All-important 2016-17 SEC Basketball Non-Conference Games

[jbcarol]

Tuck Rules: Some of those SEC basketball top  non-conference games in 2016-17

You want more respect nationally, SEC basketball? Beating brand-name opponents outside your league is the best way to get it.

Without a doubt, the SEC has stepped up its non-conference scheduling game – all but two teams in the league are playing multiple top-50 opponents and only Mississippi State plays none –

Kentucky (naturally) leads the way, playing five preseason top-25 teams. Florida, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee are playing four apiece from advanced-stats guru Ken Pomeroy's [KenPom] top 50.

10. Georgia at Clemson, Nov. 11
Bulldogs have strung together three consecutive 20-win seasons and Mark Fox is looking for his second NCAA Tournament appearance in three years. UGA is built to get it done with an All-SEC, inside-out combo of junior forward Yante Maten and senior guard J.J. Frazier. But tackling the Tigers on the road will be a big early test.

9. Iowa State at Vanderbilt, Jan. 28
Big 12/SEC Challenge, offering new Commodores coach Bryce Drew – who led Valparaiso to the NIT title game last year –

8. Michigan at South Carolina, Nov. 23
Colonial Life Arena should be rocking when Wolverines come to town. Non-conference strength of schedule (one top-50 opponent) hurt the 25-win Gamecocks last season on Selection Sunday. That shouldn't be a problem this season...

7. UCLA at Kentucky, Dec. 3
Wildcats have won more national titles (eight) than anyone but the Bruins (11). Having this showdown at Rupp Arena is another gift to college basketball – as is the battle of star freshman point guards.

6. Florida vs. Duke, Dec. 6
Can the Gators challenge Kentucky in the SEC? This game (in the Jimmy V Classic in New York) against the similarly loaded, preseason No. 1 Blue Devils should be a good barometer.

5. Kentucky vs. Michigan State, Nov. 15
Latest installment of the Champions Classic, this time in Madison Square Garden. Wildcats signed five 5-star recruits, but they'll face one that got away, elite freshman forward Miles Nash-Bridges...

4. Arizona vs. A&M, Dec. 17
Holiday Shootout in Houston could be exactly that. The Wildcats have athletic, 5-star freshman guards Kobi Simmons and Rawle Alkins, and the Aggies feature one of the best big men in the country, sophomore center Tyler Davis. Neither side has a great answer...

3. Kentucky vs. North Carolina, Dec. 17
CBS Sports Classic, two traditional powerhouses with 13 combined national titles collide in Las Vegas. Tar Heels won five in a row against Wildcats before Calipari came to town.

2. Kentucky at Louisville, Dec. 21
Arguably the best rivalry in college basketball (sorry, Duke-UNC) should provide another terrific battle. Wildcats are No. 4 and Cardinals No. 9 in KenPom's preseason rankings. John Calipari is 8-1 at Kentucky against Rick Pitino, all but one of the meetings have been decided by single digits, five by seven points or fewer. Cats beat the Cards in the 2012 Final Four and in the 2014 Sweet 16 cranked up the intensity...

1. Kansas at Kentucky, Jan. 28


SEC'S TOUGHEST NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULES  (Ranked 1-6)

Kentucky – No. 3 Kansas, No. 5 North Carolina, No. 9 Louisville, No. 14 Michigan State, No. 21 UCLA

Tennessee – No. 5 North Carolina, No. 8 Wisconsin, No. 22 Gonzaga, No. 44 Kansas State

Florida – No. 1 Duke, No. 27 Oklahoma, No. 38 Seton Hall, No. 40 Florida State

Alabama – No. 6 Oregon, No. 23 Clemson, No. 37 Dayton, No. 45 Texas

South Carolina – No. 12 Syracuse, No. 23 Clemson, No. 31 Michigan, No. 38 Seton Hall

Vanderbilt – No. 19 Butler, No. 26 Iowa State, No. 37 Dayton, No. 47 Marquette.

[jbcarol]

Edgar Thompson ‏@osgators 18h18 hours ago

#Gators coach Mike White said ofnon-conference [sic] gauntlet: 'Our schedule is brutal. It's brutal.'


Will play neutral site and a few road games while the O-Dome is fully renovated.

[jbcarol]

Jason Butt ‏@JasonHButt 16h16 hours ago

Georgia loses its opener for the third year in a row, this time to Clemson 74-64.

[jbcarol]

@GrantRamey ‏@GrantRamey 16h16 hours ago

Tennessee loses season opener to Chattanooga 82-69. Vols back home Tuesday against App State AND YES IT'S ON TV IT'S ON SEC NET I SWEAR.


@GrantRamey ‏@GrantRamey 13h13 hours ago

So Tennessee has the same record as Michigan State and Kansas at the end of the first day of college basketball season. As we all expected.

[jbcarol]

Adam Sparks ‏@AdamSparks 17h17 hours ago

Vandy falls 95-71 in Bryce Drew's coaching debut. Most points allowed by Vandy in 13 years. http://tnne.ws/2eLIoU5

[jbcarol]

 Jon Rothstein ‏@JonRothstein 2h2 hours ago

Kentucky is just a combined 9-34 from three-point range during its first two games. Next up for the Cats? Michigan State @ MSG Tuesday.

[jbcarol]

Jeff Goodman ‏@GoodmanESPN Nov 11

I agree with @RealJayWilliams. Could get ugly (with travel and lack of bigs) for Michigan State against UK in NYC on Tuesday.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/sportstalksc/status/797963940873371648

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/798354727700267009

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports ‏@aldotcomSports 1h1 hour ago

🏀 Instant analysis: Why Alabama fell to Dayton, 77-72 http://trib.al/b9Ti4Cy

Alabama shot just 39 percent from the field (23 of 59) and made just 6 of 23 3-pointers.

There was a stretch midway through the second half during which the Tide went more than five minutes without scoring.

At one point during the first half, Alabama went more than seven minutes without a field goal.

Dayton shot 54.5 percent from the field (24 of 44), including 60.9 percent (14 of 23) in the second half.

The Flyers made 9 of 18 3-pointers.

Dayton scored 77 points, including 46 in the second half. It would have had more if not for making just 20 of 33 free throws.

Home game for Bama

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/799356183794565121

[jbcarol]

Men of X overrated?

Jeff Goodman ‏@GoodmanESPN 43m43 minutes ago

Jeff Goodman Retweeted Derek Jones

Maybe in the history of all sports. ... Do me a favor, and talk to me in February. Xavier without 2 key players, it's early in season.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/799402087360692224

Michael Carvell ‏@Michael_Carvell 2h2 hours ago

Mississippi State's Ben Howland suspends freshman Lamar Peters

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/799796887759056896

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/RebVoice/status/800505640703627265

[jbcarol]

Cecil Hurt ‏@CecilHurt 7h7 hours ago

Final: Valparaiso 68, Alabama 60. UA falls to 2-2 on the season.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/AdamSparks/status/800933081414795265

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/AntonioCMorales/status/800912852848640000

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/GrantRamey/status/800881306678632448

[holeinthewall]

SEC getting the A$$ kicked again this year in non con.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/801268424810831872

[holeinthewall]

Kansas 65 UGA 54
Oregon 69 Tenn 65
Auburn 65 Texas Tech 65

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/MicklesAdvocate/status/801516678815379456

FINAL SCORE from The Bahamas -- Wichita State 82, #LSU 47. LSU (3-1) will play the loser of Old Dominion-Louisville at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/KMacMustDie/status/801576942428454913

David Cloninger ‏@DCTheState 12h12 hours ago

Martin: We didn't sign up to do this for a game. We signed up to do this for a season.

Frank Martin on Syracuse: "We got to go get on a plane and play in front of 18,000 people dressed in orange who aren't Clemson fans."

[jbcarol]

Alabama M Basketball ‏@AlabamaMBB 9h9 hours ago

#Alabama ends the game on a 17-3 run over final 5:17 and defeats Saint Louis, 62-57! #RollTide #BuckleUp

[jbcarol]

Matthew Stevens ‏@matthewcstevens 10h10 hours ago

Final at Cancun Challenge Final: No. 17 Purdue 96, Auburn 71 - Tigers fall to 4-1 this season. Will next host USC-Upstate on Nov. 29.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/801589605082480644

Mark Snyder
✔
@Mark__Snyder

Beilein says the no-catch defense... They hadn't shown that. SC caught us by surprise
7:24 PM - 23 Nov 2016

Beilein: hard to shoot the ball when you've got a 6-7 long guy
7:25 PM - 23 Nov 2016

Beilein asked the staff in the second half if they had even scored a basket
7:25 PM - 23 Nov 2016

William Gunter @WilGunter

John Beilein just praising the Gamecock defense. Very complimentary of what @FrankMartin_SC & Gamecocks showed them
7:26 PM - 23 Nov 2016


David Caraviello
✔
@dcaraviello

Beilein says the return game in Ann Arbor will be played in one of the next two seasons pending schedules.
7:26 PM - 23 Nov 2016

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/MicklesAdvocate/status/801516678815379456

FINAL SCORE from The Bahamas -- Wichita State 82, #LSU 47. LSU (3-1) will play the loser of Old Dominion-Louisville at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

Bryan Lazare
‏@bldore

Worst #LSU loss against a non-conference opponent in 22 seasons. Tigers were beaten by Oklahoma State 111-67 in 1994-95 season.

Coach Sutton team

[jbcarol]

Jon Rothstein ‏@JonRothstein 1h1 hour ago

Enormous game in Orlando tonight between Seton Hall and Florida. Huge for resume building. Huge because winner likely gets Gonzaga. #shbb

[jbcarol]

Kevin Brockway ‏@gatorhoops 9h9 hours ago Pembroke Pines, FL

Final: Florida 81, Seton Hall 76.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/802130735364796417

What time is tip-off?

When: 9:30 p.m. EST Friday

Where: HP Field House, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
What TV channel is showing the Florida-Gonzaga game?

ESPN2 is broadcasting the game and it can be streamed online via WatchESPN.
Who is calling the Florida basketball game?

Mike Morgan is handling the play-by-play, Dick Vitale is the analyst and Andy Katz is the in-game reporter.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/801986314635800581

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/KyleTucker_AJC/status/802330031984820224

[jbcarol]

Jon Rothstein Verified account
‏@JonRothstein

D.J. Hogg scores Texas A&M's final five points in a huge comeback win over Virginia Tech. Big for the Aggies. Big for the SEC Conference.

[jbcarol]

LSU v. VCU

https://twitter.com/MicklesAdvocate/status/802341641847762944

[jbcarol]

Mississippi State falls short against Lehigh 87-73

I.J. Ready scores 20 points in the losing effort against the Mountain Hawks

[jbcarol]

Kevin Brockway ‏@gatorhoops 7h7 hours ago

Beyond the arc: 3 takeaways from UF's 77-72 loss to Gonzaga - http://brockway.blogs.gatorsports.com/13562/beyond-arc-3-takeaways-ufs-77-72-loss-gonzaga/ ...

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/gogamecocks/status/802663973074022400

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/803016165312360448

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/KyleTucker_AJC/status/803418414568132608

[jbcarol]

 Dave Matter ‏@Dave_Matter 2h2 hours ago

Final: North Carolina Central 62, Missouri 52.

Tigers set Mizzou Arena team record with worst FG percentage: 25.0 percent

https://twitter.com/Dave_Matter/status/803455252657799168

[holeinthewall]

Mississippi State falls short against Lehigh 87-73

I.J. Ready scores 20 points in the losing effort against the Mountain Hawks

Arkansas St led Lehigh by 30 points before Lehigh closed late to lose by 10 or so.

[jbcarol]

Jeff Goodman ‏@GoodmanESPN 1h1 hour ago

Clemson will get a significant boost with addition of Texas A&M transfer Elijah Thomas at the break. Becomes eligible for Dec. 18 vs. Bama.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/GopherMBB/status/803445747719041024

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/MicklesAdvocate/status/803822680193568768

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/803732129574256645

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/AntonioCMorales/status/804174326593388544

Final: Ole Miss falls to MTSU, 77-62

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/AntonioCMorales/status/804174326593388544

Final: Ole Miss falls to MTSU, 77-62

Jon Rothstein ‏@JonRothstein 2h2 hours ago

Arkansas transfer Jacorey Williams is putting in work for Kermit Davis at Middle Tennessee. Averaging 20.1 PPG, 5.6 RPG. 60.3% from field.

[jbcarol]

Michael Bonner ‏@MikeBBonner 3s3 seconds ago

The 45 points are the most in a half by MSU since Northern Colorado last year 12/23. Bulldogs scored 49 and wound up scoring 93.

Halftime, Mississippi State leads Oregon State 45-19. Q has 16 points.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/RazorbackMBB/status/804537985911885824