Welcome to a league muddled in mediocrity. Only three of the Southeastern Conference’s 12 teams can sport rankings next to their respective names. Contrarily, only four of the league’s teams have losing records in conference play. Kentucky enters the week as the No. 3 team in the country according to the Associated Press, while the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll has the Wildcats in the No. 2 slot. Tennessee and Vanderbilt are the league’s other ranked teams at No. 12 and 22, respectively in the AP. The rest of the league has been beating each other up. Florida, Arkansas, Ole Miss and Mississippi State all boast .500 or above league records. Alabama sits at 3-6 in conference play, with Auburn and Georgia sitting at 2-6. LSU sits alone in last place at 0-9. VANDERBILT’S STALLINGS HAPPY TO BE BACK HOMEFor the first time this season, Vanderbilt will have two home games in the same week. “We’re excited to be back home,” said Commodore coach Kevin Stallings in a teleconference. “We have two big games this week. It now comes down to protecting our homecourt advantage.”The Commodores are slated to face off against division rival No. 12 Tennessee on Tuesday, then will play LSU on Saturday. ESPN will nationally broadcast the Tennessee game. “There are a few games each year where obviously you don’t have to do much to get your guys ready to play,” Stallings said. “Tuesday night would qualify as one of those.”The winner of Tuesday’s contest will move into second place in the East division standings. Currently, the teams are tied for second position at 6-2 in the conference. “We think that the East is probably the toughest division in all of college basketball,” Stallings said. “We’re in a good position right now.”CALIPARI NOT A FAN OF NBA’S ONE-AND-DONE RULEKentucky coach John Calipari, a connoisseur of one-year players, does not endorse the current rules preventing high school players from jumping straight to the NBA.
Calipari coached some of the most famous one-and-dones, such as Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans. Current Kentucky freshmen John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins are near locks to declare for the 2010 NBA Draft. “I don’t like it,” Calipari said in a teleconference. “I think they should be able to go right out of high school. If they go to college, they should have to stay two or three years.”Furthermore, Calipari proposed a loan system for players with bright NBA prospects who have to attend college. According to Calipari, the loans these players would take out would be against future earnings. Also, Calipari said the program would erase any shady transactions between players and prospective agents. “I think it would eliminate what all is going on,” Calipari said. Meanwhile, Kentucky will look to continue its impressive SEC run against Alabama and No. 14 Tennessee this week. Tuesday’s matchup against the Crimson Tide will be the site of ESPN’s College GameDay. JOHN PELPHREY, RAZORBACKS RIDING HOT STREAKArkansas enters the week on a high note. The Razorbacks won four straight conference games to get themselves the SEC West lead. After getting pummeled by 31 points at Kentucky, Arkansas reeled off wins against Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Georgia and Auburn. The Razorbacks now sit at 5-3 in conference play. Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said the turnaround is a tribute to the mental state of his team. “A long time ago, a wise coach told me to never get too high or low and stay on an even keel,” Pelphrey said. “Whether they’ve gotten the desired outcome or not, they go to work. This is the hardest working group of guys I’ve been around in my time here. They know and understand what it’s like to be a student athlete. They have an understanding what it is to be on a team.”Much of the turnaround can also be attributed to the resurgence of sophomore point guard Courtney Fortson. Fortson averaged 24 points per contest in the last four games. “Courtney is a very good basketball player,” Pelphrey said. “He helps us a lot. Now [senior forward] Michael Washington, [freshman forward] Marshawn Powell and [sophomore guard] Rotnei [Clarke] have it easier. It’s very difficult to keep him in front one-on-one. He needs to take care of the ball at times, but when you’re always in attack mode it’s hard.”—–Contact Chris Branch at [email protected]