Larry Ness' 10* CBB Conf Tourney Total G.O.Y. (36-14 previous 2 yrs/ 3-0 LW)
My 10* Conference Tourney Total G.O.Y. (SEC) is on Miss St/Vandy Over at 9:30 ET.
The SEC Tourney opens tonight with a pair of games at the Georgia Dome. 14th-seeded Mississippi State (3-15 in the SEC) squares off with 11th-seeded Vanderbilt (7-11) in the second of those two games. The winner will move on to the second round on Thursday night to play sixth-seeded Ole Miss. Vanderbilt limps into the tourney off FOUR straight losses while averaging a woeful 51.3 PPG. That includes Vandy's 'ugly' 38-point effort at Tennessee on March 1.
Despite Vandy's woes, the 'Dores seem red-hot compared to their first-round opponent. Mississippi State enters Wednesday's contest on a 13-game losing streak that dates to Jan 22 and already includes one loss to the Commodores. MSU features a seven-man rotation averaging between 5.7 and 13.4 PPG, with guard Sword (13.4) and the 6-9 Ware (10.0-7.2) being the only two scoring in double figures.
With only seven active scholarship players, the Commodores put up a fight in conference play but the team just wilted down the stretch. The good news here is that Kevin Stallings' team is getting a nice break in drawing hapless Miss St in the first round (struggling Ole Miss ain't a bad opponent in round two either, but that's getting ahead of myself).
Miss St's allowed an average of 74.8 PPG over its 13-game losing streak and Vandy seniors Odom (13.6-5.3), a 6-6 forward, and guard Fuller (11.0-3.8), should have AT LEAST, one good game left in them. Also, 6-10 freshman Jones (11.1-5.7) will be the best big man on the floor in this contest. I expect Vandy to roll but even more, I like the OVER, which is my 10* play.
