With four programs leaving the Southern Conference and East Tennessee State University, Mercer and Virginia Military Institute coming in, it was unclear how the conference would look at the start of the 2014-2015 season.
As they near the midway point of conference play, the answer is simple: Deeper.
Wofford has been the clear-cut favorite. They’re 4-0 in conference play, but both the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Samford have pushed the Terriers to the brink in the last two weeks. The Mocs, Mercer and ETSU have won four conference games, while Western Carolina, The Citadel and VMI have each won multiple games in conference play. The conference’s RPI, which was 30th a season ago, is at 25 this week.
Samford is 7-12 overall and 0-6 in the SoCon, but five of the six have been by 10 points or less, and both games against the Terriers weren’t decided in the final minutes. New head coach Scott Padgett has tried to infuse eight newcomers with seven returners, all of whom were trying to learn his fast-paced style of play.
“We’re trying to establish who we are — a team that presses for 40 minutes, plays extremely hard for 40 minutes, and plays together as a team,” the former University of Kentucky standout said. “We’re a young team that hasn’t quite figured out how to make big plays down the stretch, or get that big stop.”
He said the depth of the league was a lot better than the two seasons prior, when he served as an assistant on the Samford staff.
“The way the league is this year, anybody could beat anybody,” he said. “Every night out is a battle, and I think that’s great for the depth of the conference.
“It’ll make for a great SoCon tournament.”
ETSU and Mercer are a combined 8-3 in conference play, and while VMI sits at 2-4, the Keydets lead the nation in 3-pointers made (11.6 per game) and the SoCon in scoring (84.0). So while Davidson’s name is missing from the Southern Conference standings, their presence might not necessarily be.
“There are more teams from top to bottom that can beat you on any given night,” Furman’s Niko Medved said. “Every game is hard fought, and all three programs that came in are good, so basketball in the SoCon will be just fine. It’s highly competitive and the team that’s most consistent — really the team that is playing the best basketball in February and March — will have the best chance.”
He and UTC coach Will Wade both stated that “no score would surprise them” in conference play.
“Road wins are going to be hard to come by,” Wade said. “You have better players, and new teams that have come in that are nice additions.
“Those teams only add to what we’re doing; from top to bottom, the league’s gotten better.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.