SEC Commissioner Mike Slive might have been hoping that when college football season ends, he would not have to be issuing weekly warnings to his high profile coaches to watch their mouths. But it looks more like he will be chiding coaches some time into April.
The addition of John Calipari at Kentucky means the SEC coaching family gatherings promise to be more entertaining. Calipari has never been one to build warm relationships with other coaches in his conference (right, John Chaney?). His soured relationship with Rick Pitino should make his meetings with Florida's Billy Donovan more interesting.
The warm and special relationship that was built during his time at Memphis, with Tennessee's Bruce Pearl will undoubtedly produce the most entertainment. .
John Wall, the nation's top point guard recruit and possible No. 1 pick of the 2010 NBA draft, was charged with misdemeanor breaking and entering yesterday.
Contrary to what my colleague wrote, this will likely have minimal impact on the teams recruiting him.
Rarely do assistant coaching hires make the news, but this one is just too interesting to pass up. Billy Donovan, former assistant to Rick Pitino, has hired Richard Pitino, the 26-year-old son of Louisville's head basketball coach. The younger Pitino has been an assistant at Louisville for the past two seasons.
The intertwined relationships here are quite unique. In the past, there has been speculation that one of the reasons Donovan didn't take the head job at Kentucky was due to his close relationship with Pitino. The two often talk about how they consider each other family.
I'm starting to get the feeling that the SEC will get at least three, possibly four, bids to the NCAA Tournament. And I don't get it.
Barring someone making a Georgia-like miracle run in the conference tournament, your most likely candidates for dance invitations are LSU, Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida. The Gators stay in that group on the basis of Saturday's messy 60-53 over Kentucky. While both Florida and Kentucky entered the contest technically on the bubble, neither really looked like a tournament team -- especially the Wildcats, who have now lost four straight and have one foot in the ground.
March started days ago. The Madness started Wednesday night.
On an evening where bubble teams could've punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament and boosters could've started humming bars of "One Shining Moment," teams turned down invitations like they were to a wedding without an open bar or the People's Choice Awards.
A memo, fellows. This isn't an invitation to a candlelight dinner with Randy Johnson. "Big Dance" doesn't mean you're cutting a rug with Mark Madsen or waltzing cheek-to-cheek with Mike Tyson.
Tennessee spent the first half of Sunday's game against Florida showing that it knew two things about the outcome of this game: The winner would be tied with South Carolina for first in the SEC East and find themselves on the right side of the bubble watch heading towards the SEC Tournament.
The second half was a different story. The Gators outscored the Vols 42-34 in the final 20 minutes, cutting the lead to three points with 54 seconds remaining. But Tennessee managed to hold on for a 79-75 win, hitting just enough free throws to stave off the Gators.
College basketball has gone past the halfway point of the conference season. Now every game takes on greater importance for the teams that are trying to make the NCAA Tournament. FanHouse will take a look at the teams that find somewhere between the NCAA or NIT.
Well, I mean aside from LSU which has run their record to 10-1 in the conference. Over in the SEC East it is a mess. Whether you want to call it parity, mediocrity or just plain suckitude, there are four teams pillow-fighting their way to see who can back into the top spot in the division.
Kentucky got humiliated by Vanderbilt yesterday. Florida, which had lost three of four got a win over a bad Alabama team. Tennessee got run out of Oxford by an injury-ravaged Ole Miss team. South Carolina has been overachieving, but they couldn't win in Starkville. That leaves all four with identical 7-4 conference records.
Headlining: It's obvious, right? Duke tops both polls for the first time since the end of the 2005-06 regular season and we're all depressed ecstatic! I want to say that it's hard to like this Blue Devil team, but when is it easy to like Duke? (Answer: When you're a Duke fan. Or when the Blue Devils are playing Carolina.) That being said, the 2008-09 incarnation isn't nearly as hate-able as previous teams.
Usually it takes until the next game before a player gets a chance to make up for a mistake that costs his team a chance to win. For Zam Frederick, it came much faster in South Carolina's 70-69 win over Florida Wednesday.
The Gamecocks were down one with Zam Frederick on the line with a chance to tie the game. Frederick missed and Florida got the rebound. Florida's Chandler Parson's got the rebound and was immediately fouled with 3.3 seconds remaining. Parson went to the free throw line in a 1-and-1 situation. He missed, and Mike Holmes made a perfect pass to a streaking Frederick for a game-winning finish.
SEC Commissioner Mike Slive might have been hoping that when college football season ends, he would not have to be issuing weekly warnings to his high profile coaches to watch their mouths. But it looks more like he will be chiding coaches some time into April.
Rarely do assistant coaching hires make the news, but 
I'm starting to get the feeling that the SEC will get at least three, possibly four, bids to the NCAA Tournament. And I don't get it.
March started days ago. The Madness started Wednesday night. 
Tennessee spent the first half of Sunday's game against Florida showing that it knew two things about the outcome of this game: The winner would be tied with South Carolina for first in the SEC East and find themselves on the right side of the bubble watch heading towards the SEC Tournament.
College basketball has gone past the halfway point of the conference season. Now every game takes on greater importance for the teams that are trying to make the NCAA Tournament. FanHouse will take a look at the teams that find somewhere between the 
Well, I mean aside from LSU which has run their record to 10-1 in the conference. Over in the SEC East it is a mess. Whether you want to call it parity, mediocrity or just plain suckitude, there are four teams pillow-fighting their way to see who can back into the top spot in the division.
Ranking the rankings
