For many college basketball coaches -- especially those at the mid-major level -- the "most wonderful time of the year" has arrived. Unofficially, records are erased in the minds of those with dreams of advancing to national tournaments, and the biggest point being made to the players is simple.
"Why not us?"
Why couldn't the last-place team in the conference beat the best? Why shouldn't the players enter a game believing they can win? The best -- and worst -- thing about March Madness is that you only have to be the better team that day.
And the coaches love it.
That's been the focus of Southern Conference coaches as they prepare their players for this week's tournament in Asheville, N.C. The women's action begins today, with four games taking place at Kimmel Arena. Action then moves to the U.S. Cellular Center on Friday, starting with the women's semifinal games and moving to the men's first-round games.
"From day one to now, I've been happy with our progress," said Samford coach Scott Padgett, who has had his fair share of memorable times in March, including helping win a national championship as a Kentucky starting forward in 1998. "Our record isn't what we'd like it to be, but when you get to this point, no matter what has happened, you feel you have a shot.
"We've been competitive with everybody in this league, and we're all 0-0 now. We feel we can come (to Asheville), have a great four days and make history. The reality is that you can have a bad year but you have to have a short memory; you can't come out, play nervous or scared to make mistakes. The team that plays freer this time of year wins, because they're not making those mistakes."
Padgett's Bulldogs get the men's tournament started when they face UNC Greensboro at 6 p.m. Friday. The Citadel takes on Furman at 8:30. Wofford and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga -- the top two men's seeds -- will face the respective winners of those games Saturday, when Western Carolina plays East Tennessee State at 2:30 and Mercer meets Virginia Military Institute at 8:30.
"The guys are excited," ETSU coach Murry Bartow said. "It's a tournament situation, which means a new season and a new opportunity. Our guys are looking forward to it; we're expecting a really good game."
ETSU has returned to the SoCon after a 10-year hiatus and is one of the more storied programs in the conference.
"Since we came back in the SoCon, all they've talked about is the tournament in Asheville," Bartow said of the Buccaneers' supporters. "They have great memories of success in the SoCon tournament, and I expect to have a lot of people there. I'm sure we'll have a big crowd for the first game, and if we win that one, we'll have a bigger one for the next. When you live in Johnson City, a lot of history revolves around Asheville, so it's been talked about."
No love for top seeds?
UTC women's coach Jim Foster, whose team is ranked No. 17 in the nation, had no problem expressing his dislike of conference tournaments earlier this week. The Mocs just completed their second consecutive undefeated season in SoCon play.
"The only reason we have postseason tournaments is television," Foster said Monday. "There's absolutely no need for them. It's sort of -- in my opinion -- patently absurd for a team to go through a conference undefeated and not having the right to represent that conference.
"I think we've done enough, and our resume is deep enough that we'll be in the NCAA tournament. They can tell me all they want about people having a chance or this and that, but there's something wrong about a team with a losing record representing a conference after two months of conference play when something was clearly determined."
Wofford men's coach Mike Young, whose Terriers were regular-season champions with a 16-2 record, might agree with Foster, but he also knows there's nothing that can be done about the system in place.
"(Foster) has got a real argument to get in as an at-large team," Young said. "They beat Tennessee and they beat Stanford. We have four or five wins against the RPI's top 100, but we've got to go up there (to Asheville) and win the tournament.
"That's just the way it is."
UNCG, ETSU getting well
Two of the more injury-hampered men's teams in the conference -- ETSU and UNCG -- are hoping to get players back in time for the tournament. UNCG guard Clay Byrd has had an ankle injury, and coach Wes Miller called his status "a game-time decision.
ETSU, which lost forward Ron Giplaye to a season-ending injury early, recently have dealt with sickness, which slowed all-conference guard Rashawn Rembert, and an injury to guard Devin Harris. Both are expected to be ready to go.
VMI 'bunch of misfits'
Mercer and VMI will meet Saturday for the first time since Jan. 5, when the Bears completed a season sweep with an 85-75 victory in Lexington, Va. Mercer has started the same five players in all 31 games this season, while VMI has had 15 different starting lineups in 29 games.
"It's been kind of crazy," VMI coach Duggar Baucom said. "Since the start of practice, we lost four scholarship guys that were on the roster at the start of the season, and there are guys that I didn't even know at the start of practice that are on the team now. It's been crazy, but I credit our guys for being resilient. We didn't have anybody on any all-conference teams; we're just a bunch of misfits that made a team and finished sixth."
RPI highs
The Southern Conference overall men's RPI moved up six spots from 30 to 24 this season. The league currently has a pair of top-100 teams: Wofford (25-6), which sits at 51; and UTC, which hovered around the 90s earlier this week but slipped to 100 by Wednesday.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.