There have been 35 SEC games so far this year, and the home teams are 24-11 in those games. There are only five other conferences where the home teams have a bigger advantage. But Florida has already won three road games -- over Arkansas, Auburn, and Alabama. So far, their two-point overtime win at Arkansas is the difference in the SEC race. It should be noted, however, that only 44 fouls were called in that game, and only 20 of those were against the Gators. When we went to Arkansas, there were 60 fouls called, with 31 going against the Big Blue. Here's another way of looking at it: Arkansas shot 27 free throws against Florida, and 41 free throws against us. The Razorbacks lost to Florida by two points; they beat us by two points. And that's why Florida is in first place.
Here are the current standings (conference games only), with Ken Pomeroy's rankings next to each team. As you will see, today's game between UK and UGA is a big deal:
17. Florida: 5-0
16. Kentucky: 4-1
73. Mississippi: 4-1
117. Georgia: 4-1
24. Tennessee: 3-2
60. Louisiana St: 3-2
114. Texas A & M: 3-2
182. Mississippi St: 3-2
54. Missouri: 2-3
89. Alabama: 2-3
42. Arkansas: 1-4
124. Vanderbilt: 1-4
145. S. Carolina: 0-5
163. Auburn: 0-5
I took my daughter to a birthday party this morning, where she made seven of 14 in 60 seconds in one of those pop-a-shot basketball games. OK, it was kiddy pop-a-shot, but, come on, she's a kiddy--and she chucked up 14 shots in 60 seconds and made seven of them. That's pretty good.
ReplyDeleteI am now officially excited about this team.
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