Inside the SEC: Coaches favor expanded tournament

Published: Tuesday, February 16, 2010, 6:39 AM
Mike Herndon column head (new)Mike Herndon
Asking a bunch of college basketball coaches whether they favor expanding the NCAA tournament is sort of like asking a bunch of gamblers if they think the casinos should pay out more jackpots.
But some, like Florida's Billy Donovan and South Carolina's Darrin Horn, do acknowledge there would be pros and cons for an expanded bracket that could include as many as 96 teams.
"One of the things that may not be great for the expansion is how important the regular season is," Donovan said Monday. "There could be a level of diminishment there with an expansion to 90-plus teams."
But he added, "I would like to see more people experience the NCAA tournament; that's just me."
Others, like Tennessee's Bruce Pearl and Auburn's Jeff Lebo, were less nuanced in their support of the idea.
"It's absolutely a positive in my mind," Pearl said. "I don't believe it'll water it down. There are way, way too many (deserving) teams who aren't making the tournament.
"How can South Carolina win 10 games in the SEC, finish in a tie for first (in the East), and not make the NCAA tournament (last year)? That's not fair to the type of year they had. There's no way a team like that should be excluded."
EARLY BRACKETOLOGY: Early projections of NCAA tournament bids have somewhere between three and six SEC teams qualifying for the Big Dance.
Kentucky is widely regarded as a No. 1 seed, and Tennessee and Vanderbilt are also considered by many to be locks. sees Ole Miss as probable with its 48 RPI, with Mississippi State and Florida on the bubble with RPIs of 58 and 59, respectively.'s Jerry Palm has five SEC teams getting in, with Florida and Ole Miss joining the Wildcats, Vols and Commodores.'s Joe Lunardi, meanwhile, sees only the three perceived locks getting in, with three of his "first four out" being SEC teams -- Ole Miss, Florida and Mississippi State.
Both Palm and Lunardi see Kentucky as a No. 1 seed and Tennessee as a No. 6, with Lunardi slotting Vandy as a No. 4 and Palm placing them at a No. 5.
HAPPY RETURNS: One of the reasons the SEC seems improved this year is that several stars who could have left early for the NBA opted to return to school.
South Carolina's Devan Downey, Kentucky's Patrick Patterson and Mississippi State's Jarvis Varnado all have made major impacts for their teams this season and Tasmin Mitchell may be the only bright spot for a talent-depleted LSU squad.
How those decisions have benefited the players themselves won't be known until the next NBA draft, but Kentucky coach John Calipari said he believes Patterson has helped himself considerably.
"You have different GMs, from (Detroit's) Joe Dumars to (Orlando assistant GM) Dave Twardzik to other guys, who have said to me, 'He's helped himself more than any player who came back,'" Calipari said of Patterson. "What they're saying is they never knew he could do things on the perimeter like he's doing, they never knew he had the skills, and they also didn't know he could guard a two-man, a three-man, a four-man and in a pinch he could guard a point guard."
Varnado could break the NCAA's all-time record for blocked shots this year, but a lack of depth behind him may be hurting his overall play, MSU coach Rick Stansbury said.
"He's averaging 36 minutes a game in SEC play and that's just way too many minutes for a big guy of his build, a guy who's taking a pounding every game," Stansbury said. "That's been very difficult and challenging for him to be able to play with the amount of energy you need for the minutes he's playing."
Of course, there are no positives to be taken from the return of one other SEC standout -- Tennessee's Tyler Smith, who was dismissed from the team after being arrested on misdemeanor drug and gun charges.
IN SEARCH OF TERRICO: A key for Ole Miss to finish strong and try to lock up a tournament bid will be the play of Terrico White.
White, the SEC's freshman of the year last season, is hitting 14.8 points a game this season but his scoring has dipped in the SEC schedule. Rebels assistant coach Owen Miller said getting White more touches is a priority.
"That's something I know Andy (Kennedy) is really trying to (make) happen -- to get him more touches -- and then when he does get more touches, for him to be more aggressive," Miller said on Monday. "People are guarding him different, too; that's part of it. People are making it harder for him to get touches. As that happens, Terrico's got to do things to get himself in position where he can make plays.
"Obviously, we need more production from him, as it relates to scoring, for us to be as good as we need to be."
ZONED OUT: Calipari knew that when he installed his dribble-drive offense at Kentucky, the Wildcats would be seeing a lot more zone this season. But he believes he isn't the only coach seeing more of it.
"A lot more people are playing zone than have ever played," Calipari said. "Guys don't have (offensive) plays versus zones. They're just trying to attack the middle or the baseline, or ball-screen ... there's less preparation. A lot more guys are playing zone under the baskets, because they think it's easier to guard.
"Then you've got the stubborn guys like me who just keep playing man-to-man," he added. "I just prefer the challenge of making a team communicate and talk. I need to know who's breaking down, and I'm just a guy who goes nuts when there are open 3-point shots."
Contact Mike Herndon at:
His Inside the SEC column appears on Tuesdays in the Press-Register.


Sponsored Links

More stories in Sports from the Press-Register

Previous story
Great Olympic comebacks by Wescott, Miller & Vonn
Next story
Mobile's DeMarcus Cousins eager to play Mississippi State

Most Active Users

What's this?

Users We Love

Popular Tags

What's this?