Can this team run the table?

#33
#33
Oh ok.

I doubt we can get that unless we win out. The ACC champ is going to trump us on that unelss they have 3-4 more losses I'd think
It's between us, Duke, Gonzaga, Va in that order right now. We could be 2 games up on both Duke and Va going into the SEC tournament and their league is deep so they will have a much tougher run than Vols. If we beat Ky at Rupp I believe we run the table going into the Auburn game with the #1 overall seed locked up no matter what happens from there on out. I believe this is a special team and going to think that way till they prove me wrong.
 
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#34
#34
We are a really good team, but to this point our SEC schedule has been cake. We have some really difficult games back-to-back to close the season.

x2 Kentucky
@Auburn
@lsu
MS State

also tough games against Florida and Ole Miss

All these teams will be fighting for either a season title or an opportunity to get a double bye in the tournament. It isn't going to be easy and I would be very happy if we close out with two or less losses in SEC play

I say we lose to KY once, and lose to either @ Auburn or @ LSU....,my fear is that losing two games leads to a slump and maybe we drop another.

I think the team with only 2 SEC losses will be season champion...3 losses will be a tiebreaker.
 
#35
#35
Most great teams in NCAA have a couple of All Americans or super star freshmen.
We don't have that but we have a team of hard working, fundamentally sound player's

I agree for the most part except Grant Williams is/has become as elite as any player in college basketball. In fact, he is up for ā€œplayer of the yearā€. Jordan Bone is another player that has developed into a elite status. Overachieved? If they don’t make the final four everyone will complain they underachieved.
 
#37
#37
Not gonna happen. Kentucky is loaded, and like you said, we may see them 3 times. LSU is very good and I expect Auburn to be playing much better by the time we see them. Multiple loses are probable.


Yeah, our SEC schedule is back-loaded. The team that scares me the most, besides KY, is LSU. They seem to be like GA used to be for us. You can lead the whole game, but it is just so hard to finish them off. I'm also glad that we don't have to play Bama again.

I also was thinking earlier today that we were doing really good when we had a week between games, to prepare. Now that this is not possible, I had the thought about resting a player per game. Thus far, Turner has had several games off, Alexander has had foul trouble that gave him some rest, Bowden got a night off. Now, Schoefield, Williams and Bone need to get a breather. The next 4 games might be their chance. Probably won't happen, but it would be beneficial if each could play 20 minutes or less for at least one game in that stretch.

They have 11 conference regular season games left. There are plenty of land mines out there. Even if we play well and have no major injuries, it will be very difficult to run the table.
 
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#38
#38
1 vs 2 seed doesnt matter much imho

Much rather be a 2 in the South, East or even Midwest than going all the way to Anaheim as a 1. Much more manageable, especially if we draw a round of 64 and 32 Friday/ Sunday tilt and then somehow get a Thursday/ Saturday Sweet 16, Elite 8 schedule. Best case scenario for being a 1 in the West would be the Jacksonville pod which is the Thursday / Saturday games and then the game in Anaheim would be on Thursday night, possibly very late.

It’s fair to say we will be in Columbia, Columbus or Jacksonville on the first weekend.

Best case scenario overall would be Jax pod and then the South region in Louisville for the Sweet 16. The town would be orange
 
#39
#39
Much rather be a 2 in the South, East or even Midwest than going all the way to Anaheim as a 1. Much more manageable, especially if we draw a round of 64 and 32 Friday/ Sunday tilt and then somehow get a Thursday/ Saturday Sweet 16, Elite 8 schedule. Best case scenario for being a 1 in the West would be the Jacksonville pod which is the Thursday / Saturday games and then the game in Anaheim would be on Thursday night, possibly very late.

It’s fair to say we will be in Columbia, Columbus or Jacksonville on the first weekend.

Best case scenario overall would be Jax pod and then the South region in Louisville for the Sweet 16. The town would be orange
Everything you just explained is why the #1 overall seed will be so important, especially considering if we got the Louisville region as the overall #1 then Ky, Duke and Va would likely have to travel west or opposite of us. We'd be heavy favorites to make the final 4 if that happens.
 
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#41
#41
I would love if they can run the table, but I just don't see it happening. I think UK is the only team in the last decade to run the table in SEC play, and they did it twice. I don't recall another SEC team doing it, and they did it when the SEC wasn't as good as it is now. The SEC still isn't as strong top to bottom as others, but it's not like it was four or five years ago either.

The road games we have left (after Texas A&M) are going to be very difficult.
 
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#42
#42
NO they wont .. they have road games at LSU, KY and Auburn ... and a home game with KY ... so very unlikely they win all those ... I was just thinking ..Im enjoying this year tremendously but next year where does the inside presence come from ?? WE WILL HAVE NO INSIDE GAME !!! if Grant W goes PRO ..... Schofield will be gone thats about 40 to 50 percent of your scoring .... Bone is a great PG but not a great scorer .. and teams will guard the post without help and thus the guards will have more pressure .. just thinking ahead ..I would have thought we would have recruited better for the post than we have ... the last 2 bigs that were recruited have red shirted and we have no idea what they got ... and Pons looks to be lost on the offensive end .... Fulkerson is not a offensive threat .. and neither is Walker .. but we dont know about Burns yet or Kent
 
#43
#43
A lot of guys out there don't really understand that Ky is probably the 3rd or 4th best team in the country. Another month of experience for that young team is extremely dangerous to the rest of us. In another month, Ky will be 2nd or 3rd best team in country. With us playing Ky while they are peaking will make it very hard on us to even win 2 out of 3. I think Ky will determine if we end up being a 1 seed or a 2 seed.
 
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#45
#45
Much rather be a 2 in the South, East or even Midwest than going all the way to Anaheim as a 1. Much more manageable, especially if we draw a round of 64 and 32 Friday/ Sunday tilt and then somehow get a Thursday/ Saturday Sweet 16, Elite 8 schedule. Best case scenario for being a 1 in the West would be the Jacksonville pod which is the Thursday / Saturday games and then the game in Anaheim would be on Thursday night, possibly very late.

It’s fair to say we will be in Columbia, Columbus or Jacksonville on the first weekend.

Best case scenario overall would be Jax pod and then the South region in Louisville for the Sweet 16. The town would be orange
Columbus would be the best spot. Easiest to get to from east and middle Tennessee. Also, we beat UVA the last time we played there šŸ˜
 
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#47
#47
I think we drop atleast one of not two games before the season is over. The toughest part of our schedule comes right at the end and with Kentucky twice, lsu, ole miss, state, and Auburn all bunched in there I could see us dropping atleast one of those.

I hope I'm wrong and running the table would be an insane accomplishment considering the SEC is one of the top three power 5 conferences in America. Go vols!
 
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#48
#48
We are a really good team, but to this point our SEC schedule has been cake. We have some really difficult games back-to-back to close the season.

x2 Kentucky
@Auburn
@lsu
MS State

also tough games against Florida and Ole Miss

All these teams will be fighting for either a season title or an opportunity to get a double bye in the tournament. It isn't going to be easy and I would be very happy if we close out with two or less losses in SEC play

I say we lose to KY once, and lose to either @ Auburn or @ LSU....,my fear is that losing two games leads to a slump and maybe we drop another.

I think the team with only 2 SEC losses will be season champion...3 losses will be a tiebreaker.
 
#49
#49
That's a rare team as well. I just don't see them struggling. It's going to take at least 3 of our big 6 to struggle during the same game and one of those will have to be Grant. We could lose 2 or 3 more but the season is quickly coming to an end and scenarios where we are likely to lose are dwindling.

The season is definitely dwindling in numbers. The problem is that it is just now ramping up in quality. Every team with the greatest likelihood of beating us is still to come. UK, AU, LSU, MSU, even UM all await and @ 1/2 of those on the road. Then turn around and do a mini rendition of some of those again in the stupid SEC tournament. The idea of "running the table" with that gauntlet ahead is far fetched IMO. We have already survived near losses at home to an SEC avg/above avg Tide, and on the road to the SEC cellar dwelling VU. Either of those games inserting the the 1st four teams above and we in trouble.

Our debate right now is like a jury debating reasonable doubt. The evidence has been stacked up in abundance for us in court, but someone asks "but, is it beyond a reasonable doubt". Hmmmm? How possible is it?
 
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