. Both players are incredible outside shooters, but they have had very little help from their teammates in the past, and the Terriers usually fall when they are held under 15-20 points apiece. Throughout their careers, both players have missed games due to injury, and Nichols' 15.3 ppg this season is not registered among the conferences' leaders because he has only played in six games.

The Terriers seem to be a different team when playing in tiny Ben Johnson Arena on their campus in Spartanburg. Wofford is 4-0 at home this season and they went 7-5 at home last year with near misses against Davidson (83-78), Western Carolina (81-75), and The Citadel (74-71). In the last seven years, Wofford has held an average winning margin of 7.8 over Davidson with a 4-2 record at Ben Johnson Arena. Davidson will travel to Spartanburg on Jan. 12, the Saturday before students return to campus from their holiday break.

College of Charleston

The College of Charleston Cougars will wrap up their last holiday set of games in the old John Kresse Arena on December 29 and 30 when they host JMU, S.C. State and Mercer in the "Jim 'N Nick's Cougar Classic." The Cougars have come perilously close to knocking off two BCS powers, losing to Florida State and South Carolina by a combined eight points. They are now 4-6 with a 1-1 record in the conference (their sole loss came at Chattanooga, 86-70).

The defending conference runners-up, the Cougars have seen increased production from point guard Tony White Jr. who currently leads the team with 13.8 ppg and 3.1 apg. Last year, White backed up all-conference standout Dontaye Draper who completed his eligibility last spring. Combining Draper's absence with the off-season defection of upper-class forward Josh Jackson, College of Charleston's Bobby Cremins has had to look to his incoming players to make an impact.

Andrew Goudelock has averaged 12 points off the bench while shooting a team-best 44% from the field. His immediate impact has helped to overcome the slow start from returning letterman Marcus Hammond. The junior averaged over 7 points a game last year as a starting guard, but he is only shooting 30% from the field and scoring 5 ppg this season.

Davidson has had College of Charleston's number over the last few years. The Wildcats won all three matchups last year and are a collective 8-1 against CofC over the last four seasons. Out of those eight victories, three of them came in thrilling fashion with Davidson hitting a last-minute shot to win the game.

The Citadel

For a team with 13 freshman and an injury to one of two returning lettermen, The Citadel Bulldogs have done well to go 4-6 to this point in the season. Pat Conroy's team has a victory over county rival Charleston Southern and "good losses" to teams like USC, South Carolina and Washington State. The Bulldogs played conference-favorite Davidson tough for one half two weeks ago.

The Bulldogs have played some of their recent games without returning local senior forward Demetrius Nelson. Nelson missed the matchup with Davidson due to a stress fracture.

With Nelson out, Conroy has seen increased production from sensational freshmen Austin Dahn and Cameron Wells. Wells currently ranks third in the conference with 15.5 ppg. He is also averaging 3.4 assists per game.

Although The Citadel will probably finish ninth or tenth in the conference once again, they have a very talented young team that could sneak up on some conference opponents and possibly win a game in the conference tournament being played in their hometown.

Furman

The disaster that is the 2007-2008 Furman Paladins first reared its ugly head on March 2, 2007 when the Paladins managed only 15 points in the first half of their SoCon semifinal game against Davidson. No player outside of graduating seniors Moussa Diagne, Eric Webb or Robby Bostain obtained anything more than garbage points, and Furman was absolutely humiliated after Teddy Valentine threw out Diagne from the last game of his career.

Furman made several off-season improvements to their home gym in Greenville but that has not helped a team that has yet to win a game this season. Furman's 0-10 record (0-3 SoCon) includes embarrassing losses to USC Aiken and Utah Valley.

The Paladins have been led by freshman Justin Dehm who has averaged 9.6 points per game so far. Returning letterman Tony Anderson is one of two Paladin players with a positive assist/turnover ratio, but he has only scored 29 points in ten games played.

Davidson has only lost to Furman once since 1995. That loss came at Timmons Arena in 2006 as the Paladins ended Davidson's nation-leading conference winning streak. Without a scorer averaging more than 10 points a game, it doesn't look like the Paladins will find much success against Davidson or any other team in the Southern Conference this season.

Sunday Morning

Some pretty remarkable things happened in the basketball world yesterday. Appalachian State fell to lowly Elon. Davidson overcame Wofford with freshmen. And UNC got killed by Virginia Tech. Then came back and almost won. And then lost again at the end. Here are some "observations" (Kevin Cary-style) from Saturday:

-Despite what you might hear about SoCon refereeing on Saturday nights, one undefeated home team (App) had a big call go against them late in the game. After clawing their way back into a low-scoring contest, Elon fouled the heck out of an App St. player driving to the hole with under a minute to play. The Mountaineers turned the ball over and Elon was given the chance to win. Sometimes the home court isn't so much of an advantage.

-Virginia Tech became the first team in a long time (perhaps ever?) to knock off both Duke and North Carolina in one week in basketball. Right up the highway in College Park, Maryland shot over 60% to down the once-undefeated Tigers of Clemson. It looks like ACC basketball might have some parity after all.

-In an NFL-related note, I am still apalled by Andy Reid's decision to punt the ball on 4th and 15 last night. The Eagles were down by a FG with two minutes remaining, and they had just gone for it on 4th and 10, but the play was called back for a false start penalty. If you are willing to put yourself on the line on 4th and 10, why not 4th and 15? The Saints were then able to run out the clock. Not that I wasn't pulling for the Saints all along, but it was a still a stupid move by Reid. Maybe the whole thing was rigged after all.

-After Saturday's games, The Citadel moved into third place in the South Division of the Southern Conference, only one game behind the College of Charleston and ahead of both Furman and Georgia Southern. In the North division, Western Carolina is now tied with Appalachian State for first place. I was definitely the only person who predicted Western Carolina to be this good, although I just about screwed up on everything else.

-Finally, I am very upset at the Davidson housing operation. I am burning up in my room because the system can't turn on any cold air until at least March. This 70-degree weather isn't doing much for my new winter wardrobe. Oh well.