BasketVols. Tennessee VS. LSU In SEC Road Opener.

On Jarnell Stokes's 20th birthday, the Vols traveled to Louisiana for the SEC opener against the Tigers. These two teams were both expected to finish 3rd and 4th in the SEC and go dancing in March. The Tigers were coming of an embarrassing defeat against a small but talented Rhode Island school. The Vols were riding on a 3 game winning streak against weaker opponents in Moorehead State, Tuscalum, and a blowout win against a really good Virginia squad.

Tennessee broke open a back-and-forth game late in the first half with a flurry of 3-pointers on the way to its biggest halftime lead in nearly two years and never eased up against LSU in a 68-50 triumph.

Tennessee used smothering defense and red-hot 3-point shooting to take a 38-24 halftime lead. LSU made just 34 percent (11-of-32) of its first half shots. Meanwhile, the Volunteers made seven first-half shots from behind the arc -- four by Barton.

Tennessee took the lead for good at 15-12 on a D'Montre Edwards 3-pointer with 11:58 remaining in the first half. The Vols (10-4, 1-0 SEC) got 19 points from Jordan McRae, 14 from Antonio Barton (12 in the opening half on four 3-pointers) and a ho-hum double-double from human rebounding machine Jarnell Stokes (15 points, 15 rebounds), his seventh this seaosn and the 25th of his three-year career.

The Volunteers protected their double-digit lead throughout the second half. In the first eight minutes after halftime, LSU cut its deficit to a dozen points on three occasions. Each time, Tennessee answered with a basket -- twice by birthday boy Stokes. The Vols pounded the backboards to the tune of 40-28, led by Stokes' 7 on offense and 8 on defense.

Jordan Mickey was again the best offensive weapon for LSU (9-4, 0-1) with 14 points and he also rejected 5 shots. Johnny O'Bryant bounced back from a second-half benching three nights earlier to contribute 11 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks.

The Tigers lost back-to-back games for the first time this season and this one was as thorough as any they have absorbed by a long stretch. The same problems that plagued the Tigers in an unexpected 74-70 loss to Rhode Island last Saturday in their final non-conference game reared up again, this time against a much more talented and veteran Tennessee team that may be playing as well as it has all season.


The first half was competitive until the closing minutes despite the Tigers' shooting woes. The Vols eviscerated LSU's defense with the same slow-paced approach. With the Tigers honed in on not allowing McRae to erupt after he scored a career-best 34 points against them last season, he became a distributor early on.  He recorded four of his five assists in the first half, three to Barton who peppered LSU with four 3s -- three in the last 6:23 before halftime, which started the unclimbable mountain for LSU in the 2nd half.

Now the Tigers head out on the road, with a game at South Carolina (12:30 p.m. | SECTV) in Columbia, Mo. The Vols (10-4) will face off against The Texas A&M Aggies (9-4) back home in Knoxville, Saturday, January 11, 2014 - 6:00 PM ET airing on ESPN3

The Vols are starting to look like the top 25 team they were projected to be preseason. With balanced scoring, a smothering defense, an insane duo in Stokes and Maymon under the goal, arguably the best player in the SEC in Jordan Mcrea, and surprise contributions from players like Antonio Barton, the Vols are poised to compete toe to toe against the rest of the SEC and come out on top. Coach Martin needs a NCAA tourney trip this year after disappointing NIT departures the last two seasons, and this team is capable of playing deep into the tournament.

The problem is no one ever knows what team we will see take the floor on any given night, extreme highs and disappointing lows. If the Vols keep playing games like they did against Virginia and LSU, expect a very interesting season and a good bid going into the NCAA Tourney.

Chick-fil-A Bowl

Chick-fil-A Bowl (Atlanta, Ga. – Monday, December 31, 2012)
LSU vs. Clemson – 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)



Clemson lost their only two games against ranked opponents – Florida State and South Carolina.  So, we really don’t know how good this team really is.  The offense is electric behind Tajh Boyd, but they only managed 17 points against the Gamecocks.
 The ACC’s Player of the Year is Boyd.  He’s thrown for 3,550 yards and 34 touchdowns, committing only 13 interceptions, and he rushed for 492 yards and nine touchdowns.  He has two formidable receivers in Watkins and Hopkins.  Ellington, the 1,031-yard rusher, is a burner in the open field.

The Tigers posted another 10-win season, and it’s getting boring watching LSU win at least 10 every year.  The passing game never quite lived up to expectation, and the running game carried the offense once again.  
The running game stayed true to form, with its bruising and physical style.  Freshman Jeremy Hill emerged as the Tigers’ biggest playmaker.  The freshman Hill finished with 631 yards rushing with 10 touchdowns.  The Tigers finished 5^th in the SEC in rushing.
John Chavis once again authored a great season as the leader of the defense.  Chavis had to replace three starters in the secondary and two at linebacker. Linebacker Kevin Minter led the defense, and he had a bigger impact than Sam Montgomery or Barkevious Mingo.  Montgomery and Mingo combined for just 11 sacks.
Clemson will attack the secondary behind Boyd’s arm, and LSU finished 6^th in pass defense.  To attack the LSU defense, the Clemson’s offensive line has to play well and provide time for Boyd in the pocket.

To say that Clemson will be able to handle the Tigers’ speed rushers on the edge is assuming a lot, especially seeing the success FSU and South Carolina both had. Clemson will have to take care of LSU in the trenches and Tajh Boyd will have to have a great game for the ACC’s Tigers to pull off the upset.

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SEC Championship Game Preview

From teamspeedkills.com

Making the right comparison, the three key players, and why UGA won't score more than 24 points.

Alabama is understandably the favorite in the 2012 SEC Championship Game, so many previews I've seen have been focused on how Georgia can pull in elements of Texas A&M's offensive game plan. It's only natural, given that the Aggies are the only team to have defeated the Crimson Tide this year while also putting up the most points Bama has given up on the season.
While I get where that approach is coming from, it's not the best thing UGA could be doing with its time. Georgia's best chance is to dance with the one who brung it. Aaron Murray does have some wheels, but he's not Johnny Manziel. With Michael Bennett and Marlon Brown out for the season, it wouldn't be wise for the Bulldogs to suddenly start lining up in four- and five-wide sets nearly every play. We won't be seeing Mike Bobo bust out the diamond formation either. Georgia is a pro-style team, with lots of running out of the I-formation and most formations having at least one tight end on the line.
And while Texas A&M scored the most points on Bama, LSU is the one that gained the most yards. LSU was also the only SEC team to hold the Tide under 400 total yards at 331 on the game, while Bama outgained the Aggies in their contest. The Tigers had Alabama beat until A.J. McCarron led a furious two-minute drill in which the Bayou Bengals' defense inexplicably fell apart. Had LSU cashed in on some opportunities better earlier in the game, we'd be previewing a rematch of last year's SEC Championship Game right now.
Replicating LSU's success will heavily rely on Murray and Todd Gurley. Murray will have to be sharp like his former teammate Zach Mettenberger was, as the latter picked Bama apart with a controlled passing game. Gurley, who has been more consistent than his backfield mate Keith Marshall, will need to do a good Jeremy Hill impression to keep the chains moving. LSU had a time of possession lead of 19:30 over Alabama, a big factor in how the Tigers controlled the game. A team like Oregon doesn't care about time of possession, but teams like Alabama, LSU, and Georgia certainly do.
I ran a score projection for this game using my usual method (which excludes I-AA action). It came out with a 30-20 Alabama win with the Tide outgaining Georgia 390-311. That outcome would make a ton of sense, and I'll stick with it for my pick. It's true that UGA has a fantastic offense, but relative to opponents' season averages in total yardage, the LSU game is the only bad game Bama's defense had. Every other opponent got held to more than 100 yards under their typical rate. Every team also scored at least 12.5 points under their season averages for points scored. Using the latter heuristic and UGA's 37.36 points per game rate, UGA's maximum point total is right at about 24.
I don't know if 24 points is enough for Georgia to beat Alabama. While it's true that the Bulldogs' defense has finished strong, it's also true that Ole Miss, Auburn, and Georgia Tech don't make up a murderer's row. They're going to need Jarvis Jones to take over the game like he did against Missouri and especially Florida, but Alabama won't be doing stupid things like running sweeps to his side or having a quarterback-turned-tight end try to block him. He's the best singular defensive talent in this game, a dominant force the likes of which Alabama doesn't have. Bama's tackles are big, but they might not be fast enough to contain him.
I certainly do give Georgia a chance to win this game. It would make for a fantastic story about persistence for Mark Richt and mean that Nick Saban would, believe it or not, have only one conference championship in his first half dozen years in Tuscaloosa. It's not what I'm picking, but it could happen.
Alabama (-7.5) over Georgia 30-20

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