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What are your expectations of this team?

The SEC keeps getting better, and UT will be one of the favorites with the veteran team we have, but we won't be sneaking up on anyone. UK will be good with their one and dones. FL will be good. Auburn and Bama will be good. Arky always has a good team.

I would say I expect this UT team to compete for the SEC title for sure, but the NCAAT is where it's all at. I expect a 2 seed or better, and I think this team has the talent and experience for a final four run.

Yeah 2 seed or better, anything worse than a 3 seed will be a disappointment.  I'd really love to sweep UK again.   :biggrin:

I've heard Bone maybe be most improved.  If we can get good consistent PG play, watch out!

I expect them to go to the NCAAT and do well. Unfortunately it just takes one bad outing to be done. Should be a fun year. Hopefully an SEC championship and a good tourney run,

I think the whole sneaking up on people is overblown. If you are good you're good. We will be good, we are well coached and have talent with experience. We should have high expectations

It's time to win that damn SEC Tournament. Anything less than that will be a disappointment.

Although I'd take a one-and-done in the SECT in exchange for a Final Four run.

I don't give a crap about the SECT, I think it's a waste of time. SEC regular season title and a final four run ....

The SECT is a complete turd and should be killed.

Why should the automatic bid go to the tournament winner rather than the team that had the better body of work over an entire season? And winners of tournaments often knock out teams that were more deserving of a bid.

This^......I've been saying this for years. You play the whole SEC schedule to seed the teams for the SECT, Stupid. Not too many years ago UGA got hot at tourney time and won the tourney. They got a bid with a less than .500 SEC record. It's all about money.

An oldie but goodie.   :naughty:

Just for you.  :biggrin:

Conference tournaments mean that literally every team in America is still alive when the regular season ends. It's part of what makes March Madness what it is. It doesn't matter how poor you've played, you still have a shot. Maybe you had a couple of your top players injured for most of the season and they're coming back right as March gets underway...your regular season resume may not be good enough for an invite, but you've got the chance to play your way in. That's what makes conference tournaments fun.

Obviously most of the time the conference tourneys don't change the NCAAT field, but sometimes they do. Georgia got hot at the right time a few years ago and earned an invite. We almost did it in the early '90s. Remember the Wade Houston team that sucked so badly in the regular season then went on a roll in the SECT and made it all the way to the championship game before getting beat?

Edit: I had to look it up to get my facts straight. It was 1991, Houston's first year. We were 9-21 and dead-last in the SEC in the regular season, beat Ole Miss in the play-in game, then beat Mississippi State, then beat Georgia to get to the championship game against Alabama. Kentucky was not eligible to participate that year. I remember that semifinal win over UGA very well...they had Littereal Green that year who was very good and we beat them by 20 points. Allan Houston was named the tournament MVP even though UT lost to Alabama by 19.

I still don't know how a team that had Allan Houston, Lang Wiseman and Carlus Groves could be that bad...except for the fact that Houston was a God-awful coach. I think Dickey wanted him to get his son, but also so that he could make a splash hire by naming the SEC's first black basketball coach. What a disaster that proved to be.

Yeah Dickey's hiring choices in bball didn't work out too well, but man do I miss his leadership for football.  As a former HC, he "got it" and I think he gets a big slice of credit for the Fulmer-era success.

And minor side note....Allan Houston and Carlus Groves I can see...but Wiseman?  Meh, not sure about that.   :laugh:

Wiseman was in the Top 10 in the SEC in several statistical categories during that '91 season, including steals, assists and 3-pointers made. He averaged double-figures in scoring for his career, shot nearly 40% from 3-point range for his career. Wiseman was a pretty doggone good player.

While we're at it, let's throw in Corey Allen, even though he wasn't on that 1991 team. Him, Houston and Wiseman on the same team in '92 and '93 and Wade Houston still sucked it up. That game-winner against Kentucky in '93 should never be forgotten. Maybe the best finish to a game in UT basketball history.

No question that Wade Houston sucked.  Set our program back significantly.  We didn't recover until Pearl.  Pearl actually was the best since Mears, and likely better than Mears overall.

Rich has us headed in the right direction though, which is pretty exciting.