As we enter the last days of December it is becoming quite apparent that a few SEC Basketball coaches might be looking for very specific presents under their trees this weekend.
Here are a few thoughts about what some of them might be looking for:
A shooting guard, maybe two
Respect and a fan base that cares about something other than football
More hell, such as the 40 minute variety
An inside presence to go with the strong complement of guards they have
Consistency
Mental toughness for Terrance Jones-they have everything else…
See Auburn
Anything will do, because the cupboard is bare
Crossed fingers and toes that this team will not implode like they did last year
See Ole Miss
Christmas came early with the addition of Stokes
Mental toughness for Festus Ezeli and consistency from John Jenkins-a little bench scoring would help
I hope you and your family have a great Christmas!
Welcome to our 2012 additions to the SEC, Texas A&M and Missouri.
Lee Corso puts more than his foot in his mouth
I didn’t watch ESPN’s Gameday today, but the fallout was fast and furious.
Lee Corso dropped an F-bomb when he picked the Houston Cougars to win and he followed up quickly with an online, video apology.
Here is the original post and the apology is below it.
Our lives move to quickly sometimes and he was wise to respond so quickly and in this manner.
Now we do know he is a real human being…
Who will win the SEC in Men’s Basketball for the 2011-12 season?
SEC Pigskin Prognostication (This is not a medical procedure)
Rather than the regular, ho-hum, prediction of the next week I am going to look at the rest of the year for all 12 teams in the SEC and throw in our newbies, Texas A&M and Missouri also. My opinions are my own and you should feel free to disagree. Here goes…
As of today the Tide is undefeated and this will hold true as they defeat LSU, Mississippi State and Georgia Southern. The bloom will fall from the Tide rose as they lose at Jordan Hare on November 26 to the upstart Auburn Tigers.
The Hogs have more lives than a cat, having survived scares at Ole Miss and at Vandy. They will win against South Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi State, but lose the season finale at LSU in Death Valley.
Auburn 
Auburn will win out by defeating the Georgia Dawgs in Athens, Samford at home and then enjoy a great dessert two days after thanksgiving when they upset undefeated Alabama in the Loveliest Village on the Plains.
The Gators are staring a losing season squarely in the eyes as they will lose to Vandy at home, South Carolina in Columbia and also lose to Florida State at home. They will salvage a win at home versus the Furman Paladins.
Georgia 
Georgia will be the “little engine that almost could” as they split their last four games, winning versus New Mexico State and Kentucky and losing to Auburn and Georgia Tech in the annual rivalry game.
Kentucky 
Cat Fans are so ready for basketball. Nothing much will change for this team as they lose to Vandy, Georgia, and Tennessee, but they will get that only conference win versus Ole Miss on the Houston Nutt Farewell Tour.
LSU 
The Bengal Tigers will go from rupture to rapture in the last month as they lose to Bama in Tuscaloosa, but win out versus Western Kentucky, Ole Miss and Arkansas.
Mississippi State 
The Bullies will end the season with two conference wins total as they win the Poached Egg bowl over the hapless Rebels. They will also defeat UT Martin, but will lose to Bama and Arkansas during this same stretch.
Ole Miss 
The Rebels/Black Bears will become better known as the “Doormats” as the again end up in the basement of the SEC west. The final chapter of the Houston Nutt Farewell tour will include losses to Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, LSU and Miscopy State. Best wishes to Coach Nutt as he heads back into coaching obscurity after this season.
South Carolina 
The Ole’ Ball Coach will play in December, but there will be potholes along the way. The Gamecocks will lose to Arkansas and Clemson, but will win against Florida and the Citadel. This, coupled with UGA’s loss to Auburn, will put the Cocks back in Atlanta in December where they will be manhandled by Alabama.
Tennessee 
The Vols will have a mixed bag in the final month as they defeat the Blue Raiders of MTSU and the hapless Wildcats of Kentucky. The orange-pant led team will lose to Arkansas and Vanderbilt to dampen the mood in November.
Vanderbilt 
Vandy will qualify to play in their second bowl game in four years by defeating Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee in the final month, but they will stub their toe when they lose to the well-coached Deacons of Wake Forest in their final game. Coach James Franklin will gain many votes as SEC coach of the year for the Commodores 7-5 season in his first year at the helm.
Texas A&M 
The Aggies will play out the string in the “Big 12 and shrinking fast” by losing to Oklahoma and Kansas State, but they will savor victory over Kansas and their hated rival Texas at home in Kyle Field.
Missouri 
The “Yankee Tigers” from Columbia will finish out their final season in the Big 12 by defeating Kansas and Baylor, but they will lose to Texas and Texas Tech.
Vandy takes on Cal State Fullerton this weekend in the DeMarini Classic in Nashville
Fresh off the announcement by Baseball America that Vandy has the #1 recruiting class in the country this year the Dores take on the Cal State Fullerton Titans in a 2 game series here at Hawkins Field. Game times are at 11:00 am both days.
I fully expect to see Kevin Ziomek 
take the hill to start the game on Saturday and the Sunday game should see either Will Clinard 
or Tyler Beede 
start things. You will also see a plethora of others on the mound including Sam Selman, Philip Pfeifer and sidewinder Brian Miller from Independence High School in Franklin, TN. The Dores will be led by Conrad Gregor at 1B or at DH and will also have Riley Reynolds at 2B, Anthony Gomez at SS and Vince Conde at 3B. Speedster Tony Kemp will anchor the outfield in CF or LF and will be joined by Connor Harrell and Mike Yastrzemski. Chris Harvey should be behind the plate for the Dores.
Cal State comes to Nashville with a highly regarded recruiting class led by JD Davis at 3B and pitcher and also we will see Austin Diemer in the outfield and Jose Cardona would play except for an injured patella tendon.
Michael Lorenzen is the leading hitter to return and he will be joined by Carlos Lopez and Austin Kingsolver. The Titans are a “small ball” team with little evidence of power from their 2011 statistics.
The lineup for the Titans will look as follows:
C: Jared Deacon (So., Elk Grove, Calif.) and Casey Watkins (Jr., Valencia, Calif.)
1B: Chad Wallach (So., Yorba Linda, Calif.), Carlos Lopez (Jr., Northridge, Calif.) and J.D. Davis (Fr., Elk Grove, Calif.)
2B: Matt Orloff (Jr., Simi Valley, Calif.) and Derek Legg (Sr., Murrieta, Calif.)
SS: Keegan Dale (So., Riverside, Calif.)
3B: Matt Chapman (Fr., Trabuco Canyon, Calif.), J.D. Davis (Fr., Elk Grove, Calif.) and Derek Legg (Sr., Murrieta, Calif.)
LF: Austin Kingsolver (Jr., Dana Point, Calif.)
CF: Michael Lorenzen (So., Anaheim, Calif.)
RF: Greg Velazquez (So., Fullerton, Calif.)
The Titans will start Dylan Floro on Saturday and will also throw JD Davis, and Christian Coronado. Sunday we will see Kenny Mathews, Grahamm Wiest and Koby Gauna. Bullpen arms for Cal State include Dimitri DeLaFuente, Willie Kuhl, Tyler Peitzmeier, Chad Wallach and Michael Lorenzen.
The Titans are coached by Rick Vanderhook and he is assisted by pitching coach Kirk Sarloos.
Everyone keeps talking about the LSU-Alabama game in early November as the National Championship game. IT may well be that, but it will not be if Auburn pulls the upset this weekend in Baton Rouge.
This is a tune up weekend for most SEC teams and my predictions are shown below. I will be attending the Vandy-Cal State Fullerton baseball games on Saturday and Sunday in Nashville and I will also attend the Army tailgate prior to the Vandy-Army football game tomorrow evening.
Have a great weekend!
| Jacksonville State | @Kentucky | This might be a winner for the Cats: UK 17-JSU 14 |
| Arkansas | @Ole Miss | Bad goes to worse for the Rebs-at least the Grove will be close by: Hogs 45-Rebs 14 |
| Auburn | @LSU | This might be the stunner of the week: Plainsmen 31-Tigers 28 |
| Army | @Vanderbilt | Vandy has a chance to make it back to a bowl game. Jordan Rogers will make the start for the Dores: Vandy 24-Army 23 |
| Tennessee | @Alabama | Smokey heads to counseling after this one in Tuscaloosa: Bama 35-UT 14 |
PS.
Congrats to Tim Corbin and Vandy Baseball for having the #1 Ranked recruiting class this year. My prediction is that the Commodores will return to Omaha in June 2012. You heard it here first!
James Franklin and Todd Grantham-What should the penalty be?
Unless you live under a rock you will have heard about the warm goodbye that James Franklin and Todd Grantham gave one anotehr last Saturday evening after Vandy scared the Bulldogs out of their shorts.
View this video and then tell me what you think the conference will do as a result of this incident:
Kevin Ziomek is the real deal!
I spent a few innings this evening at the Vanderbilt Baseball Black & Gold series watching game two. Left hander Kevin Ziomek squared off against freshman phenom Tyler Beede and Zo definitely had the upper hand this evening. Kevin struck out 8 in 5 innings and looked virtually unhittable in many instances.
I suspect he will pitch on a few Friday evenings, if not all of them, this coming spring.
