Wayne Chism scored a career-high 30 points and led Tennessee (18-4, 6-2 SEC) to a 79-53 dismantling of South Carolina (13-9, 4-4 SEC) on Saturday night in front of a packed house at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Vols, fresh off of a tough road win at LSU on Thursday night, didn’t arrive back in Knoxville until after 3:00 am Friday morning. Coaches were concerned that fatigue and lack of preparation time could be a factor.
But Tennessee looked inside to its senior big man, Wayne Chism, and he responded. Chism was nearly unstoppable when his teammates were able to get him the ball in the paint.
“I’m glad they did that. That was very good,” joked Chism after the game. “That’s what I’ve been saying.”
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America’s Greatest Hypefest, also known as the Super Bowl, is upon us. Once the geriatric rockers have played, the commercials have been analyzed, and the Lombardi Trophy has been distributed, basketball will assume center stage. With that in mind, here are this week’s topics.
1. The Stranger. It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle playing at South Florida. The Bulls haven’t exactly distinguished themselves since joining the Big East. Tampa isn’t exactly a hoops hotbed. However, if you perform like Dominique Jones, people will eventually take notice. Jones is scoring at a dizzying pace and USF has won 4 consecutive conference games for the first time since leaving Conference USA. This turnaround may not be enough to get Stan Heath’s club into the NCAA Tournament, but it should certainly get his star player some richly deserved recognition. That’s certainly a good first step in climbing out of the sizable shadows cast by the Goliaths that inhabit their league.
2. Pressure. With Selection Sunday coming into view on the horizon, there are some March Madness regulars with serious work to do on their resumes. Defending champion North Carolina is listing badly in ACC play. Roy Williams is learning the hard way that Larry Drew is a poor replacement for Ty Lawson. UCONN and Louisville, two teams that received #1 seeds a year ago, are both in danger of finding themselves in the NIT. Arizona’s quarter century streak of tournament appearances appears over if the Wildcats don’t win the PAC 10’s postseason gala. UCLA also needs some magic at the Staples Center to make the field. It’s a definite possibility all of those iconic programs will be on the outside looking in at The Big Dance.
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Win an SEC title? If you are wondering if aiming for a conference championship isn’t a lofty enough goal. Well, it is. . . . when that conference is the SEC. Consider the following:
In the seven BCS championship games since 2003, an SEC Champion has placed the crystal football on their mantle five times.
2003 LSU
2004 USC*
2005 TEXAS
2006 FLORIDA
2007 LSU
2008 FLORIDA
2009 ALABAMA
*Under NCAA investigation. Penalties which could be handed down as early as March may include stripping USC’s title.
In addition, since 2007 the SEC has averaged 5 teams in the Top 10 of Recruiting Classes (based on Rivals numbers). The recruiting numbers means a lot. It means a conference with tougher competition week in and week out.
The Chart below shows just how dominate the SEC is in recruiting, particularly factoring in that there are 120 school in the FBS offering scholarships. [click to continue…]
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My fellow citizens of Vol Nation, Greetings.
