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Hello! It’s Thursday.
Football is right around the corner and basketball is in full swing this week.
Let’s go around your favorite conference now, shall we?
Florida-LSU is loads different now (Alligator Army)
This Saturday, Florida and LSU will finally play their much-ballyhooed rescheduled game. The game was initially postponed from October 8 due to Hurricane Matthew, and after much contentious debate, rescheduled to November 19 in Baton Rouge.
You better know Ole Miss, Vandy (Anchor of Gold)
Anyway, both sites agree Ole Miss has had the toughest schedule on the planet. The Rebels have played seven different ranked teams this season, along with live dogs Memphis and Georgia Southern. If Derek Mason had faced this schedule, we’d be blasting Kyle Shurmur’s body out of a spaceship to honor him in the proper Vulcan tradition.
Podcastin’ bout the Hogs (Arkansas Fight)
Are the Arkansas Razorbacks good? Are the Arkansas Razorbacks bad? Are they exactly in the middle of the SEC? WE LITERALLY DON’T KNOW AND THERE ARE ONLY 2 GAMES LEFT IN THE REGULAR SEASON!
Going in the film room (ATVS)
As someone who has only ever coached offense (lol one time I coached defensive backs for like six games and the joke here is that I know nothing about defensive backs) one of my favorite things in the world is being able to relax on the sideline and watch a great defenses swarm around and do it’s thing. I become my teams biggest cheerleader.
A retrospect on Auburn hoops (College and Magnolia)
Two games, two wins. Can’t do too much better than that. I know this team is young, but the talent is through the roof in comparison to what we have been watching in the past. I can’t remember the last time Auburn had as much depth at the forward position, much less a crop of point guards this skilled.
Going Beyond the Hedges! (Dawg Sports)
Chicago Cub reliever and now World Series winner Justin Grimm had himself a pretty good 2016. Reports have had Scott Stricklin bringing in a strong class this past week, though they've yet to announce the full list of signees. (as of the time I write this, so they'll probably post it shortly).
A look at the Charleston Classic (FWtCT)
The Mississippi State Bulldogs will travel to Charleston, SC to play in a tournament this weekend sponsored by Gildan, an underwear company, who has Blake Shelton as its primary spokesperson. That doesn’t really have anything to do with basketball, but at least now you know.
Keeping tabs on SC athletics (GAB Attack)
Even with a loss to Old Dominion in the Conference USA tournament quarterfinals, the Gamecocks were still able to make the field for the national tournament. They open up play tomorrow at home in the opening round against Mercer at 1pm. The winner of that game will go on to play the 3rd seeded Clemson Tigers.
Chandler commits to A&M (Good Bull Hunting)
Meet Jay Jay Chandler, the third four-star recruit of the 2017 class, the fourth recruit overall, and fifth recruit (if you count currently-ineligible JJ Caldwell - which I certainly do) that will be new to the lineup next year and busting down the door for playing time.
Talking hypothetically about ‘Bama (Red Cup Rebellion)
Last month, Alabama was fun. But as pointed out in this week’s Shutdown Fullcast and Podcast Ain’t Played Nobody, Alabama is no longer fun. So how do you #TalkAboutTheTide without falling into a debilitating stupor of inevitability? YOU MAKE THINGS UP.
Xavier was aided by the Big East (Rock M Nation)
I sent some questions to my friend Robert O’Neill at BigEastCoastBias.com about Xavier and he was kind enough to answer them. You can follow Rob on twitter (beware, he’s a big Cubs fan) @RobertONeill31. Here’s the Q&A for the upcoming game against the Musketeers.
Wednesday on a Monday (Rocky Top Talk)
As we discussed in the wake of Jalen Hurd’s decision to transfer, 12 players from the 2014 recruiting class have left early. That got me thinking...what does the structure of Tennessee’s roster look like? Which classes make up what percentage of the team, and how does that compare to other schools around the league?
Yeah, ‘Bama needs to fill vacancies too (Roll ‘Bama Roll)
Alabama seems to reload every single season. It is what has made The Crimson Tide’s dynasty last so long. Every year, the team loses many players to the draft and, every year, the team adds more players that can contribute. Here, we will take a look at what positions Alabama will need to add depth to and what commits the team could go after in order to fill these positions.
Weekend picks! (SB Nation)
This week is another of huge spreads. The challenge is to strike the right balance between choking on chalk and falling for every dog. It is really important to look at what games teams have on deck after this week. Some will be focused on Week 13 instead of locking in to play Week 12. And that is not about game day, but rather what happens during the week of preparation.
Use the carousel wisely (SB Nation)
The coaching carousel is spinning more slowly than normal this year, as SB Nation’s Steven Godfrey recently explained. In the Power 5, only LSU, Purdue, and Baylor are open for next year. Texas might come open, as could Oregon. But coaches who began the year on the warm seat at good jobs like Penn State, Auburn, USC, West Virginia, and Tennessee now seem to be safe.
Green might decide soon after all (A Sea of Blue)
It looks like the Kentucky Wildcats will get a decision on Quade Green soon that will be final. The original expectation was for the five-star point guard to announce his college decision on Nov. 19th, then wait to sign his national letter of intent until the spring, leaving open the possibility he could decommit and join a different school, depending on how UK and Syracuse are able to land between now and then.