Results up tomorrow.

1. Kentucky Wildcats

Can't imagine anyone disagrees with this one. Has to be considered odds-on favorite to win the national title.

2. Florida Gators

Not a great week for the Gators, but I still feel this is the second-best team in the league. Other than when it's playing Tennessee, that is.

3. Vanderbilt Commodores

Close but no cigar against the 'Cats.

4. Mississippi St. Bulldogs

Ugly loss at home to UGA over the weekend.

5. Arkansas Razorbacks

Really needs to figure out how to play competitive basketball away from home.

6. Alabama Crimson Tide

Really needs to beat the Gators this week to bolster its uncertain NCAA chances.

7. Tennessee Volunteers

Nice win over Florida. Will be interesting to see if it can make the NIT with its lackluster OOC record.

8. Mississippi Rebels

Probably another NIT season for Kennedy's squad, but you have to admire the way they bounced back from the mid-season funk.

9. LSU Tigers

Seem to be coming back to form to some degree after struggling through the early part of conference play. Possible NIT team.

10. Auburn Tigers

Maybe a CBI team if it can win a few games down the stretch. Team has shown progress this year.

11. Georgia Bulldogs

No post-season in the works for these guys, but at least they're getting better.

12. South Carolina Gamecocks

Sorry, folks. Nothing positive to say about our guys right now, other than that they're fighting.

A few weeks ago, the word was that Eric Hyman's budget is tied and that we wouldn't be in the position to pay Darrin Horn's buyout and bring in a new coach with good qualifications. At that point, I would have told you that I thought Horn would get one more year regardless of how bad the season end up. Now, it seems I may have underestimated just how bad the season could get. The 'Cocks now sit at 9-15 overall and 1-9 in the conference. The season has quickly become the worst in recent memory for Carolina, and that's saying something considering our lack of success on the hardwood. There are some good opportunities for wins down the stretch, but it's also very possible that we may only win one or two more games--or worse. To make matters worse, attendance has hit an all-time low. The Kentucky game in Columbia was a disaster, but really, the disaster wasn't so much what happened on the court, although that was certainly bad. What was worst was that the Big Blue Nation turned the Colonial Life Arena into Mini-Rupp. When you can't get the fans to come see a game against the best team in the nation, you've got major problems. And that's likely what's most on Hyman's mind right now: the bottom line. Sure, Horn's buyout and the money tied up in facilities upgrades are financially daunting. Are they as daunting, though, as the prospect of another year with the CLA at minimum capacity? My guess is probably not.

Still, though, there are reasons why it would be in Hyman's best interest to keep Horn. The thing is that Horn is going to have to do his part and figure out a way to get his team to win some games down the stretch and thus to inject some life into this moribund program. The Gamecocks have six regular-season games left: a home-away with UGA, a home with LSU, an away with Vandy, and homes with Tennessee and Mississippi St. Then, of course, they have the SEC Tournament. As said, considering how we've played lately, none of these games are gimmes. Even UGA is playing well lately. However, at the same time, I do think the possibility is there for the Gamecocks to string together a few wins.Truth be told, the first half of our season was much tougher than what we have coming up: two games apiece against UF and UK, road games against some other tough teams, no UGA, etc. The next few games provide some of our most ample opportunities for wins. At Vandy is probably a no-go, but other than that, I don't see any games that we'll be completely overmatched in, at least not until we play (if we do) a really tough team in the SECT. If Carolina wins some of these games, that should help Horn's prospects. And needless to say, a deep run in the SECT would help quite a bit, although I somewhat doubt our ability to get out of the second round or so, considering the unlikelihood of us beating a good team on a neutral court.

The question, though, is whether a winning streak would revitalize a fan base that might already have completely lost faith in Horn. Without some indication that ticket sales will improve next year, Hyman may not have much of a choice with Horn. Therefore, it seems a propos to put the question to you, dear reader: What do you need to see to get back into Carolina men's basketball? Why?

It was another long afternoon for Coach Horn's Gamecocks, who fell to the Arkansas Razorbacks today, 76-65. The Hogs used a strong close to the first half to build a lead, and they coasted to the victory in the second half. Damontre Harris led Carolina with 12 points to go along with 11 rebounds, while Arkansas's B.J. Young led all scorers with 27.

The story of the game for Carolina was turnovers. The Gamecocks did not take care of the ball, particularly in the first half, and finished with 21 turnovers. The other negative to note was Carolina's extremely poor 3FG shooting. The Gamecocks were 5-25 from long range in this game. Damien Leonard was 2-8. Carolina shot the ball fairly well otherwise, and I was impressed by our play in the paint, although Malik Cooke didn't play very well. One positive to be noted in this regard was that Carolina made it to the charity stripe 21 times, which is a result of focusing on attacking the basket a bit more. However, no amount of strong interior play can offset the turnovers and poor long-range shooting, at least not against a team like Arkansas that plays well in its home environment.

Carolina takes on the Georgia Bulldogs this week in a mid-week game. Last week, I would have said that this game provides a nice opportunity for Carolina to pick up a win, but after seeing Georgia start to turn its season around with consecutive wins over Arkansas and now at Mississippi St. (!!!), I'm not so sure.

Maybe today will be different than the last time. Go 'Cocks!

In the midst of another losing streak, the Gamecocks are off to Fayetteville this weekend to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Hogs are having struggles of their own, having lost their last two, including a blowout loss in Athens to a questionable Georgia team. This weekend's game is a must-win for Arkansas, whose NCAA Tournament chances are on life support.

The good news for Arkansas is that the Hogs will be back in the friendly confines of their home court, where they've had much more success than they on the road. Away from Pigville, Arkansas has ugly losses to teams like Oklahoma, LSU, and Georgia. At home, the Hogs have beaten Mississippi St., Michigan, Vanderbilt and others. They'll be a tough out on their court.

What can Carolina do to pull off the upset? First of all, as we've discussed, this team needs to get to the free-throw line more often. Arkansas has a significantly higher FT Rate than Carolina, and FT Rate is typically associated with success. However, Carolina actually ranks a slot (7th) above the Hogs (8th) in FT%. The problem, of course, is that Carolina simply doesn't get to the line enough. That seems to be changing somewhat, as Carolina has worked the ball to Damontre Harris and Malik Cooke more aggressively in recent games, leading to more FGA from under the basket, which means more FTA. Of course, Harris and Cooke will have to perform much better than they did against Tennessee for that strategy to work, but it's a start.

The other thing I'd like to see in this game is continued strong play from Damien Leonard. I've been waiting all year for the light to come on for this kid, who we really need to play well if we're going to improve. Over the past two games, Leonard has finally started to shoot the ball well. If he can do that against Arkansas and we can get better play from the post than we got against Tennessee, we might finally have the full package--and a win.

Needless to say, it hasn't been a whole lot of fun watching the basketball team this year. Just past the mid-season, the Gamecocks are in a deep hole in SEC play, having all but mathematically assured a losing record. There were some ugly losses to lightweight non-conference competition to add insult to injury. Fan support, consequently, has dipped to a nearly all-time low. Just how bad are things, overall? Let's take a look at a few key dimensions and see what we can determine.

Guard Play: D-

Coming into the season, I had high hopes that Carolina would enjoy solid guard play. Sure, Bruce Ellington was playing football, but Eric Smith and Brian Leonard were reportedly much improved, while Damien Leonard was primed to set Columbia on fire. Now, we're back to where we were last year, with Smith and Leonard riding the bench, Leonard wildly inconsistent, and Ellington the only consistent threat to score, a good player despite his pedestrian FG%. Leonard has shown some flashes and I believe he will, eventually, be a good player, but Smith and Leonard simply don't look the part of SEC-caliber guards, although I'm still holding out hope for them. Simply not a good group.

Front-Court Play: C

I actually haven't been too disappointed in this group. Malik Cooke is likely the team's MVP thus far, having improved his play around the basket. Damontre Harris is the team's most improved player, having taken the next step from the raw potential he exhibited last year. He looks like he may eventually become an All-Conference-type player. Carlton Geathers has shown some signs of eventually being capable of playing a contributing role. All in all, this isn't an excellent group of players, but it's not a terrible one, either.

Coaching: C-

Strategically, I actually don't think that Coach Horn has done a bad job this year. This time last year, we were suffering through game after game of Bruce Ellington and Ramon Galloway combining for horrid shooting numbers, wondering why Coach Horn didn't institute some semblance of a half-court set. There have been some games like that this year, too, but we've also seen Carolina commit to pounding the ball inside a bit more, with Malik Cooke and a maturing Damontre Harris providing solid play in the paint. We're beginning to see Coach Horn realize that you can't solely rely on torrid shooting and a stingy press to win games; you need to be able to grind and play smart, too. Another thing to note that reflects well on him includes our improved turnover numbers. The truth is, this team is losing because is just doesn't have the players to compete in the SEC. We have a couple of good individual performances per game, but not enough to really make a difference. Coach Horn is trying to do what he can with what he has.

All of that said, this is Horn's team. They're his players, and he has no one to blame for the situation but himself. Several key players simply haven't been developed as well as they should have been (Lakeem Jackson comes to mind), while roster turnover has also hurt us. I won't blame Horn for the Murphy Holloway situation; reports are that Holloway was something of a locker-room cancer. However, I still don't understand why we couldn't keep a spot for Galloway, who is running wild in the A10 this year. There are decisions and coaching failures on Horn's fault that have created this situation.

Overall: D+

A D+ is bad, but I'm sure many Gamecocks fans would rate the season lower. What's keeping me from doing that is that I do believe this team is sticking with the program and trying to win some games down the stretch. And there have been enough signs of improvement in recent weeks to make one believe a decent end to the season--which, not coincidentally, will feature an easier schedule.

Still, a team is judged by its record, and right now, we're at the bottom of the SEC. What's on a lot of people's minds right now is what this means for Coach Horn's future. I don't know the answer to that question, and I don't think Eric Hyman does either. A week or two ago, I was saying I thought Horn would be back next year, regardless. Now, after the UK debacle, I'm not sure. I still, though, think Horn will keep his job if he finishes strongly. Many may disagree, but Hyman has reasons to keep him. If he loses out, though, those reasons may not be good enough.

The Gamecocks opened the game promisingly, but after a strong late-first-half surge, the Tennessee Volunteers for the most part controlled tonight's game in Knoxville, winning 69-57. The Gamecocks were able to cut the lead to three fairly late in the game, but Tennessee closed strongly. Bruce Ellington led Carolina with 12 points, while Skylar McBee led UT with 18.

The story on the stat line was that Tennessee shot 50% to Carolina's 33%. The silver lining to that sad tale is that this wasn't a game where Carolina didn't work the post or have any offensive strategy; it was just a game where we shot poorly. Damontre Harris took seven shots, which is what we want from him. Unfortunately, he only made one, which is far less than what he typically makes. The same goes for Malik Cooke--got his looks, but didn't make enough of them. The guys just didn't step up to the plate from the field tonight, and Tennessee did. That's all I have for this one. Small victories.

Carolina travels to Arkansas this weekend.

Well, this should be short and not so sweet: With a national audience looking on, Carolina was utterly humiliated by the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, losing 86-52. There are really no words to describe how ugly this game was for Carolina. The score was 52-25 at the half; you'd almost think this was some kind of exhibition between an NBA and a high school team. I honestly can't recall a recent game in any sport where we looked this bad. Maybe the 2008 football game against Florida? Regardless, this was an unequivocal embarrassment. It's not that we lost that's so upsetting. It's actually not even that we lost bad. Kentucky is an extremely talented team, and truth be told, they played one of their best games tonight. Their star freshman Anthony Davis was simply breathtaking. What's upsetting, though, is that we did very little to challenge them. We played undisciplined, sloppy ball all night, giving up numerous easy baskets, offensive rebounds, etc. The lack of inspiration with the 'Cats in town was disturbing. The team just didn't look mentally into the game, and considering our failure to adjust defensively in the first half, the coaching staff wasn't in it, either. To add insult to injury, the Kentucky fans probably outnumbered ours 3-1, making the game a 'Cats vacation party; Kentucky basketball, of course, is known for having the best road support in college sports, but our poor attendance made this situation particularly unpleasant.

I've been defending Horn lately, but it's very difficult to do that right now. The team stinks, and the fans don't care. I'm keeping the faith for right now--I hope Horn figures out a way to win a few games before the end of the season. If he doesn't, I hope Eric Hyman is ready to give this situation some serious thought, because what happened tonight was simply inexcusable.