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I think the SEC will have a very poor league wide RPI. I think LSU got very lucky that the bottom was so poor and the committee completely ignored better small conference teams like Murray State. I mean do the eye ball test and tell me LSU was better. I guess the Aggies could slide in. But expecting the committee to again just ignore better teams in smaller conferences is a lot. That and the fact the SEC will be worse RPI wise. ACC, Big 12 and Big Ten look like they'll get a lot of teams. The PAC 12 is coming on with California joining the arms race to grab big recruits. The Big East has good talent. And guess what the AAC is going to be improved, Uconn is very much back in championship form, Cincinnati has lots of good players, SMU has Larry Brown. Not sure how many the SEC gets, bet it's less.

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So you are predicting No?

Sliding in isn't the goal at this point.

head coaching

I'd lean towards no. Kentucky has problems, but still should win the league. I'll keep saying it, Florida has talent and will incorporate a frustrating system to go against. DFS from Florida will be the player of the year. Arkansas is going to be down. LSU has so much talent. Simmons is just so good. But who knows if that comes together. I'm in the camp that Auburn and South Carolina are in the mix for much improved. Mississippi State as well.

On paper, it looks like the SEC will have some pretty solid teams at the top Ben. just no team as good as Kentucky was last season.

If I ever get through all those teams on the SEC countdown thread, that might be a great place to really see a lot of detail on all the roster situations for next season.

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Sliding in isn't the goal at this point.

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Something something managed expectations

Solid yes, I see a lot of middle of the road beating each other up.

ACC is the toast of the town. AAC will be much improved. That hurts the odds of the SEC getting enough in to help the Aggies. Does help that the Missouri Valley will only get Wichita State in. It's going to be dicey, not much room for error.

Coming in a little late to this thread, but have a few things to comment on.

1. Kennedy has never shown the ability to coach offense. Therefore I don't expect to see us magically start running an actual offensive scheme.
2. I saw someone mention AC will get more looks as an offensive threat with true PG's on the team. AC isn't and never has been an offensive threat since coming to A&M. I'm tired of people saying he isn't really a PG, because he is. There isn't another position on the floor for him.
3. Everyone's biggest concern next year should be Kennedy's ability to limit his bench and not cave to any of the better younger players or older more experienced guys. We'll need the senior leadership, but the nature of college basketball points to freshman transferring if they don't get the minutes they think they deserve. He will have to balance that as best he can.

I for one don't think the freshman will have as big of an impact as many think. Although I really hope they do. As of now I see us as a bubble team, but I really couldn't tell you which side we'll be on in the end.

I'm fairly sure this year will be "self-describing." Which is to say, the presumed improvement in talent won't be the only input as to whether we have a good year. If the new guys are gym rats and if the coaches can adjust whatever system they think they're using to maximize the talent, then that ought to result in both better fundamentals and more "pop" due to the additional talent.

But are there one-to-two NBA-quality lottery picks? Because lacking that we are just providing first and second round cannon fodder at best. If I squint just right, maybe...

Or said a little differently, are we in danger of a string of one-and-dones? Because in today's NCAA that's a good problem to have.

No sure thing NBA talent on this roster. House is a second round pick at best.

As of now, Danuel House seems to be generally projected as a second round NBA pick.

To answer the OP's question: injuries, no cohesion or team chemistry, lack of leadership.

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To answer the OP's question: injuries, no cohesion or team chemistry, lack of leadership.

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Do you mean leadership in terms of coaching? I'm concerned not at all with floor leadership with Caruso, Jones, and House being seniors and starters.

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I'm concerned not at all with floor leadership with Caruso, Jones, and House being seniors and starters.

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Jalen and Alex have been great for this team, but we need to see a little bit more out of them in crunch time. Hopefully the complementary players around them help them fit into their own roles a little bit better this year.

My biggest concern is that most of the talent on this team is true freshmen. Combined with our lack of basketball history puts unusual pressures on inexperienced players. My second biggest concern is BK. He needs a lot of help from his asst coaches.

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My biggest concern is that most of the talent on this team is true freshmen. Combined with our lack of basketball history puts unusual pressures on inexperienced players. My second biggest concern is BK. He needs a lot of help from his asst coaches.

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We have 4 seniors that will play heavy minutes, including our top 3 guys. We do need at least one of the freshmen post players to be ready to play right away, but this isn't a team that is going to rely on freshmen. We'll likely have one of the oldest starting lineups in conference.

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To answer the OP's question: injuries, no cohesion or team chemistry, lack of leadership.

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Do you mean leadership in terms of coaching? I'm concerned not at all with floor leadership with Caruso, Jones, and House being seniors and starters.

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Oh it's across the board, like someone mentioned, we need these guys to step up in case one of them has an injury, if they're in foul trouble or if one of them is having a bad game. When House went down, it was like the head of the snake was beheaded, we had no direction and no one stepped up in scoring or otherwise.

Also, I think coaching in crunch time or during scoring droughts needs to get better. We need Stansbury to become more vocal (if he doesn't already) and call timeouts if needed whenever the other team starts going on a run. And we need Kennedy to allow Stansbury to have a bit more control especially if it seems like nothing is working.

And lastly, I'm not sure if that's going to be the case or not, but we need the athletic department to step up too. This is A&M's highest rated recruiting class ever and they should use this to market the hell out of this season. We need more butts in seats, period.

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My biggest concern is that most of the talent on this team is true freshmen. Combined with our lack of basketball history puts unusual pressures on inexperienced players. My second biggest concern is BK. He needs a lot of help from his asst coaches.

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We have 4 seniors that will play heavy minutes, including our top 3 guys. We do need at least one of the freshmen post players to be ready to play right away, but this isn't a team that is going to rely on freshmen. We'll likely have one of the oldest starting lineups in conference.

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Agreed. I do however think we will need to rely relatively heavily on a combination of Gilder and Hogg to provide another outside scoring threat. Really felt that killed us at times last year that House was the only guy on the team who could stretch the defense significantly to help beat the zone.

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Agreed. I do however think we will need to rely relatively heavily on a combination of Gilder and Hogg to provide another outside scoring threat. Really felt that killed us at times last year that House was the only guy on the team who could stretch the defense significantly to help beat the zone.

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Having one of those two (or Caruso/Robinson/Peyton) develop as a reliable 3pt threat would definitely help. But I don't consider it make or break if those guys struggle, it just significantly lowers our ceiling.

The only place where we are absolutely dependent on freshmen is at the 5.

I'd say counting on true freshman to be 2 of your top 3 players in the paint has some uncertainty associated with it.

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I'd say counting on true freshman to be 2 of your top 3 players in the paint has some uncertainty associated with it.

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It's only a necessity that one of the two freshman bigs is ready to provide an immediate contribution. Jalen Jones can man the 4 for 30 minutes per game if necessary and Trocha can split time at the five. Obviously we are much better if both Thomas and Davis are able to come in a dominate immediately, it's only an absolute necessity that one of the two is ready. This seems pretty likely considering the talent level, size, and athleticism of these two players.

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It's only a necessity that one of the two freshman bigs is ready to provide an immediate contribution. Jalen Jones can man the 4 for 30 minutes per game if necessary and Trocha can split time at the five. Obviously we are much better if both Thomas and Davis are able to come in a dominate immediately, it's only an absolute necessity that one of the two is ready. This seems pretty likely considering the talent level, size, and athleticism of these two players.

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Admittedly, my thoughts are based on incomplete information. Maybe Trocha will get a lot stronger in the offseason. I hope he does. If he hasn't I'm not counting on much from him. Based on last yr I feel like Miller should get more PT than Trocha provided he can stay away from being a human fouling machine. . I think we need both freshman bigs to be ready enough to play 20+ mpg. One of them, probably Davis may need to play 25 mpg +.

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My biggest concern is that most of the talent on this team is true freshmen.

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Yes, the freshmen are talent loaded. But, don't forget the four very talented seniors we have ... three of which should be leaders on and off the court. These freshmen are going to need guidance to assist their talent from the seniors.

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But, don't forget the four very talented seniors we have

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I think only 1 of those Srs has NBA talent. While 3 of the 4 fish have NBA potential. So my apologies if I wasn't clear that I was speaking of NBA talent. Yes, Caruso and company are talented players.

This team has the talent and enough experience to make the tourney and maybe win a game (top 32). But this team doesn't have the talent and experience to be picked to win 2 games (Sweet 16). Not saying they can't make the S16 because luck of the draw and a favorable call or bounce of the ball can get you into the Elite 8 (see Baylor a few years ago when they got there playing only double digit seeds).

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But, don't forget the four very talented seniors we have

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I think only 1 of those Srs has NBA talent. While 3 of the 4 fish have NBA potential. So my apologies if I wasn't clear that I was speaking of NBA talent. Yes, Caruso and company are talented players.

This team has the talent and enough experience to make the tourney and maybe win a game (top 32). But this team doesn't have the talent and experience to be picked to win 2 games (Sweet 16). Not saying they can't make the S16 because luck of the draw and a favorable call or bounce of the ball can get you into the Elite 8 (see Baylor a few years ago when they got there playing only double digit seeds).

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I agree with your first comment but your second one is yet to be seen. Teams with a core group of experienced seniors that can play can do some pretty great things, even if multiple of them are not going pro.

One concern is on the interior. There is talent there, but it is young. I felt that we sagged a lot on defense last year to help protect the paint, which lead to a lot of open threes. If Thomas/Davis/Trocha can provide better rim protection then I think we can help less on drives and play tighter, tougher defense on the perimeter.

Another concern is obviously coaching. Are we going to pick up the pace. Can BK find the right rotations. Etc.

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But, don't forget the four very talented seniors we have

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I think only 1 of those Srs has NBA talent. While 3 of the 4 fish have NBA potential. So my apologies if I wasn't clear that I was speaking of NBA talent. Yes, Caruso and company are talented players.

This team has the talent and enough experience to make the tourney and maybe win a game (top 32). But this team doesn't have the talent and experience to be picked to win 2 games (Sweet 16). Not saying they can't make the S16 because luck of the draw and a favorable call or bounce of the ball can get you into the Elite 8 (see Baylor a few years ago when they got there playing only double digit seeds).

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How do you view the talent potential of the fish? I think of NBA talent past first round as essentially long-term potential and not immediate utility talent. It's nice to talk about but not sure it changes the outcome in the NCAAs.

I have seen Elijah Thomas projected as a first round pick on one 2017 NBA draft projection site, but that is so far away too.

I personally like Hogg's potential to eventually land on an NBA team after some number of years in college. A 6'8" wing shooter type.

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How do you view the talent potential of the fish? I think of NBA talent past first round as essentially long-term potential and not immediate utility talent. It's nice to talk about but not sure it changes the outcome in the NCAAs.

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Davis and Thomas may be limited at the NBA level with their current skillset because they are both shorter than 6'10" and don't have great length. They do currently have more than enough size, skill, and length to compete immediately at the D1 NCAA level.

Hogg is a 6'8" shooter who can handle the ball well and has really good length, basketball IQ, and athleticism. I expect a significant (25+ quality minutes per game) contribution from him his freshman season. Hogg's only drawback is that he hasn't filled out yet, so he could get pushed around going for rebounds or driving.

Gilder is a wildcard. He played at a lower level of high school basketball than the others but absolutely dominated. He is also the shortest of the group. I could see his role ranging anywhere from less than 10 minutes to 20+ minutes. It's just really hard to predict where he will end up, though his offensive firepower is more impressive than even Hogg's.

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I'd say counting on true freshman to be 2 of your top 3 players in the paint has some uncertainty associated with it.

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It's only a necessity that one of the two freshman bigs is ready to provide an immediate contribution. Jalen Jones can man the 4 for 30 minutes per game if necessary and Trocha can split time at the five. Obviously we are much better if both Thomas and Davis are able to come in a dominate immediately, it's only an absolute necessity that one of the two is ready. This seems pretty likely considering the talent level, size, and athleticism of these two players.

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I don't agree with the last part of your statement. While they may be very talented, saying it is likely for either of them to come in and dominate seems a little far fetched. It's generally a more difficult transition to college for post players than guards, is it not? I feel the transition, along with their conditioning, could be limiting factors. We might need 25 mpg from them, but I think that is a lot to ask for at this point.