SEC Preview: Can Kentucky Live Up To The Hype?

The long wait will soon be over when the first full slate of NCAA basketball games of the 2013-14 season will tip-off on Nov. 8. Some of our favorite players have moved on the ranks of professional athletes, new recruits have been polishing their games in gyms with recognizable logos on the court, and schools have switched conference allegiances. Through a series of conference previews, the BDD crew will do its best to prepare you for the next 4.5 months of collegiate hoops.

It could be all smiles for Julius Randle (30) and Kentucky as the Wildcats enter the season as the No. 1 team in the country. (kentucky.com)

Favorite: Kentucky
Before playing a game that matters, Kentucky is not only the favorite to win the SEC, but is also the No. 1 team in the country. The Wildcats will have something to prove after last year's experiment ended in a hugely disappointing loss in the NIT to Robert Morris. Like any Kentucky team under John Calipari, the Wildcats will be young, but very talented. This might be the most talented class Cal has assembled. Kentucky brought in five players ranked in the top 11 in Rivals 150 (Julius Randle, No. 2, Andrew Harrison, No. 5, Aaron Harrison, No. 7, Dakari Johnson, No. 9, and James Young, No. 11). Add in returners Willie Cauley-Stein and Alex Poythress and this UK team is stacked. The question will be if these young players can mesh together and mature quickly, and if there are enough shots to go around. Still, inexperienced or not, this Kentucky team should be skilled enough to avoid a scenario like last season.


Dark Horse Team To Watch: Alabama
Alabama is coming off a 23-13 season in which it found itself in a three-way tie for second place in the SEC with Ole Miss and Kentucky. Alabama was picked sixth by the media, but Anthony Grant's squad could make a run similar to last season. The big loss for the Crimson Tide is Trevor Lacy, who transferred to North Carolina State after finishing second on the team in scoring (11.7 ppg) last season. Still, Alabama returns another Trevor in senior Trevor Releford, the point guard who led the team with 15.4 ppg last season and was voted Preseason First-Team All-SEC by the media this year. Add in Rodney Cooper and freshman big man Jimmie Taylor, who was No. 69 on the Rivals 150, and the Crimson Tide could compete in the top half of the conference.


Player of the Year: Julius Randle, Kentucky
Randle was the No.2 player in the 2013 recruiting class, only behind Kansas' Andrew Wiggins. The left-handed, 6-9 forward is dangerous from every part of the floor and figures to be a very high pick in next year's draft. There will be a lot of bright spots on this Kentucky team, but Randle should shine the brightest. He will have some big stages to practice on before conference play as Kentucky plays No. 2 Michigan State, No. 25 Baylor, No. 12 North Carolina and No. 3 Louisville all before the new year.


Coach of the Year: John Calipari, Kentucky
It's difficult to pick anyone else when the leader of Big Blue Nation has the No. 1 recruiting class in the country and the No. 1 team in the preseason rankings. The pressure will be on Cal because of Kentucky's disappointment from a year ago, but that might actually help his chances of winning this award this season. If Cal can get his team to play like the national champion from two years ago and not the NIT team from last year, and win the league, the award will probably be his.


Newcomer of the Year: Julius Randle, Kentucky
Randle clearly has the biggest upside of any player in the SEC this year. Randle is a tough matchup with his ability to drive to the basket and post up. The only reason Randle is not either SEC Newcomer of the Year or SEC Player of the Year is because of all the talent around him getting their shots as well. Florida also has a pair of freshmen, Chris Walker (6-10" center, No. 6 Rivals recruit) and Kasey Hill (6-1" guard, No. 10 Rivals recruit), that could make a run at this award.


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After Another Boring BCS Championship, Cherish March Madness

It's been a while since the BCS has seen a moment as nail-biting as KU's Mario Chalmers hitting a buzzer-beater. (sportsillustrated.com)

A college football playoff is coming soon, like a glimmer of sunlight on the horizon. But it didn't come soon enough to save us from yet another blowout in the BCS National Championship last night.

Unless your favorite words are "Roll Tide," you probably weren't thrilled with how the game turned out. A 14-0 lead in the first quarter; 28-0 at halftime. There was no reason to watch the second half. Alabama was too dominant and Notre Dame isn't built to come back from large deficits.

College sports will have another major postseason event in just over two short months. March Madness is a completely different setup with a different kind of excitement. One thing is as certain as certainty can be, it won't be boring.

If you watched Alabama/Notre Dame last night, take a second to remember your excitement level during the game ('Bama and ND fans excluded) and then cherish the fact that the NCAA Tournament is built to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Both have flaws. People complain that it's more likely the best team in the country is not playing in the national championship game in basketball. Although after watching Notre Dame last night, would anyone still say the Irish deserved the spot over Oregon (hindsight is 20/20)? At least 64 teams still have a chance at a title as the postseason begins. Nothing Oregon could do in the Fiesta Bowl could get them a date with Alabama. And you can't say the two teams playing for a basketball title didn't earn their way. No computers helped them out. They each won five games against the country's best teams to earn a chance at a title.

Where March Madness separates itself in the excitement levels is before the title game. It was more than a month since Alabama and Notre Dame had last played. More than a month was spent analyzing and speculating every aspect of the game. Alabama's been there before, but Notre Dame has the underdog card. The anxiety and excitement was built up over that month until it reached a peak right before kickoff, which makes for a great event. That is, until the game is a dud. It's like getting socks on Christmas morning. You wait all this time for the best day of the year and it turns out there was nothing to be excited about.

NCAA Tournament games can be blowouts, too. There's no question about that (although they are usually much closer than the most recent BCS Titles). But it's those first two weeks of upsets and buzzer-beaters and Cinderellas that makes watching that title game worth it. Your team might not have reached the title game, but after watching Butler make a magical run and jumping into the spotlight, didn't you want to see if they could finish the ride? Nothing that Alabama or Notre Dame did in the last month makes you feel like that.

A football playoff is coming soon to help clean up the mess of the BCS and add excitement. Still, as you fill out your bracket in March, don't take those three weeks of mayhem for granted. It may not be perfect, but it's definitely not boring.


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Does Notre Dame Have Another Championship Contender In Basketball?

Could Notre Dame's basketball team also be a contender for a national title? (southbendtribune.com)

Notre Dame's football team is hours away from possibly winning the BCS National Championship.

This is an impressive feat that will cause a lot of green beer (or Gatorade, for you under-21 fans) to be flowing in celebration tonight. It would also mean the Irish would be halfway toward accomplishing an even more difficult feat: winning the BCS National Championship and Men's Basketball NCAA Tournament in the same year.

But does Notre Dame's basketball team have what it takes to cut down the nets in Atlanta? Only one school, Florida in 2006, has been able to pull this off, proving how difficult the task is. Notre Dame is the only school in this year's football championship with a possibility for a basketball title. Sorry, Alabama, but you're 8-5 with losses to Tulane and Mercer. Plus you're 225th in the country in points per game (65.5) and 260th in rebounding (33 per game). It's just not happening this year.

Notre Dame, on the other hand, has quietly started the season 13-1 and is moving up the top-25 while riding an 11-game winning streak. The schedule hasn't posed many challenges, but the Irish do have wins against Kentucky (which looked better when it happened) and BYU on a neutral site. Senior Jack Cooley has been fantastic this season, leading the team in points (15.5 per game) and rebounds (11.4).

Some serious questions still remain with the Irish, first of which is Notre Dame has yet to play a true road game this season, with three games being on neutral sites. Second is what happens when the Irish are seriously tested? Their only game against a ranked team was Kentucky, which is just now working its way back into the top-25.

Conference play seems to answer all of the remaining questions, and the Big East is certainly the place to find answers. It may soon be dissipating into oblivion, but the Big East had five teams ranked in the top-25 before Monday's rankings were released, and Notre Dame will play a total of seven ranked teams (Louisville and Cincinnati twice) in conference play.

Question marks aside, this Irish team has the foundation for success. Notre Dame has experienced upperclassmen, balanced scoring (five players averaging nine or more points per game) that makes the Irish a scoring threat as a whole (averaging 77.6 ppg) and they are unselfish (No. 1 in the country in assists with 19.9 per game).

The Irish are not on anyone's short list for national champion picks, but neither was the football team at the beginning of the season (insert 'Luck of the Irish' jokes here). The basketball team will take the court hours before the football team tonight for a tough road test against Cincinnati.

Notre Dame football's championship fate will be decided by the end of the night. We'll have to wait until March for the basketball team's fate. While the football championship alone will have a big impact on the school, adding a basketball championship to it this year would put in an elite and historic class.


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