Big East/SEC Challenge Wish List

The SEC and Big East announced today a two-year agreement to play one another in an annual challenge.  This follows on the heels of back-to-back seasons in which a mini-version of this challenge existed, in which four teams from each conference competed for the challenge bragging rights.  There was enough momentum from this subsample for the conferences to agree on including all members in the SEC (12 teams) against twelve (out of 16) teams from the Big East.  The twelve teams from the Big East will be chosen at a later date.

The fact that we still don’t know which Big East teams will compete makes for a great opportunity to blog.  As with any challenge it’s all about the matchups.  You have to select matchups that will ultimately be competitive but also have as much marketability as possible in order to draw the highest ratings.  I put pen to pad tonight and did my best to break down the matchups I would want to see and some logic behind the choice.  Below is my personal wish list.  The conferences are free to use this in their decision making.

Kentucky vs Syracuse

Hype factors:  Both are perennial power basketball schools; the teams met in the 1996 Championship game; they almost never meet adding to the sexy matchup factor; perhaps most importantly they are #1 or #2 in annual home attendance every year, something the announcers can hype up until you vomit; the famed Syracuse 2-3 zone defense against the Dribble Drive Motion Offense of Kentucky.

Tennessee vs Connecticut

Hype factors: I went with this matchup mainly because Tennessee has already played Pittsburgh and Villanova this year, so I feel like there’s some process of elimination here.  Next year’s matchup should have new blood.  Now that UConn has rebounded from last year’s disappointing campaign this matchup oozes excitement.  Tennessee continues to be a giant-killer with wins over several Top 10 teams in recent years.  Lets throw the Vols another chance to add a feather to the hat.

Florida vs Louisville

Hype factors:  Lock this up.  Done deal.  Ricky P vs Billy D.  Mentor vs Pupil.  Championship winning coaches.  This is long overdue.  Marketing dream.

Vanderbilt vs West Virginia

Hype factors: This is a coaching decision for me.  I appreciate what Stallings and Huggins get out of their players.  The Mountaineers stifling defense pitted against Vanderbilt’s persistent offense.  I really think this could be the best matchup of the entire challenge.  Both coaches are gracious competitors and I think they would provide a great scene for college basketball fans.

LSU vs Florida Preview

The Florida Gators travel to LSU tonight in a big time SEC clash with major SEC and NCAA implications. Maybe not so for LSU. But DEFINITELY for Florida. So much is riding on this game for the Gators. With a win over LSU tonight Florida can maintain a half-game lead over South Carolina and Kentucky in the SEC East, but they can also put themselves potentially in the SEC East driver’s seat with just a few games remaining before the conference tournament begins. Florida’s last three games are against some of the better competition the SEC has to offer: Tennessee, Mississippi State, and Kentucky. But they get UT and UK at home, where Florida rarely loses. And Mississippi State has tailed off in recent games, as evidenced by a crushing loss to Auburn and an overtime loss to struggling Alabama. All of this means that a win tonight over LSU can bring national attention to a team that is currently believed to be right on the bubble, and therfore the lobbying will begin for Florida to definitely be in the Dance. Florida could surely use that. But a win would also generate the momentum they need to lock up the SEC East and the number one seed. Quite honestly, from an SEC East viewpoint, you want to avoid LSU and Auburn as long as possible in the SEC tourney with the way both teams are playing, making the # 1 seed in conference tournament that much more valuable.

The question is, are the Gators primed? Can they go into Baton Rouge and pull this off? The answer is yes. Why not? LSU is not a juggernaut, despite an 11-1 conference record. That’s no disrespect to LSU. They are solid. But they didn’t do nearly enough in the non-conference, despite a few chances against quality competition, to separate themselves into an elite status nationally. LSU could be due for a home upset, and Florida might just be catching them at the right time. Florida will need sensational point guard Nick Calathes to have a tremendous game. And I expect senior Walter Hodge, a very experienced tough game competitor, to pop out onto the stats sheet and have a quality game. If these two guards perform above their normal expectations, and the rest of the team holds their own, they will surely be right there in the end with LSU for the game. Without an extra special effort from a guy like Hodge I don’t believe the Gators will pull off the win.

This is a game that is hard to predict. Florida needs this win badly. LSU can lose and still be comfortably in the NCAA tournament. Will Florida come out hungry and rise to the magnitude of the game? Or will they simply fold on defense as they did against Georgia and lay an egg? Florida simply has too much to lose not to bring an exceptional game onto the floor tonight.

Player Spotlight: Tasmin Mitchell, LSU

Quietly, while Duke and North Carolina faced off last night, LSU and Mississippi State put on a thriller in Starkville that ended in a 97-94 double-overtime victory for LSU.  This was a huge divisional game for both teams.  The win increased LSU’s lead over MSU in the SEC West by two games, and further stamped their reputation as the class of the league.  Tasmin Mitchell blew up for 41 points to lead LSU to 20-4 overall, 8-1 in conference.

Has there been a more quiet injury than the season-ending shin stress fracture Mitchell suffered in his third game last season?  There is no question his absence affected LSU’s disappointing season that saw John Brady get fired and Trent Johnson move over from the Pac-10.  Mitchell was rated by scout.com as a 5 star forward, second best at his position, when he signed with LSU in 2005 choosing the Tigers over Kentucky and North Carolina.  I remember following his recruitment BEGGING for him to choose Kentucky, mainly because of Kentucky’s lack of success recruiting impact forwards at the time.  Alas, he took his game to Baton Rouge and started every game his freshman and sophomore seasons before bad luck struck at the very start of 2007, his first junior year.  The medical red-shirt makes him an official junior this season.

Healthy and experienced, Mitchell is averaging career highs in almost every major category if you disclude his three game lost season:  16.7 ppg, 7.o rpg, and almost 1 block per game.  He’s shattering his old field goal percentage mark with a current 55.9% marksmanship.  He’s even 8 of 14 from 3 pt range, a stellar 57%.  I think it’s safe to say he’s feeling better than he’s ever felt in his career.

LSU has been largely ignored by the national media, in part b/c of their extremely soft homecourt-heavy non-conference slate that did not give anybody any way to gauge their strong start.  They had a great chance to raise some eyebrows in a clash with Top-15 Xavier two weeks ago, but once again fell flat and lost handily.  At home no less.  But when you consider how easily they’ve been able to topple SEC opponents in recent weeks, is it possible that their rock Tasmin Mitchell is simply getting settled in following his injury?  I’m no expert, and I haven’t been consulted by Trent Johnson, but maybe LSU held the throttle back on their star to ease him in.  Consider this:  over Mitchell’s first 11 games this year he averaged 12.6 ppg.  His last 13 games?  20.7 ppg.  And the last 13 are including league games, as opposed to the cupcakes they gobbled up to start the season.